and more.
Donc. Not really a sandcastle, but they’re certainly creating something.
A friend sent me this bit of news:
With Partners, ESPN Is Expanding in Filmmaking
Published: March 3, 2008
LOS ANGELES — 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.
“We see this as a new way to reach sports fans and engage them,” said Keith Clinkscales, ESPN’s senior vice president for content development. “A lot of people who spend time being engaged in ESPN also spend a lot of time going to the movies.”
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.
The self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports” is on a mission to tap into new areas of growth as it faces challenges in its core operations. ESPN, which is nearing its 30th birthday, remains one of the media industry’s biggest gold mines, with successful magazine and Internet extensions to complement its suite of cable channels.
…. ESPN’s core audience is young men, but women typically drive movie-going decisions. And most studios shy away from sports-themed pictures because they can be a difficult sell to international distributors.
“These movies are an incredible balancing act,” said Ron Shelton, the writer of “Bull Durham” and “White Men Can’t Jump.” Mr. Shelton, who has also had his share of misses — like “Play It to the Bone,” starring Antonio Banderas as a boxer — added that it is tricky to dramatize sports without sacrificing the kind of realistic portrayals fans crave.
Read the rest of the article here.
Realistic portrayal of game-play fans crave? Well then, one must get rid of all that slow-motion and elliptical editing and non-match on action eh?
