A young man who was indefinitely suspended for sexual assault despite his alleged victim saying she wasn’t raped, will have his story told in an upcoming documentary.
Grant Neal was a promising athlete at Colorado State University-Pueblo (CSUP), with dreams of reaching the NFL, until he was accused of sexually assaulting an athletic trainer after a peer noticed a hickey on her neck. This third party reported Neal, and the school took the case, despite the alleged victim trying to stop the investigation and telling the athletic director, “I’m fine and I wasn’t raped” — a conversation Neal recorded and presented as evidence.
Neal was indefinitely suspended and sued his school and the federal government for creating policies and a “guilty-until-proven-innocent” culture that resulted in his punishment. In July 2017, Neal and CSUP settled out of court.
Since his story unfolded, Neal has had to give up his dreams of an NFL career and has become an MMA fighter. He was also accepted to Colorado State University-Denver and is studying to become an orthopedic surgeon. This will all be included in an upcoming documentary, “A Violent Dance: The True Story of Grant Neal,” which raised money on Kickstarter earlier this summer. Directed by Emmy award-winner Magellan Rubin, Neal’s story of accusation and his comeback “is almost entirely finished with production,” according to the team behind the Kickstarter.
“What’s left is developing the story into a compelling narrative, funding post-production, and finding an audience for the film – first at film festivals and later, if possible, through broadcast and digital platforms,” the Kickstarter says. “Our initial goal of $5,000 will aid us in getting a finalized cut of the film, but there’s a lot of additional funding needed to turn it into a masterpiece.”