“Run the Race” — a film produced by Santa Clarita filmmaker Chris Dowling and Tim Tebow — has been purchased for distribution by Roadside Attractions.

A faith-based football movie, “Run the Race” follows the story of two brothers who are playing football in order to gain a ticket out of their town. The story chronicles their fraternal bond after their mother dies and their father abandons them, and the ways in which they meet the challenges of both off- and on-the-field injuries.

And, as the Santa Clarita filmmaker and director of “Run the Race” puts it, the challenges for this movie were not limited to just the narrative in the script.

“There was a screenplay that was brought to me by this amazing producer Darren Moorman,” said Dowling, Valencia resident and “Run the Race” director. “The original writer, Jake McEntire, had been trying to get the film made for 14 years. It was his baby and he sacrificed a lot to keep his dream alive — including selling his house.”

When Dowling was brought onto the project by the production companies Reserve Entertainment and 10th Leper Productions — who recently released their faith-based drama, “I Can Only Imagine” — he said that while he wanted to insert his own voice into the movie, he also wanted to respect the vision of the original writer.

“Knowing how Jake had poured his heart into ‘Run the Race’ for well over a decade, I wanted to make it mine with my creative changes while staying true to Jake’s original vision,” said Dowling. “It’s a delicate balance, but I think we pulled it off nicely.”

And while McEntire and Dowling had been able to orchestrate, film and print all the movie parts of the film, it was Heisman-winner and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow that made the film’s mass distribution possible.

“For this film, (Tim Tebow) was the difference. We made a really, really good movie. It’s authentic, has some grit and characters that you give a rip about. It’s come together nicely and the festival audiences have loved it,” said Dowling. “But that only gets you so far — the key to any film is marketing, and having Tim be the face of the film is everything to get it out there.”

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When asked what it felt like to not only have a name as big as Tim Tebow’s, but distribution companies such as Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate Film invest in his work, Dowling said that his vision of inserting what he sees as real human conflict became validated.

“I knew we wanted this to feel real — like, real people having real conversations and stuff we all deal with,” said Dowling. “To know that Roadside Attractions (and) Lionsgate Films caught the vision — and is going to be putting this up on a lot of screens Feb. 22 — is really exciting.”

In giving advice to aspiring Santa Clarita filmmakers, Dowling took on the same type of inspirational message that is presented in “Run the Race.”

“It’s so easy to pick up a camera and make your own stuff now. Also, there are some really cool film programs up here (in Santa Clarita) that have access to big-time equipment,” said Dowling. “Honestly, it’s not going to be easy — it’s a hustle and grind — but if you find some other talented people that are grinding with you, you can make it work.”

In terms of what future projects fans can expect out of Dowling, he said that a new docu-series, based on his documentary, “Asperger’s Are Us”, is close to a distribution deal. The series is slated to be produced by himself, Alex Lehmann, Sean Bradley and Duplass Brothers Productions.

But outside of the docu-series and a potential “western, musical underdog” project that’s still in the works, Dowling has said he’s just enjoying the excitement leading up to the release of “Run the Race.”

“Just please check out the trailer for ‘Run the Race’ and mark the date of Feb. 22, 2019 to watch that bad boy in theaters everywhere — especially in Santa Clarita,” concluded Dowling.

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