What People Are Saying About The Film

"And the Balls Roll On..." is a delightful trip through time that relates the rise of Skee-Ball, which—after more than 100 years—still maintains its position as a favorite amusement park arcade game. The players are almost as passionate about it as the inventor, who devoted most of his life to pursuing its success. This is an extremely entertaining and informative look at a significant forgotten story from America’s past.

Patricia A. Martinelli, M. A.
Author and Historian

"IT IS AMAZING. Engaging, uplifting, beautiful. And yes, fascinating!! And hitting [it] out of the park! You guys rock!"

Heather Anderson

"I absolutely loved the film—everything from the music to the flow of the story to the contemporary scenes came together perfectly. Terrific work!"

P. M.

"And The Balls Roll On... I love Skee-Ball, so this doc touched me in a very personal space."

Chicago Feedback Film Festival Reviewer

Festivals & Awards

And The Balls Roll On...

The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball

This is the story of the game that revolutionized arcade games forever, thanks to the early work of a forgotten inventor living in Vineland, New Jersey in the early 1900s. It began with thirty-two foot long alleys that were a huge hit on the boardwalk in New Jersey in those first years, to the ten foot alleys in arcades from coast to coast in the United States, and on six continents. This game has touched billions of lives, from brightening kids' birthday parties to adults' hard fought national tournaments with hefty cash prizes.

How did it survive two world wars, recessions and depressions, industrial upheavals, and technology revolutions to become one of the most beloved games in arcade history?

About The Film

Meet The Directors

Thaddeus O. Cooper

Thaddeus O. Cooper was born in New Jersey. Growing up, he summered at the Jersey shore playing Skee-Ball and spent his spare time in the library the rest of the year. Educated in Fine Arts and Theatre at Penn State, he worked in technical theatre for a number of years. After shifting his career to computer science, he blended his arts background with his skills in digital technology for software development and film projects. Relocating to L.A. as a sound recordist and then to the Bay Area of California, he rediscovered Skee-Ball on his iPhone and set out to produce a short video about its history and how it entered the digital age. The rest, as they say, is (Skee-Ball) history.

Thaddeus lives with his wife and two cats, Mao Mao and Dorian, in the San Francisco Bay area.

Kevin B Kreitman

Kevin B Kreitman was born and raised in the Chicago area, and migrated to Northern California. She spent her early career as a writer and musical artist, finally returning to school to become a technology strategist, business consultant, author and educator. She partnered with Thaddeus Cooper to run a boutique film production firm creating high-end video training. Since then she has become fascinated with the history of Skee-Ball, and used the opportunity to honing her writing skills for the screen. She and her husband live in California with their two cats.

Meet The Narrator

Adrienne Grechman

Adrienne Grechman is a San Francisco based voice actor, living in the bucolic county of Marin. As a daughter of a jazz pianist and an artist, Adrienne grew up immersed in creativity. She studied acting in high school and college; finally earning her degree in classical piano performance while winning every award and scholarship available at her school.

After graduation, she went to flight school and became an airline pilot, first for a Northwest Airlink commuter then for Alaska Airlines. She was a captain on the Boeing 737 at Alaska Airlines and on the ALPA Air Safety, Hazmat and Accident Investigation Teams that worked on two major NTSB investigations.

Willing to try anything at least once, she’s sky dived, zip lined, and swung from trapezes along her way. She’s also a trained birth doula, equal parts punk rocker and hippie, and the anti-super mom who keeps the kind of fun house all the kids want to come to (and sometimes, to her amusement, never want to leave).

Becoming a voice actor was like going full circle, bringing her back to her love of acting and forward into a full-time voiceover career. With a wicked sense of professionalism, humor, and artistry, Adrienne attacks her work with purpose and play, style and efficiency.

Adrienne believes it is important to give, and she is especially passionate about advocating for those living in poverty and victims of human trafficking. She digs all kinds of music, loves dancing hip hop, often sails the SF Bay, is completely crazy about her husband, her daughter and her son, and has a special affinity for American history. After attempting to improve her Skee-Ball mastery over several decades, she hopes someday to win the elusive ginormous teddy bear.

Meet The Composer

Brian Satterwhite

Brian Satterwhite is a professional film composer based in Austin, Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Music with dual majors in Film Scoring and Composition from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Brian’s music has been featured in over one hundred and seventy-five short and feature films including Match Me If You Can (2022), The Summoned (2022), The Next Kill (2018), The Lone Ranger (2013), Sushi: The Global Catch (2012), Switch (2012), Man On A Mission (2012), Artois The Goat (2009), Quarter to Noon (2008), The Children’s War (2008), Cowboy Smoke (2008), Mr. Hell (2006), and the award-winning IMAX™ film Ride Around The World (2006). Brian’s many accolades include twelve gold medals and four silver medals from the Park City Film Music Festival.

Brian has composed a handful of scores for silent films performed by the Dallas Chamber Symphony including Metropolis (1927), The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari (1920), the Buster Keaton short film The Scarecrow (1920), and the Harold Lloyd feature A Sailor-Made Man (1921) which was a finalist for a Jerry Goldsmith Award in 2013. Brian also served as an orchestrator under composer Douglas Pipes for the Universal Studios motion picture Krampus (2015) directed by Michael Dougherty.

In addition to composing, Brian is a highly regarded film music journalist who writes for several popular web sites and pens soundtrack album liner notes for several major labels. He is currently writing a book on The Music of Friday the 13th scheduled for publication in late 2025.