I'm not saying that Bill Simmons didn't have a lot to do at the "Leader", but....well yeah....he didn't really have a lot to do. He was in charge of a column, and a weekly podcast, but never really had any other responsibilities besides that and a cameo or two on E:60. Well that's all changing as Simmons is now embarking on a producer role for ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series. Via The Hartford Courant....

"It really bothered me that HBO had cornered the sports documentary in the minds of the average sports fan," said Bill Simmons, ESPN's Page 2 columnist and executive producer for the "30 for 30" project.

"Why is it so special when HBO releases one, but yet we're putting out documentaries all the time? Some of them were really good, I thought, and they just kind of fell through the cracks and just didn't make sense to me," Simons said.

In "trying to come up with different ways that maybe we could beat the system" he concentrated on the title, "30 for 30."

"I knew we loved celebrating anniversaries, and I knew we had a lot of money," Simmons said. "And it's like, yeah, we could go get filmmakers."

And so they did, amassing a roster that includes Barbara Kopple, Barry Levinson, Morgan Freeman, Albet Maysles and John Singleton.

The 30 films won't be structured to represent each of the 30 years ESPN has been around, nor will it be all encompassing to cover every event.

"This is meant to be a filmmaker-driven series. It's meant to let creative people be really creative," said Connor Schell, executive producer of the event. "We've picked topics that will collectively create a mosaic of the period. So if you were to watch all 30, you'd get a really good variety of the different types of things that have happened over the last three decades in sports, but by no means is it a countdown."

Well that's certainly a good start to a very large undertaking. Having someone that's passionate in charge of the documentaries, is also a very good idea as well. I think Simmons knows what fans want, and you can expect for the majority of the docus to be very entertaining. Overtaking HBO will be hard, but not impossible.

Here are the dates where you can start checking out the first seven films, this Fall....

* Tuesday, Oct. 6, 8 p.m.
* Tuesday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m.
* Tuesday, Oct. 20, 8 p.m.
* Tuesday, Oct. 27, 8 p.m.
* Tuesday, Nov. 3, 8 p.m.
* Tuesday, Nov. 10, 8 p.m.
* Saturday, Dec. 12, 9 p.m.

Making ESPN a Documentary Force (Hartford Courant)

ESPN just aired a Kobe documentary last weekend, but they've already lined up a second one. This time it's a combo flick with Lebron James, called "Dream Season: 23 & 24", and will air on Thursday, May 21st at 7pm. But wait, there's more! It will even be narrated by the one and only, Justin Timberlake!

ESPN will televise Dream Season 23 & 24 presented by NIKE, a one-hour special Thursday, May 21, at 7 p.m. The program, narrated by six-time Grammy Award-winning and Emmy Award-winning artist Justin Timberlake, will chronicle the past seasons of Cleveland’s LeBron James, the league’s MVP, and Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. From Olympic gold in Beijing to the quest for each to lead his team to the top of the respective NBA conferences, the cameras will provide unique access into James’ and Bryant’s preparation and stellar performances on the court.

They probably could have got Spike Lee to do this one as well, and killed two birds with one stone, but alas....they did not. Still, it sounds interesting, and after watching "Kobe Doin' Work"....I hope it doesn't disappoint.

The Lakers will be playing on ABC this Sunday, either against the Rockets in Game Seven or Game One of the WC Finals, but ESPN will also be debuting Spike Lee's "Kobe Doing Work" on Saturday evening. The 90-minute documentary on the Laker star, is a look into what it's like to be him for one game, and will air uninterrupted by commercials starting at 8pm. Here is the official trailer if you haven't seen it yet....

After all of the controversy surrounding the making of the film (Kobe almost reneged and Spike almost went with Duncan), it's great that it's finally ready for air. Based on some of the clips, ESPN has thrown around, it definitely seems worth a view.

ESPN has been in the film game for awhile now, but after a few failed attempts at creating original flicks, they've moved onto documentaries. While their originals were poorly thought out, and often very cheesy (see: 3), their docs have struck a chord more often than not.

Their latest effort is a colorization and look into the 1958 NFL Championship Game appears to be another step in the right direction, and after viewing this extended preview....I think you'd agree.

Sure it's hosted by Chris Berman, but I'm a sucker for a good documentary, and this one looks like a winner. It airs tomorrow night at 9pm, if you want to check it out. Here are some more details....

Hosted by Chris Berman, The Greatest Game Ever Played explores the most important game in NFL history to commemorate its 50th anniversary. ESPN Films has created an unprecedented look at this landmark event, which featured 17 Hall of Famers and the only NFL championship to be decided in overtime. The presentation will include new colorization/restoration technology and previously unseen footage of the game.

Additionally, to give viewers perspective about the impact of the 1958 NFL Championship Game on players then and now, ESPN Films brought together 11 surviving members of the legendary game and their modern day NFL counterparts from the past two Super Bowl champion teams - the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants. Pairings include Baltimore Colts star receiver Raymond Berry with current Colts head coach Tony Dungy; former Giants kicker Pat Summerall with current Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri; Giants running back Frank Gifford and Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti with current Giants head coach Tom Coughlin; Colts great Lenny Moore with current Giants running back Brandon Jacobs; former Giants linemen Al Barry and Rosie Grier with current Giants lineman Chris Snee; and former Colts star Art Donovan with newly retired Giants star Michael Strahan, among others

(Via ESPN PR)

It's no secret that ESPN has devoted a lot of money and time into building up their ESPN Films brand. They've come a long way from "3" and have had films featured at the Tribeca Film Festival the last two years. Their newest effort is a program titled "30 for 30" and will feature 30, 1-hour films by 30 different filmmakers, and the topic has to be a Sports' story from the last 30 years.

