‘Triangle Park’ documentary on NFL start to resume shooting

The Dayton Triangles football team (1920-1929) played in the first game for what is now known as the National Football League (NFL). The Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 on Oct. 3, 1920 in Dayton s Triangle Park. FILE

The Dayton Triangles football team (1920-1929) played in the first game for what is now known as the National Football League (NFL). The Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 on Oct. 3, 1920 in Dayton s Triangle Park. FILE

Dayton filmmaker Allen Farst intends to resume shooting his exploration of the birth of professional football in Dayton now that he has a key sponsor on board.

Robert W. Baird & Co., an employee-owned international financial services firm, has committed to be a primary sponsor of Triangle Park, an upcoming documentary that celebrates the first game of what became the National Football League, played in Dayton, Farst said Thursday.

Film work will resume probably in mid-March, he said. He described the work as an “amped-up documentary,” essentially an historical documentary shot in a “cinematic way,” with actors and reenactments, showcasing Dayton at its industrial height in the early 1920s.

“There is literally no footage from right around that time,” from the birth of professional football in Dayton, Farst said. “And there’s not really a ton of photography, either. I mean, I really have to tell that story.”

Dayton filmmaker Allen Fast digging into the past at the Pro Football Hall of Fame's archives in Canton. Contributed

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NFL Films has only a few still images of that first game and its participants. “You could go through those first images in a minute,” Farst said.

The film will send spectators back in time to experience Oct. 3, 1920, when the hometown Dayton Triangles kicked off NFL history with a 14-0 victory over the Columbus Panhandles.

“Historically, it’s an in-vogue topic right now.” Farst said. “It’s time to tell the story.”

Allen Farst, the director of the award-winning documentary, “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man,” announced his next documentary project, “Triangle Park,” at a press conference at Carillon Park on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. Don Thrasher photo

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The game was played before 5,000 fans at Dayton’s Triangle Park.

“Moviegoers will be treated to a fascinating piece of NFL history,” Geoff Mackey, Baird’s chief marketing officer, said in a release.

“They’re really big on generational wealth,” Farst said of Baird. “As family financial planners, they really saw the value and that connection of the NFL being an historical piece.”

The movie is scheduled to be released some time in the fall of 2022.

Farst is the creative force behind “Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man,” as well as numerous commercials and music videos. He has also produced films for David Letterman’s IndyCar Series race team, Rahal, Letterman, Lanigan.

Farst’s PalMar Studios will make the documentary for several on-demand platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, VUDU, Playstation and others.

Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking, capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia.

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