By BOTWC Staff
Spike Lee is set to direct a new documentary series about Colin Kaepernick for ESPN, Variety reports.
The documentary was first announced back in July 2020 as a part of Kaepernick’s partnership with Disney and his production company, Ra Vision Media. As part of the deal, Kaepernick will develop scripted and unscripted series that explore race, social justice, and equity, extending to Disney and all of the company’s platforms, including ESPN.
The docuseries, produced by former ESPN commentator Jemele Hill, will focus on Kaepernick’s transition from Super Bowl winning quarterback athlete to blackballed activist. Kaepernick played six seasons in the NFL, serving as the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and leading them to Super Bowl XLVII. In 2016, the famed quarterback began kneeling in protest during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality and systemic racism in America. When the season ended and Kaepernick was a free agent, no NFL team would sign him, the former player eventually filing a grievance with the league in November 2017. Two years later, in 2019, Kaepernick reached a settlement agreement with the NFL and remains a free agent to this day.
“I am excited to announce the historic partnership with Disney across all of its platforms to elevate Black and brown directors, creators, storytellers, and producers, and to inspire the youth with compelling and authentic perspectives. I look forward to sharing the docuseries on my life story, in addition to many other culturally impactful projects we are developing,” Kaepernick previously told reporters.
The film has now landed a director, iconic filmmaker Spike Lee, who is set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America for his work. Lee won an Oscar for his 2019 screenplay, “BlacKkKlansman” and has also served at the helm of other award-winning documentaries, including “4 Little Girls” (1997) and the HBO series “NYC Epicenters: 9/11-2021½.”
“Kaepernick, who has never given a full, first-person account of his journey, is collaborating closely with Lee who plans to use extensive new interviews and a vast never-before-seen archive to help Kaepernick tell his story from his perspective,” a press release states.
ESPN Films will executive produce the docuseries alongside Lee’s 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. Production on the new Colin Kaepernick multi-part docuseries is already underway!
Photos Courtesy of Spike Lee
