'Ueck' directors discuss film with Rhinelander audience

RHINELANDER – Filmmakers Steve Farr and Michael T. Vollman stuck around after the Thursday, Aug. 13 screening of their documentary Ueck at Rhinelander’s Rouman Cinema to answer questions from the audience, sharing stories about how the film came together and what's next for the project.

Origins of the film

Farr said the idea grew out of a fall 2022 development meeting at the pair's production company, which is headquartered in Milwaukee and Los Angeles. Both directors were already Bob Uecker fans, and Farr had a personal connection – he had worked with Uecker on an ALS public service announcement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When they reached out to Uecker about the project, he agreed quickly.

"At age 88, if you're going to do it, you guys better do it soon," Farr recalled him saying.

The directors met Uecker and two of their producing partners for lunch in Scottsdale, Ariz., expecting to spend the meeting pitching him on why they were the right team for the job. Instead, Farr said Uecker had already made up his mind within a couple of minutes and spent the next three and a half to four hours telling stories – nearly making the directors miss their flight back to Milwaukee.

Filming began by spring training 2023 and continued over two baseball seasons, followed by roughly a year of editing.

A film reshaped by illness

Vollman said the film's original premise was built around a simple question: why does an 89-year-old man keep calling baseball games? But that framing shifted early in production when Uecker told the filmmakers about his cancer diagnosis.

"The first thing we asked him was, 'Do you still want to do the documentary?'" Farr said.

Uecker's answer was yes – he said he'd listen to his doctors, "even though I didn't," according to Farr – and he kept finding time for the crew's requests, including a boat trip and a stadium tour, though the directors said they only got through about half of their original wish list.

Vollman noted that some of what they captured turned out to be irreplaceable, including what the crew believes may have been the last time Uecker was out on his boat, one of his favorite pastimes outside of baseball.

From 300 hours of footage to 90 minutes

The directors said they amassed roughly 300 hours of footage, including 20 to 30 interviews and about 200 hours of footage shot around the ballpark, on top of decades of archival material – including more than 80 of Uecker's appearances on "The Tonight Show," along with commercials and broadcasts.

The film’s lead editor began organizing footage from the start of production in 2023, Farr said. By Thanksgiving 2025, he had put together a rough cut that ran six hours. The team ultimately trimmed the film to roughly 90 minutes, the length preferred by streaming platforms, cutting stories and jokes that Farr said "just died on the screen" despite being funny in the room.

Farr said a longer DVD or Blu-ray release, if it happens, would likely include additional extras.

Where the film goes from here

Ueck premiered at a film festival in October before Marcus Theatres picked it up for a theatrical run beginning July 24 in roughly 17 theaters, where Vollman said it has held its own against major studio releases. Since then, the directors said they've been booking independent theaters across Wisconsin and, for now, the film is only playing in the state.

Vollman explained that licensing archival and MLB footage comes with significant costs, and the filmmakers negotiated a reduced rate specifically for the Wisconsin run. They're hoping strong turnout in the state will help fund licensing for a wider national release. A streaming deal is expected eventually, though the directors said the streaming market has cooled considerably since they began the project four years ago, when platforms were paying much more for films like theirs.

Farr and Vollman said they'd spent several weeks driving around Wisconsin introducing the film in person, visiting roughly 10 to 12 cities at the time of the Rhinelander screening. From Rhinelander, they said they were headed to Ashland next, followed by a screening in Ripon and a Q&A-style event at the Bend Theater in West Bend featuring several former Milwaukee Brewers players and broadcasters, including Jim Gantner, Jerry Augustine and Bill Schroeder. 

The directors also described a recent screening at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee that drew about 600 people, including several Brewers broadcasters.

Audience questions and memories

Several audience members shared personal memories of Uecker, including staying up late as children to watch him on late-night television or listening for him on the radio when the Brewers played West Coast teams.

One audience member asked whether the film could be updated with a new ending if the Brewers made a deep playoff run this season. Farr said the question has come up at other screenings, and the filmmakers are considering ways to add an update to the film's ending.

Another attendee asked about the title of Uecker's memoir, Catcher in the Wry, and whether Uecker came up with it himself. Farr said he wasn't certain, noting the book had a ghostwriter, Mickey Herskovitz, but added that Uecker's humor comes through clearly in the book regardless.