In September of 2019 – yes, pre-COVID – I wrote about my friend, former teammate, housemate, and assistant coach Jim Onacki. He was about to be inducted into the Camillus/West Genesee Community Sports Hall of Fame, which was a pretty big deal. Onack – a 1977 grad of West Genesee HS and a 1983 Oswego State alum, was a “little person” who had a huge impact wherever he went, and he was about to join the ranks of other major HOF Wildcats with names like Messere, Wormuth, Deegen, Desko, Kotz, Donahue, Beville, Tambroni, and Galloway. Jim was suffering through some bad health back then, but he managed to make it to the ceremony that night, along with family, friends, teammates, and former coaches. His speech was typical for him, both funny and emotional.
Coincidentally, pretty much at the same time, fellow West Genesee HS grad David “Doc” Sorbello, who had collected archives of West Genesee’s historic run of 91 consecutive victories spanning 1981-1984 and collected more than 75 interviews with former WG Wildcat players and coaches, had made a short film about Onack, and had entered the three-minute piece – featuring Jim’s remarkable story and endorsed by US Lacrosse – in the Syracuse Film Festival.
Please take a minute and read that piece from 2019 – http://www.justlacrosse.com/19archives/blogs/witmer_tellingthejimonakistory.htm.
And/or click here for the three-minute video on YouTube. (57) JIMMY 13 FINAL COPY - YouTube
Then, sadly, last May I wrote about Jim’s passing. I reminisced about our memorable years together – the laughs, the inspiration, the friendship, and unforgettable chaotic joy he brought with him everywhere he went. He was at least in part responsible for me attending my first NCAA D-I Memorial Day men’s lacrosse championship, and his passing on Memorial Day Weekend brought back so many amazing memories.
Please take another minute to read that piece from last May –
His obituary is here: James Onacki Obituary (2022) - Syracuse, NY - Syracuse Post Standard
Well, it’s time now for another update. As always, there’s more to the story.
Since the short film’s debut back in 2019, Doc went on to expand the piece into a 30-minute “rough cut.” Encouraged by Coach Messere and others, he included more interviews, more photographs and news clippings from Jimmy’s lacrosse-playing days, and more testimonials describing Onack’s remarkable determination and perseverance. “It still needs music, narration, polishing… then it would be perfect for an ESPN 30 for 30 story,” he said.
But even with an expanded film version, Doc still wasn’t content; there was still more to be done. There was more story to tell. So he went on to write a full screenplay – that’s right, what I’ll call the Jim Onacki Story is currently a 107-page script (Doc tells me that, in the screenwriter’s world, one page equals roughly one minute of film time, so we’re talking about a potential full-length feature film here).
As I described earlier, Doc had interviews recorded with WG coach Mike Messere, SU assistant Kevin Donahue, Jim’s college roommate and fellow WG alum Gerry Crossett, his Oswego State coach Dr. John Spring, and me, among many others. He took the best of the stories, the best of the memories, the best of Jim’s remarkable life, and went to work. A budding filmmaker, he’d never written a screenplay before, but he was inspired by what he had on film, and by his own friendship with Jimmy.
“I want people to realize that Jimmy was an athlete, not just a lacrosse player. He played basketball; he played hockey and softball. He ran the Mountain Goat. His first exposure to Mike Messere was as a wrestler!” Doc said.
So the screenplay includes Onack’s childhood stories, elementary and middle school travails, and high school setbacks and successes. There were college stories, and more. Doc’s first draft was a hefty130 pages, but eventually he was persuaded to cut it down to its present length. He asked me to read through it, to edit for grammar and spelling, and to let him know what I thought.
I had never read a full-length screenplay before, let alone one about a friend and teammate of mine who was, at the time, fighting illness and whose poor health seemed to be getting worse. Nonetheless, I liked what I read. I laughed, and I got a little misty at times; I gave Doc two thumbs up.
That was several years ago. Doc edited the script, deleting some scenes, adding others, and changing the ones he kept. From roughly 2019 until early this year, he worked and re-worked the story.
Finally, Doc felt like his screenplay was done. It was time to share it with others. He decided to test the Film Festival circuit – try to get his screenplay out there and see what kind of attention it could draw.
Well, let’s just say that 2022 has been a very good year.
In March, his screenplay was selected for the New York Script Awards.
In April, the screenplay was selected as a quarterfinalist at the Big Apple Film Festival & Screenplay Competition in New York City.
In June, the Sports, Recreation, and Fitness Screenplay Competition in Toronto awarded Doc’s screenplay its accolades, which enabled him to have a video of his screenplay performed with actual actors reading the primary parts, and also led to further interviews about his work.
Then, just a few weeks ago, in Germany’s Courage Film Festival, Doc’s screenplay received Finalist honors.
Results from other, similar competitions in Spain and England are expected in the coming weeks.
“I can’t just enter every competition and festival out there; I don’t have the resources to do that. Each competition costs $75-$100 to enter, so I try to target the screenplay for the right events, the targeted reviewers and, so far, the results have been very encouraging,” Doc told me.
But it’s the next step that is proving to be the most difficult. In order to move forward towards production, important people need to join the project. “What we need now,” Doc told me when we sat down for lunch at The Wildcat recently, “is an agent, some investors, an executive producer…”
He went on. “We’re not in New York City; we’re not in Hollywood. We’re in Camillus, Syracuse, New York. I’m a first-time screenwriter. We have to find a way to sell it to the right people, get the attention and support of people who can help us take the next step.”
There are sports people out there who could help, too. There are lacrosse people out there who could help, too. There are film people, from investors to producers to directors, who could get behind the project and put things into motion. Some of them are right here in our own Upstate backyard.
Doc has tried to reach out to people he hopes will help. He has connected with local television, and there could be some developments in the near future, but for the most part, he’s just gotten lots of good wishes and encouragement.
So, as I said, we met up recently and I agreed to write about his project again, in hopes that someone, somewhere, might somehow know the right person to share this story with. And maybe, just maybe, that person can help facilitate the production of this screenplay.
“Let’s get the word out there,” says Doc.
Imagine… seeing Jim Onacki’s adventures played out on the big screen someday. His tenacity. His attitude. His laugh. If you knew Jimmy, you’d have to agree that it would be an amazing story.
It could happen. If you know someone who could help, please share this piece – or better yet, have him/her/them get in touch with Doc at 91wglax@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading – help spread the word.
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- Dan Witmer
daniel.witmer@oswego.edu