Tough Guys (2017 film)

Tough Guys
Directed byHenry Roosevelt, W.B. Zullo
Produced byCraig DiBiase
StarringBill Viola, Frank Caliguri
Production
company
MinusL
Release date
  • 15 June 2017 (2017-06-15) (AFI Film Festival)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tough Guys is a 2017 documentary film that explores the development of mixed martial arts as a mainstream sporting event in the United States from 1979-1983. The principal characters are Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri, who founded CV Productions together.[1] The film made its debut at the AFI Film Festival of 2017.[2] Its first network television showing premiered on Showtime, September 15, 2017.[3][4][5] Filming took place at 18 locations throughout Pennsylvania, New York, and Florida including Allegheny Shotokan Karate and Denny's restaurant.[4]

  1. ^ McNary, Dave (2017-06-13). "Morgan Spurlock to Exec Produce MMA Origins Documentary 'Tough Guys' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  2. ^ Page-Kirby, Kristen (2017-06-15). "AFI Docs is your ticket to 3 world-premiere films". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  3. ^ "Tough Guys | SHOWTIME". SHO.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  4. ^ a b Scuillo, Maria. "Showtime documentary proves Pittsburgh-area early mixed martial arts fighters were "Tough Guys"". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 3 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  5. ^ Harrop, JoAnne Klimovich. "'Tough Guys' traces MMA's roots right back to Western Pennsylvania". TribLIVE.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2018-06-13.