On Friday, March 9, a group of panelists came together to discuss the work that went into “O.J.: Made in America” for ESPN’s 30 for 30 series. The session, titled Chasing OJ: The Race for the Next Epic Sports Film, featured long-time sports journalist Armen Keteyian of “60 Minutes,” Erin Leyden of ESPN Films, Thaddeus Matula of Double Life Films and was hosted by Chip Rives of Texas Crew Productions.
The #ChasingOJ panel, L-R:
Armen Keteyian, Thaddeus Matula, Erin Leyden, Chip Rives pic.twitter.com/1DQGjj8c96— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
In addition to talking about the thought and inspiration that went into “O.J.: Made in America,” the group spoke of what it takes to have a winning pitch and vision in the world of sports documentaries. While none of them are necessarily looking for the “next epic sports film” per se, or even know what format it may take, they all agree that stories have to have roots and branch out from there; the filmmaker has to have a specific vision to make that all come together as well. Audiences respond to great storytelling, not just great stories, and that’s at least part of what led to “Icarus” being this year’s Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards.
“You have to have a vision. ESPN isn’t going to provide the vision for you.” – Armen Keteyian #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
We attended the session and live-tweeted some of the things said by Keteyian, Leyden, Matula and Rives, some more of which you can read below.
The last two Academy Awards have celebrated sports documentaries #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
“You had screenings where people sat for 8 hours to watch [“OJ: Made in America”] in the theater.” – Chip Rives to Erin Leyden #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
“Looking at OJ, there were a lot of branches: celebrity, the media coverage,…but the root of the story was race.” – Armen Keteyian #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
“You get to tell these uniquely human stories on these massive stages because people already know the subject matter.” – Thaddeus Matula on sports documentaries #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
Erin Leyden reports that her team at ESPN gets 10-15 pitches a week, but releases 10 or fewer films in a year #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
“There’s no format or blueprint, but one of the key ingredients is a filmmaker who is passionate.” – Erin Leyden #ChasingOJ
— Shuffle Online (@shuffleonline) March 9, 2018
For more SXSW 2018 recaps, interviews and reviews click here.
Originally hailing from Pennsylvania, Jackie has called Austin home since choosing to attend the University of Texas, where she graduated with a degree in multimedia journalism. She loves spending time with her dogs, writing about pop culture in all its forms and spending time with friends – eating, drinking and doing trivia.