NEW YORK CITY - Producer Tony Wilson hopes his movie about Norway baseball scores big after premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Actor Powers Boothe, who plays Coach Jim Van Scoyoc in “The Final Season,” says, "He's so nervous right now, because it's like his baby is being exposed to the world."

Shortly after Norway's record 20th state championship in 1991, Wilson contacted the real-life coaches. He wanted to make a movie about their lives.

Kent Stock says, "As a kid, my dream was to play baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals. His dream was to make a movie. Look who's closer now."

Wilson says, "Just to see some of the scenes that had been in the very first draft of the screen was just very moving to me."

It's been a long 16-year journey to bring Wilson's small town Iowa dream to big city New York. Along the way, he says he's had his share of challenges, but none as tough as what happened in the final days of filming.

A helicopter shooting aerials for the movie clipped some power lines and went down. Wilson was on board.

He says, "I don't remember the crash. I don't remember being airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals."

The crash broke most of his ribs, his leg, a vertebrae in his back, and punctured his lung. The news also broke up the movie's production that day, as nearly 200 cast and crew members huddled together in silence.

Stock says, "It was probably one of the worst days of my life."

Actress Rachael Leigh Cook, who plays Polly Hudson in “The Final Season,” says, "You just... You just don't believe something like that's going to happen."

Now, ten months later, Wilson is promoting his movie at one of the world's largest film festivals.

Actor Sean Astin, who plays Kent Stock in “The Final Season,” says, “There he is - the energizer bunny who refuses to quit."

Actor Brett Claywell, who plays Patrick Iverson in “The Final Season,” says, "The fact that he's here and he's walking and he's doing so well after the accident. He's been trying to tell this story for 16 years. I can't imagine how proud he is."

Wilson says the only thing that outweighs his pride is his obligation to this picture.

"I just felt an awesome sense of responsibility for having survived that."

Movie makers dedicated the film to the memory of Roland Schlotzhauer, the cinematographer killed in the crash. Another man, pilot Richard Green, also survived significant injuries.

Email Josh Hinkle at Josh.Hinkle@kcrg.com