The value of great storytelling in business has never been higher, as seen in the influx of documentaries throughout sports media, from series like ESPN Film’s 30 for 30 to platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. One of those stories that on the docket is “WILLIE,” showcasing the life story of Willie O’Ree, the first black player in the NHL, and his path from experiencing racism in the Jim Crow south to losing the sight in one eye to eventually making the Boston Bruins and playing professional hockey for more than 20 years.
The film, which was just names a special presentation by the Hot Docs Film festival, is the work of veteran sports marketer and entrepreneur Bryan McBride, who, along with filmmaker Laurence Mathieu-Leger, and support from the National Hockey League will bring the story to the big screen later this year. We caught up with McBride to talk about the film.
McBride on releasing the film: Anyone that has met him will tell you that meeting Willie O’Ree is a special experience – in this especially divided time, we wanted people to really get to know one of the greatest living “uniters” of people ever. We, and our partner on the film, the NHL, thought this window was an especially important time to share his story.
On the surprises of being a first time film producer: The awesome skill of the team we assembled. Our Director Laurence Mathieu Leger is a gifted, huge talent – she shot much of the film, was deeply involved in the editing, the score, the color and more. As result, I strongly believe that more women should make sports themed movies – I would not have thought that before this film. Penny Marshall, Director of a League of Their Own, died in the middle of filming WILLIE. I do not want to generalize, but it hit me that women had a different way of telling sports stories – much less linear than most men and much more layered and textured. As a result, both movies make you really think and examine plot lines more intuitively – thus making them more than traditional “sports movies”.
On working with Burst: Burst is about “owning” rather than “renting” on the media landscape – especially locally. We work closely with social media companies and they do so many things so well, but I think that broadcasters and publishers have realized that they need to “own’ four things if they are going to survive and thrive in this constantly evolving, screen-fluid consumption world : content, data, customer and the ability to monetize them and business models.
If they are dependent on a social media company for videos, images, traffic, engagement and revenue (or whatever the social media companies will share with them) then they are merely “renters’ on the media landscape beholden to others. Burst’s customers are amongst the most sophisticated media companies and brands in existence and they choose to “own” and control their futures by monetizing within their digital ecosystems. We are keying in unlocking revenue streams with them.
