Actor Corbin Bernsen is hoping to help the financially struggling All-American Soap Box Derby.
Bernsen is seeking investors to make a movie about the derby, which is held every year in Akron. He needs about $1 million to finance the project, in which some of the proceeds would go to the derby.
Bernsen was in the city Thursday talking to potential investors about his screenplay, "25 Hill." Plans call to shoot part of the movie during this summer's race, which attracts about 600 racers and their families.
Out of those racers, three winners are from the Greater Youngstown Area Soap Box Derby. Racers compete in three divisions; Stock, Masters, and Super Stock. The winner of each division earns a spot in the All American Soap Box Derby.
There is a long history of the derby in the Youngstown area. The Greater Youngstown Area Soap Box Derby got its start in 1934. John Fraser of Boardman won that very first race. We spoke with him at the Youngstown derby in 2008.
"I built a car and I won...police car was going beside me when I won, and I was going 48 miles an hour when I crossed the finish line. That was pretty fast. We were kids. We didn't know any better. The adults weren't happy, but we were. We enjoyed it very much."
He also said that a lot had changed in the years since he took a homemade car with wheel barrel wheels and a Chevrolet steering wheel to victory.
"Well see, everything was hand made. They changed the rules as time went on...made it easier for more to participate...became more interested in quality than they were in heart."
Unfortunately, there is a price for quality. That price came in the form of corporate sponsorship, and without it, the derby is struggling. The nonprofit derby has gone two years without a corporate sponsor, and an Ohio bank is suing the organization to repay a $580,000 loan.
In the past, companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Home Depot generally contributed about $250,000 a year plus free publicity.
Time will tell if Corbin Bersen can help put some of the heart, and the money, back into one of the great family events in the area.
