EXCLUSIVE: The rise of the Paralympic Games has been one of sport’s biggest recent triumphs, and a trailblazing content initiative charting its story is now set to take the narrative even deeper.
Harder Than You Think (HTYT), which has exclusive worldwide rights to tell the story of the Paralympics through to the 2028 Games in LA, has appointed European production and sales house Off the Fence to find partners for the next four projects coming from its Rising Phoenix Universe initiative.
British indie HTYT was set up by London 2012 Chief Marketing Officer Greg Nugent and is chaired by ex-BBC Director General Tony Hall. It has been building the Rising Phoenix Universe since launching the double Emmy-winning Netflix and Bytedance doc Rising Phoenix, about the history of the Paralympic movement, in 2020.
As part of the agreement, ZDF Studios-owned Off the Fence will also co-produce additional content commissioned outside of the core four projects.
Off the Fence will oversee the distribution strategy for upcoming Rising Phoenix productions Road To Tokyo (2022) and Paris 2024: A New Revolution (working title), which comes ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in France this summer.
Road to Tokyo is a three-part docu-series following 12 Paralympians preparing to compete in the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympics through the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-directed by Mat Whitecross and pioneering deaf director Bim Ajadi, the series is produced by John Battsek from Ventureland and executive produced by Jack Thorne, the British scribe who is one of TV’s strongest advocates for those with disabilities. One in four who worked on the production identify as disabled.
Paris 2024: A New Revolution is a 90-minute feature currently in post production that’s slated for release this summer. Co-produced with Ventureland, its investors include Procter and Gamble’s P&G Studios, in a partnership with HTYT that dates back to their Equal Too podcast.
The doc is directed by Sheridan O’Donnell and aims to use the platform of the Paris 2024 Paralympics to ignite a global conversation on disability equality. Throughout the film, O’Donnell chronicles his own story as a low vision filmmaker, as he grows to embrace life with a disability.
Barnaby Spurrier (Rising Phoenix) is the producer. Exec producers are Jim LeBrecht (Crip Camp), HTYT founder Nugent and Ventureland’s Battsek and Sarah Thompson. The production is currently on course to achieve a target of half its production team identifying as disabled.
Another element to the Off the Fence deal, will see the company selling Road To LA (working title), which will chart the course to and through the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games and culminate with doc content for the LA 2028 Paralympic Games.
Interest in the Paralympics have been growing globally, and the International Paralympic Committee, which granted HTYT the rights to tell the story of the Paralympic movement, is projecting a cumulative audience of 5 billion for the LA Paralympics.
“We want to open up the Paralympics to the world’s greatest storytellers to help bring the world’s greatest sporting and social stories to every corner of the globe,” said Andrew Parsons, President of the IPC.
Bo Stehmeier, CEO of Off The Fence, said: “The IPC chose wisely when it granted Harder Than You Think unprecedented access to the Paralympics — and not just because Greg and his team produce glorious, award-winning work, but also because their commercial instincts are as sound as their creative talent.
“We’re honoured to have been entrusted with maximising the reach and impact of the Rising Phoenix. The power, glory and heroism of the Paralympics deserve to be seen by the widest possible global audience — and we’re only too pleased to help make that happen.”
Nugent added: “We have something very special and unique in Rising Phoenix and its storyline. Our desire is to find a partner who shares our passion not only for extraordinary content but also more inclusive and representative production standards that can hopefully inspire others in the industry.”
Though around 15% of the world’s population identifies as having a disability, their representation in the entertainment industry remains very small. Part of HTYT’s mission is to redress the balance in front and behind the camera, and is aiming for 50% of production staff on all future projects to identify as disabled.
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Source: DLine
