Extras Wait on Checks From “Game of Hope” Film

Some local actors say they are upset because they have not been paid for their work on a movie shot in North Texas.

"One Heart," which is based on a high school football game that was the subject of Matt Barrie and Noah Bullard's award-winning NBC 5 story "Game of Hope," was shot this year.

The movie is about the One Heart Bowl, which sees Grapevine Christian square off against the Gainesville State School. The Gainesville State School is a lockup for children who have committed serious crimes.

The casting calls for the movie went out earlier this year, and some parts of the movie were shot in Grapevine and Denton County in October.

In late November, NBC 5 started receiving calls and emails saying that some people on the set were not getting paid.

Jason Grindle, one of the extras in the movie, noticed after a month that he hadn't received a check.

"I thought, 'You know what? There's a little delay. It's OK. We're going to sit back and wait on that,'" he said. "And then I realized, 'Wow, this is continuing and continuing and continuing.'"

Grindle, a personal trainer by day, has done some acting for the new season of "Dallas" and was excited to be cast as an athletic trainer for one of the teams in "One Heart." He had no problem working from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. for the shoot.

He said he knew coming into the movie that his small part came with a small paycheck.

"I'm not going to the Porsche dealership on what I did," he said. "It's a pittance."

Grindle called the production company about his check but didn't hear back. He also emailed the production company. His email bounced back.

He went on Facebook and complained about the movie. That's when the production company emailed him back, but their response surprised him.

"I was told because I had made comments on social media that their attorneys will not release my payment until I sign a document releasing that payment and removing any items from social media," Grindle said.

NBC 5 reviewed the "payment acknowledgment and release agreement" and saw the "non-disparagement" clause in the legal document sent by the production company.

Grindle said he is not signing it.

NBC 5 reached out to One Heart LLC, the movie's producers. In a statement they told NBC 5:

Film Associates of OneHeart, LLC, producer of the ONE HEART movie, has continuously assured all extras that they will be paid in full. To date, the vast majority of the thousands of extras who participated have been paid. The film's extras payroll company sent checks to a number of extras earlier this week. In addition, yesterday, the company received a number of checks from the payroll company, and either held them for pick up, or mailed them to extras. The remaining extras who have not yet received payment will receive checks in the days ahead. We are grateful for the work of all extras who participated in the filming of the movie.

NBC 5 will continue to monitor the story for further developments.