Opus Is One “Super-Sized” Book

Palisadian Mark Skelly Introduces the Biggest Volume on Football Ever Made

Since it was first played in 1967 the Super Bowl has evolved into the largest one-day sporting event in the United States. Every year millions of people across the country gather in front of television sets to see who will be crowned champion of the National Football League. Just as the Super Bowl is the ultimate sports spectacle in America, “XL Super Bowl The Opus” is the ultimate Super Bowl volume–in fact, the biggest book on football ever made. And it will be on display this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Village Books (1049 Swarthmore). The Opus project was spearheaded by Pacific Palisades resident Mark Skelly, who heads the North American market for United Kingdom-based Kraken Sport & Media, and its most recent addition chronicles the first 40 years of the game as never see before. “I feel fortunate to be involved with this venture,” says Skelly, a 12-year resident of Palisades Highlands. “These Opuses are a must for any sports memorabilia collector and the demand for the Super Bowl book has been incredible everywhere I’ve gone.” Measuring 20 inches square and containing 866 pages, “XL Super Bowl The Opus” weighs in at nearly 88 pounds and includes some 1,400 pictures (75 percent of which have never been seen) and 150,000 words delivered by some of America’s finest writers. There are 10,000 classic edition copies of the Opus (at $5,000 apiece) but only 400 of the special MVP edition, which includes a page signed by every living Most Valuable Player of the first 40 Super Bowls, from Bart Starr to Hines Ward. The MVP edition costs $40,000 and 280 have already been sold. The Super Bowl is but one Opus. In fact, the Prince of Dubai recently bought the Opus on the Manchester United soccer team for $1.6 million. Skelly said Kraken Sport & Media learned on Friday it has closed a deal with the NBA. Future collections include “Formula 1” (due out in March), the “Enzo Special Edition and Ferrari Classic” (in September), “Major League Baseball” (summer of 2009) and now the start of the creation and production for the NBA Opus. In development is “The 100 Greatest Fights” (a legendary look into the provocative content and imagery of boxing.) The company is even expanding its collection with the movement into iconic brands and cultures such as The Vatican and Disney. Although he has enjoyed success in the entertainment industry as a literary manager/producer, Skelly’s real passion is sports. He was a pitcher at Loyola Marymount he was later drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, but an elbow injury prompted him to go back to school. After graduating from Arizona State he joined a start-up company that created, manufactured and marketed Flex-All, the world’s top-selling topical analgesic. By the mid 1990s, Skelly had left sports marketing to pursue opportunities entertainment. He joined feature film writers/producers, Mark Victor and Michael Grais, who wrote and produced movies of international acclaim. The trio formed VGS, a production/management company and Skelly’s clients included an Academy Award winner and an Emmy Award winner. After seven years of success, the partners disbanded the company to start sole proprietorships. “I love the creative process of developing intellectual properties and stories but show business wasn’t feeding my soul,” Skelly admits. “I’m getting the best of all worlds as Kraken is really a publisher of the worlds largest, most expensive and prolific sports-themed books period! I’m having a great time bringing joy to fans of these great sports and the teams and players that make these stories and images memorable and historical.” Skelly’s wife, Dr. Lori Musto, is a family practitioner in the village, and their children, Sienna (10) and Shane (7), attend Corpus Christi School. Skelly isn’t making any promises but he hopes he can coax at least one Super Bowl MVP into coming to Village Books on Sunday. “I’ve arranged to have former USC and NFL quarterback Rodney Peete present ‘The Opus’ on Fox’s ‘Best Damn Sports Show Period’ all week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday,” Skelly says. “We’re also involved with numerous organizations like the “Make a Wish Foundation,” where Opuses will be auctioned off with a portion of the money going to charity.” Anyone interested in purchasing a copy can place an order at Village Books. For information, e-mail Skelly at mark@opus-america.com or visit the Web site: www.krakenopus.com.