Yankees player’s ‘Catching the Dream’ saga lures filmmaker: ‘World needs to see it!’

NEW YORK — The pastor who turned Yankees catcher J. C. Escarra from a non-believer to a devout Christian has also been the brains behind a different project for the major leaguer.

It began 15 rows back in a conference room of Nashville’s Opryland Hotel at a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference. Franco Gennaro wasn’t just there for featured speaker President Donald Trump, who was between terms on June 17, 2022. This was also an opportunity to schmooze with pastors and hear speeches from a full lineup of politicians who identify as Christians: Nikki Haley, Newt Gingrich and Herschel Walker, among others.

Sitting to Gennaro’s left was a Northern Californian who had recently relocated to Nashville, a Christian-based filmmaker since the 1990s who has worked with big-screen legends and Oscar nominees. Ricky Borba was there as the plus one for his pastor, Ben Graham, a great nephew to late evangelist Billy Graham, and at the time, an actor and producer of Graham Family Films. “I didn’t know Ricky from Adam and we get into a conversation,” said Gennaro, now president of Victory Missions, which harvests churches around the world.

They found out they used to live in the same city near Sacramento, went to the same church and had a friendship with the same pastor. The Tampa pastor and Nashville film director ended up exchanging numbers and have remained in touch. Then, in March 2025, after Escarra made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster after a long and winding road as a minor leaguer, Gennaro had an epiphany.