I've never really thought that much about the back story of the Rocky films.  And I've never really thought Sylvester Stallone was a filmmaker with much weight.  I knew he had made some popular films and had established a solid place in pop culture with his characters Rocky and Rambo.

But then I saw a video series called The Rocky Story, featuring Sly Stallone speaking about his experience writing Rocky and trying to get it made into a feature film.  

It is very inspiring to say the least.  The gist of the story is that Sylvester Stallone--who is surprisingly sharp, bright, and generous--was struggling to get by as a bit part actor while living in New York.  He went to various auditions and agents hoping to break into the entertainment business.

He had no money, no job prospects, and his wife was planning to leave him.  Stallone even had to go so far as selling his dog!  But he still didn't give up on his dream to succeed.  Stallone began writing screenplays.  He wrote a few that didn't really go anywhere.  But one day, he saw a boxing match between the all time great Muhammad Ali and another journeyman fighter named Chuck Weppner.  Weppner was getting pummeled by one of the greatest fighters of all time, but he still kept coming at Ali.

Finally, Weppner knocked Muhammad Ali down.  This was a huge deal--the legend getting knocked down by some lightweight.  Stallone said he went home and started writing Rocky after this fight--and a few days later had the first draft of the script finished.  He took it around to agents and producers to see if there was any interest, and after some time (and a few rewrites of the script), he started to generate some buzz, and he had a hot piece of material on his hands.

Soon he was getting offers from people to buy "Rocky" from him.  After a long bidding war, a production company offered him something like $300,000 (in the 1970's), but there was one catch--Sylvester Stallone, the unknown actor, wanted to star in the movie.  This created a new set of problems because no one wanted to put an unknown in the movie.  They wanted to buy the script and put a movie star in it, so they could make a hit movie.  Can you imagine the movie Rocky with another actor in the starring role?  

Luckily, Sly stuck to his guns and decided to pass the money up and hold on to his dream of starring in his movie.

Watch the videos below.  This is an inspiring story about not giving up and persevering and getting to the top.  It's amazing how Rocky echoes the real life experience Sly had trying to get it made.  

I also really like the way Tony Robbins tells the Rocky/Sylvester Stallone story.  Watch the video below. 

This is very cool story and it couldn't have happened to a nicer person.