In July, pre-production efforts began for a Chucky Mullins-centric movie titled, “It’s Time.” Now, it’s time for auditions, but not for actors and actresses – for football players.

Game Changing Films last week announced an open casting call for men ages 18-35, all ethnicities, with football experience to hit the gridiron for the big screen. Mark Ellis, football coordinator with Game Changing Films, said football skills are far more important than acting skills when trying to cast for these types of roles.

“There’s no way to fake it. Like any other coach, I need great players who can execute,” Ellis said. “This is like putting together an All Star team.”

The casting call will be in Jackson, Miss., in early October. Filming will also take place in the Jackson area during October and November.

Likely targets for “tryouts” are men who have just finished college football in D1-D3 schools. Ellis said men who are presently playing football are unlikely to be able to be a part of the film process because of a combination of challenges, including availability and NCAA regulations in regards to payment.

Game Changing Firms has worked on such titles as “We Are Marshall,” “The Longest Yard,” “The Game Plan” and more recently, “Woodlawn.”

Ellis said he expects anywhere from 250-600 to attend the open audition. At the end of the day, the best 65-75 will be selected to go to training camp and learn plays for the film, which will include actual plays that were run at Vanderbilt and Ole Miss during Brad Gaines’ and Mullins’ careers at those schools, as well as possibly plays from Mullins’ high school football career.

“It’s a great experience. It’s fun to do,” Ellis said. “These guys are basically categorized as special ability extras.” While Ellis said he couldn’t yet speak to the pay rate, “it’s not bad, and the food is fantastic. You get to be in a movie and get paid to play football.”

The Mullins film grew out of the well-loved documentary of the same name. The film will chronicle Mullins’ story, from adolescence, to the football play that paralyzed him, to Gaines’ lasting devotion to Mullins.

Game Changing Films representatives landed in Jackson, Miss., earlier this week to figure out when and where open casting call will take place. Anyone interested in the open casting call should visit www.gamechangingfilms.com and click Football Casting Call for more information on how to register and receive more information on the date and time of the casting call, which will probably be held sometime around Oct. 9-11. Those interested will be asked to provide their name, contact information, age, height, weight, football experience and a few recent photos.

“There’s a ton of great players who love the game and would love to put the pads back on,” said Ellis. “It’s a great story and a great movie. Usually everybody has a great experience doing something like this.”