‘Sports docs can transcend boundaries of traditional audiences’
“Great sport is just great theatre” is a phrase I would often hear my father say. It’s something he knew a bit about as a successful England and British and Irish Lions player, coach and manager.
I’m not sure that I ever truly understood what he meant until I became a filmmaker.
Yes, a great sporting match can be a thrilling spectacle. Still, it’s also much more than that when combined with the depth which dramatic storytelling brings.
Formula 1
Look at Drive to Survive, now into its fourth season, and you will see that those brave enough to open their doors to narratives beyond the sports events themselves will reap the rewards.
Too often, sporting teams say they are giving access, but as soon as the pressure is on they want to close the doors, afraid of how they might be perceived.
The trouble with this approach is that it’s boring.
Tension, pressure and conflict are what inspire.
The sports docs that have been major successes have been varied and have built huge audiences with non-fans. But it’s not the sport itself that necessarily makes a show a winner – rather there are other traits in the storytelling which have made them hits.
Yes, the action needs to be compelling, but beyond that it is the high stakes that keeps people watching.
How could you not be moved by the terrifying crash F1 driver Romain Grosjean had that should have killed him – only to see him climb out of the burning wreck with only a few relatively minor injuries?
The Stakes
The stakes aren’t always life and death. It could be an intriguing backstory like in The Last Dance, which follows Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls as they go after a third consecutive championship in Jordan’s final season.
Through the series, the characters and the inner psyche of one of the greatest sportsmen of all time are unpicked and viewers are given a truly intimate look at a winner.
And of course, there’s the competition, the rival painted as the ultimate hurdle to overcome.
The Oscar winning doc When We Were Kings typifies what makes a great sports film as it tells the story of Muhammad Ali coming back from against the odds to fight and win the supposedly unwinnable Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman.
The relatable emotions, the ups and downs, and ultimately the come-from-behind victory connect viewers with the mind and world of a boxer and icon many have never met.
Growing audiences
Great stories are about seeing people struggle against adversity.
Yet women, who often face far greater barriers to achieving their potential, are regularly ignored when it comes to high end sports docs.
From a commercial and engagement perspective, whoever can get this right will be rewarded with growing audiences and participation levels.
Maiden, a doc about the first all-women crew in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race, is a film ultimately about the bold and brave. Interestingly the team behind that has just announced Copa ’71, recounting the story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, one of the most successful female soccer tournaments of all time.
Yet, as I write this during Women’s History Month, the big blockbuster sporting series that dominate the streamers are still based around men.
Without access, funding, and high-quality storytelling targeted for broader audiences, success is more challenging in the long term.
But make no mistake, these stories matter.
The winners in the global sports market will provide quality storytelling which transcends borders and the sport itself.
It’s a reason to watch and engage with a sport even if you know nothing about it.
Done at the highest level, it can turn a declining audience into an ascending one for years to come.
Benjamin Uttley, founder of Stamp Productions, is an award-winning filmmaker. Their latest film, Silver Spitfire: The Longest Flight, premieres on 20 March at the Manchester Film Festival.