As the NASCAR season gears up to crown a champion this month, EPIX is placing the spotlight on one high-profile driver whose career is in transition in Danica Patrick. The documentary, titled Danica and running on Wednesday at 8p, is directed and executive produced by award-winning ESPN journalist and pioneer Hannah Storm (along with fellow EPs Ross Bernard and Jocelyn Diaz) through EPIX in conjunction with Brainstormin Productions and, according to the release, will offer “a rare, candid look at an icon, capturing never-before-seen moments on and off the track with Danica Patrick and those closest to her.”
Cynopsis spoke with Storm about her forays into long-form storytelling, what made Patrick such an intriguing subject and what else we can expect from Brainstormin Productions.
Storm on the documentary genre: I started my company because I wanted to have the opportunity to tell the story, not only the way that I wanted it, but also in the time frame I wanted it. So much of what I have done up until that point on television has had very heavy time constraints, whether it’s doing an interview in television – a long interview on television is like 7-8 minutes and that is something that i built a franchise on ESPN, Face to Face – but it’s not like I would ever have the luxury of having a full hour.to tell a story. But if it is something that had historical significance, was a part of a larger movement or had a larger meaning, I want to sink my teeth into it because I am able to use different muscles than I am able to use on the air.
On choosing to spotlight Danica Patrick: She is a massive trailblazer. She is a great role model in that regard in the sense of determination but also she is a person that doesn’t sit on her laurels and she is a person in transition. I found that absolutely fascinating as someone who is uniquely confident in who they are, what they like to do, what interests them and what their passions are. I think for her she has been confident is stating that “racing is what I do, not who I am.” It takes a lot of understanding to come to that point, especially when you are in an all-consuming job. We all have jobs, and hers is remarkable in that she is the only woman doing it at that level and has been for decades now.
On Patrick’s personality: There isn’t the temptation to say “this is Danica Patrick, the racecar driver.” Instead, she has embellished and held on to the notion that “this is me, Danica the person and I like cooking, yoga, fitness, designing, wine, etc.” and she has pursued all those things in the same dedicated manner that she pursues racing. She will not be defined by what other people define her as, and, of course, there is some criticism in that regard. There are certainly people who – in a judgmental society – say that maybe she should be only about racing 24 hours a day. But of course, and Tony Stewart backs her up, you also have to be happy and be complete person. You’ve got to be that complete confident person so that on the weekends, you can step it up and give it your all. She doesn’t do anything half-way, and what was nice is that she decided not to do the documentary that way either,.
On her production company: We are in the process of shooting another film now that will be out this Spring, a film that is about an Olympian who underwent great trials during his four years in college and come out on the backend triumphant. Moving forward, what we are looking at is our model of documentaries and strong-storytelling. We are looking a lot in the digital space, meeting with a lot of platforms who are doing this kind of thing. We are looking at series as well in addition to branded content.
