OFFICIAL SELECTION: NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL, OCT. 22-27
ABOUT THE FILM
WHITE LIGHTNING is a gritty, funny, and uniquely American story about second chances, legacy, and what it takes to outrun your past. This feature-length documentary follows 18-year-old sprinter King Combest as he attempts to break his father’s 25-year-old national high school record–and the cycle of drugs, jail, and poverty that has shaped his Kentucky family for generations. King’s father Casey (aka “White Lightning”) was once an elite sprinter destined for Olympic greatness before a marijuana arrest derailed his career and left him working as a janitor on the margins of society. As King chases his father’s iconic record, it becomes clear that the real stakes are far greater: becoming the first man in the Combest family to earn a college degree and forging a path beyond a legacy of crime and addiction.
“I’m a track star but i ain’t got five bucks in my pocket. that’s where i went wrong. I gave up the one thing i loved to chase money. i LIVE a life of regret… i’m one of those people who could have been.”
— Casey Combest, former world-class track star
THE TEAM
Director: Mark Anders
Producers: Mark Anders, Andrew Gersh
Executive Producer: Adam Neuhaus
Director of Photography: Tony Czech
Editor: Andrew Gersh, ACE
Motion Graphics: Aaron Hodgins Davis
Post Sound/Color: Trailblazer Studios
Original Music: Courtland Urbano
Original Tracks: Kasper from the K
Archival Producer: Justine Pierce
Camera Operator: Santino Martirano
Production Sound Mixer: Galen Milender
Location Sound Mixer: Tony Czech
Assistant Editor: Nancy Nguyen
A 21 RACCOONS Production