129 – Making the Sports Documentary with Gotham Chopra

Sports documentaries have really come into their own as a documentary genre. The truth is that the built-in drama and sometimes off-the-field shenanigans make for some really compelling stories. Entities like ESPN's 30 For 30 (https://www.espn.com/espnplus/series/0514c1ad-efd1-4d3a-ad82-41ca579a94a2/30-for-30) series, HBO Sports, Netflix and Hulu's ventures into sports docuseries, all have been making these films and really elevating the stature of the sports documentary. And so has filmmaker, Religion of Sports (https://www.religionofsports.com/) , Gotham has been embracing the sports documentary in a way that has really been separating himself from the pack. And we were fortunate enough to be able to sit down with Gotham and have a one-on-one chat about why sports docs are so popular and best practices for the doc filmmaker to be making them!   Topics Discussed how Gotham Chopra came to documentary via early journalism assignments How ESPN’s 30 for 30 series legitimized sports as documentary subject Why sports makes for such compelling stories How to gain access to higher profile sports personalities The importance of separating your project from all of the types of content that are already out there Additional ResourcesWatch the Religion of Sports' The Great Brady Heist in its entirety! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I29ZMIOZwX0     Sponsors & Thank YousMusic Vine 15 PERCENT OFF!Music Vine (https://musicvine.com/) Thank you to music licensing platform, Music Vine (https://musicvine.com/) for contributing the wonderful music that we’ve used in this week’s episode. We’ve used many music licensing platforms over the years for commercials, corporate videos, and documentaries and these guys are definitely different. Their music catalogue is truly fresh, diverse, full of character, their search engine is as straight forward and user friendly and their licensing fees? Unlike anywhere else we have come across. If you need any music for your doc project, we can honestly recommend Music Vine (https://musicvine.com/) . And make sure to use our promo code to get an additional 15 percent off of any subscription!! PROMO CODE: doclife15   ° Free Music Archive (http://freemusicarchive.org/) today!   Subscribe Stitcher (https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/thedocumentarylife/the-documentary-life) |  Rate and ReviewIf you have found value in this podcast please leave a review so it can become more visible to others. Simply click the (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/documentary-life-filmmaking-documentary-films-documentary/id1112679868?mt=2) and then click on the Ratings and Reviews tab to make your entry. Thank you for your support!