Even more interesting than the idea are the first few people they've tabbed to be directors. The short list includes Spike Lee and none other than "Mummy Lover" Steve Nash....

By year end, ESPN Films will have televised nine documentaries on ESPN and ESPN2. In addition, five filmmakers were named for the company’s “30 for 30” initiative which will create 30 one-hour films by 30 filmmakers on a subject from the past 30 years in sports, to begin airing in September 2009 (ESPN’s 30th anniversary) through 2010: Famed director Spike Lee (When the Levees Broke), two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA and Shut Up & Sing), Oscar nominee Mike Tollin (Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream), two-time NBA MVP and film entrepreneur, Steve Nash, and the rising star duo of Alfred Spelman and Billy Corbin (Cocaine Cowboys).

As I've noted before, I'm addicted to documentaries and if you haven't seen Cocaine Cowboys it's a must to add to your Netflix list. Any movie where a speedboat traveling with pounds of cocaine in its hull pulls over to aid a broken down Coast Guard boat, is a must see in my book.

As far as the other films, Steve Nash's piece will look into Canadian athlete and Cancer survivor Terry Fox and Spike Lee's will follow Kobe Bryant for an entire gameday. I poked fun at ESPN Films when they first released movies at Tribeca, but these documentaries are one of things that a network with incomparable resources does very well.

(Via ESPN PR)

It's been no secret that ESPN has been focusing a lot of their efforts on creating and distributing Sports films to the masses as of late. ESPN Films has been a staple at the Tribeca Film Festival the past few years and their "Black Magic" documentary got critical acclaim.

The newest set of films were set to debut at the TFF at the end of this Month, but ESPN has decided to air them on ESPN2 the day before the Festival kicks off.

On April 22 at 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2 will begin airing the first of four inspirational and revealing documentary films - all making their televised world premieres – as part of the new ESPN Films initiative. The slate will feature: Hellfighters (about an against-all-odds high school football team); The Streak (about a high school wrestling team’s 34-year win streak); Bud Greenspan: At the Heart of the Games (about the famed Olympics filmographer) and The Zen of Bobby V (about Bobby Valentine and baseball in Japan).

I brought this up only because I remember a lot of you said that films seemed interesting when I first posted on this. The larger question though is what ESPN is planning to do with ESPN2. Anything is better than poker and pool at this point.

(Via ESPN)

Over the past few years ESPN's been trying to branch out into Sports Films with honestly little success. Their made for TV movies haven't gone over too well and their trip to Tribeca earned good reviews, but the movies were/are hard to find.

Well now expect even more movies to hit the channel in the near future....
ESPN dominates sports on television. Now, the cable heavyweight is making a run at the big screen.

ESPN said it would collaborate with Creative Artists Agency and Walt Disney Studios to produce and distribute theatrical films with sports themes. As part of the network’s expansion in filmed entertainment, ESPN is also hiring 30 filmmakers to produce one-hour mini-movies to appear on the channel starting in September 2009.

Movies will be financed by Walt Disney, which owns ESPN; outside investors; or a combination thereof. ESPN executives declined to comment on financial elements, except to say budgets would vary by project.

I guess it's only natural that this move would take place, but you have to wonder why it hadn't happened sooner. Anyway, expect a lot more documentaries and short films to hit the network in September. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. This very well could be yet another sign that the "Leader" is changing their style or substance policy of the last few years.

With Partners, ESPN Is Expanding in Filmmaking (NY Times)

Back in December I told you that Kelly Ripa and her husband were making a documentary about a Florida Wrestling team for ESPN. The documentary of the Brandon High wrestling team, which has been undefeated for 34 years, was scheduled to be released in October 2008.

Well that might be on hold after the team suffered it's first loss after winning 459 matches in a row......

The Brandon High wrestling program's national record of 459 consecutive dual match victories -- the longest for any high school sport -- was snapped Saturday night by South Dade, which, at 9:02 p.m., sealed its 32-28 history-making victory in the finals of the Jim Graves "Beat the Streak" Tournament.

The streak, started nearly 34 years ago from scratch in near-empty gyms before the Bucs existed, the Vietnam War ended and ESPN was created, was broken in front of about 800 fans and an ESPN camera crew.

Dagger. They'll probably be spinning this into a how will the team handle it's first loss in 34 years, but I would imagine they would have rather had an undefeated season.

Brandon wrestlers' long reign ends (St. Petersburg Times)
Kelly Ripa And Whoever Her Husband Is Are Making A Documentary For ESPN (Awful Announcing)

(Thanks to reader Dave for the tip)

Guess what it's about. I'll give you three guesses. Baseball? Nope. Soccer? Try again. The WNBA? Wrong. Give up? It's Wrestling. No not WWF Wrestling....Regular Wrestling. High School Wrestling actually....

Produced by ESPN Content Development in conjunction with Kelly Ripa’s and Mark Consuelos’ Milojo Productions, in association with critically acclaimed producer John Hock (Through the Fire) and Hock Films, the film will follow the 2007-08 season of the Brandon High School (Tampa, Fla.) wrestling program which sits atop a 451-0 record dating back 34 straight years. Ripa and Consuelos will serve as co-executive producers for the project to be televised October 2008.

Ripa and Consuelos said, “This is the type of story we want to tell. We are extremely happy to be in business with ESPN.” Consuelos went to Bloomingdale High School in Tampa, a rival of Brandon High School, but did attend one semester at Brandon.

Aren't these the last people you want associated with your Sport? I've got a hundred dollars that Kelly Ripa doesn't leave her house in the Hamptons once to attend the filming.

(Source: ESPN PR)