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Both visitors and residents of Alaska are notorious for squeezing a massive amount of work and play into just a few weeks of long-lighted summer.

The four-person crew from Boston which put together "Touching the Game, Alaska" is no exception.

The documentary on the Alaska Baseball League, which will be released on Nov. 30, was created primarily with footage shot in 18 days in 2006 and 18 days in 2007. There also were a few loose ends that needed to be tied up in 2008.

"It was hard getting used to the large amount of daylight," said Jim Carroll, the director. "At night, the cameramen were always saying, 'We're going back out.'"

The crew had a lot to capture. The film covers the history of the Alaska Baseball League, starting with Red Boucher founding the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in 1960. The documentary also takes a look at each of the current six ABL franchises and features interviews with over 20 ex-ABL players who made it to Major League Baseball.

Carroll, co-producer Anthony Keel, director of photography Eric Scharmer and cameraman John Martin did the project as a labor of love, according to Carroll. Carroll's company is Fields of Vision while Keel and Scharmer are partners at Eye Candy Cinema.

Those two companies often work together on money-making projects commissioned by entities like universities, but the two companies commissioned themselves in 2003 to shoot "Touching the Game, The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League."

The project sold 10,000 DVDs, aired on WGN America and also was picked up by a PBS station in Boston.

"After doing that, a few people suggested we go up to Alaska because there are very similar stories," Carroll said.

The group took the bait but quickly found Alaska presented challenges of its own.

"In the Cape league, it's nice vacation homes, the summer and the beach," Carroll said. "The farthest any teams are apart is 45 minutes.

"Alaska is roughing it."

The crew followed the Goldpanners as they stayed in the famed Bingo Hilton in Kenai and followed the Peninsula Oilers as they stayed in the equally swanky Olympic Village in Fairbanks.

The whole time, the production group was under financial and clock-induced pressure.

"We had to rent the film cameras, and they were costly," Carroll said. "The time, logistics -- they were all an issue. We have gotten some contribution from the teams, each donated a small amount, but we basically financed ourselves."

Shawn Maltby, the general manager of the Peninsula Oilers, saw an earlier cut of the movie and told Carroll he thought the Goldpanners received too much attention and the rest of the league did not receive enough. Maltby said the new version is much better.

"It's a lot different," Maltby said. "There's definitely not as much as I would like to see, but there's definitely more coverage on the Peninsula Oilers."

In the film, former Oilers general manager Mike Baxter guides the audience through the history of Coral Seymour Memorial Park. Brad Mills, a former Oilers player and the current manager of the Houston Astros, also gives some memories of the park's early days.

The film also portrays the Kenai Peninsula as a great place to view wildlife, thanks in part to Oilers broadcasters Dan Gensel and Bob Bird.

"By the time we got to Kenai, we still hadn't seen a moose yet," Carroll said. "We told the radio guys about it. As the game was just about to start, we heard over the PA, 'This is for the film crew. There's a moose right across the street.'"

Dave Magadan, former Oiler and a current hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox, and Mark Teahen, a former Oilers infielder recently traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Chicago White Sox, tell wildlife stories.

"It was cool that they had Mark Teahen in there saying how much playing for the Oilers had helped his career," Maltby said.

There also are Kenai fishing stories. Terry Francona, a 1978 Goldpanner and now the manager of the Boston Red Sox, tells of getting bored while staying in Kenai and borrowing a volleyball net from the gym at which the team was staying. Team members carried the net to the river and used it to catch fish.

J.D. Drew, a former Oiler and current outfielder for the Red Sox, also gives fishing memories, as does former Oilers player David Newby and manager Thad Johnson. Peggy Baxter, an Oilers board member, is interviewed about the Bingo Hilton. Former Oilers Jake Kahaulelio and Andre Lamontagne give their takes on the Olympic village.

"Anytime there's a video on where you work, or what you do, it's a neat experience," Maltby said.

The video derives considerable cachet from all of those interviewed that made it to the big leagues. The two biggest names are Dave Winfield and Tom Seaver, both former Goldpanners who went on to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

There's also a cameo by successful author and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who at the time was a new governor of one of the smallest states in the U.S.

Carroll said the big leaguers did not need any prompting when it came to talking about Alaska.

"It was such a young time in their lives, and everyone had such a good time in Alaska, they were happy to talk about it," Carroll said. "Major league players today, when you ask, 'Can I get you for a few minutes?' they don't know if it's going to be about performance-enhancing drugs or something like that.

"When you tell them it's about Alaska, they relax. Everybody was very open about it."

The DVD, plus a DVD of extra features, will be available at www.touchingthegame.com. Both Maltby and Carroll said they'd like to have the film available at Seymour Park next summer. There have already been screenings in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and Carroll said the film was well-received.

"One thing we didn't get a chance to do, and I feel bad, is we did not get to Kenai to do a screening," Carroll said. "We're going to try and organize one for next summer."

He also said a screening in Boston went very well.

"If we can get enough interest, this can really benefit your state," Carroll said. "When people go to Alaska from here, they always go on cruises. That's nice, but when I ask them about Anchorage and Fairbanks, they have no idea.

"Here, a lot of fans and families travel around in the summer going to minor league parks."

Carroll does not know what the next "Touching the Game" project will be.

"People love the stories of amateur baseball, but there isn't a lot of money out there for it," he said. "We'll be happy breaking even moneywise. We just want to get it out there."