A film depicting the unbelievable rise of former Watford defender Jay DeMerit will be shown in cinemas across the United Kingdom tonight.

'Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story' is a documentary film which describes how DeMerit's dream of playing professional football took him across Europe after failing to break into the MLS after university.

DeMerit suffered plenty of rejection in both the US and Europe before he finally caught the eye of then Watford manager Ray Lewington during a pre-season friendly against Northwood, who DeMerit had joined just a few weeks earlier.

The American went on to score a goal which helped Watford gain promotion to the Premier League, captain the Hertfordshire side and then reach the ultimate in his profession - playing for his country in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The making of the 92-minute film is also a success story as it was created primarily by a team of four and the majority of the funding for the project came from friends, family and football fans via fund-raising website Kickstarter, with almost £150,000 being raised.

'Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story', which was co-directed by two of DeMerit's friends Ranko Tutulugdzija and Nick Lewis of Truth2Life Productions, includes interviews with DeMerit himself, former Watford managers Aidy Boothroyd and Ray Lewington, a couple of Hornets fans and several professional footballers, including Adrian Mariappa, Richard Lee and US team-mates Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra and Stuart Holden.

The film-makers claim their goal is "to promote soccer and get Jay’s story out to as many people as possible, with the hope that it inspires people on all levels to reach their dreams and of course entertain people with a great film."

“To have people reach out and volunteer their time and creativity has been something we didn’t expect,” Lewis adds.

“It really is a testament to Jay's story. This film is not just for those who love soccer but for anyone who has a dream.”

'Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story' will be shown in Odean cinemas across the UK at 6.30pm and again on Sunday, January 29 at 1pm.

Odean have cinemas in, among other places, Hatfield, Uxbridge, Bracknell, Kingston, Milton Keynes and Maidenhead. Click here to find your nearest cinema or to book tickets.

There will be more of the film published on our website later this week.