SYNOPSIS

 

Set against the backdrop of the 42nd season of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), the Deakin Melbourne Boomers take their fight beyond the basketball court to overcome gender inequality, lower pay, balancing a sporting career with other work, racial discrimination, and the constant pressure to justify their existence as female athletes in a sporting and societal landscape dominated by men. At stake is not only the opportunity to win their first championship in ten years, but give a voice to these societal issues and make noise in a space which has been quiet for too long.

OUTCOMES

 

Sidelined aims to effect positive change and redefine the narrative around what is possible for women on a broader societal level. Strong, powerful, confident, vulnerable, accessible, humble, motivated – these are but some of the words which describe the cast, and the vision of this series is to spotlight their qualities in their rawest and most authentic form through unrestricted access.

 

This series has the opportunity to engage beyond the existing WNBL and basketball fanbase: we believe the stories we have captured are compelling enough to touch those who have yet to watch the game or support women's sport. This is where the real opportunity lies. This series will not change our collective minds on its own, however we believe it can be an important piece and inspire many to do more, think differently, and support women. This can only be achieved by gaining a greater understanding through hearing the untold stories of our players and their journeys.

STYLE

 

Sidelined focuses on a handful of interweaving storylines and characters, underpinned with strong narratives which help build relationships between these characters and the audience. To this end, interviews were shot to carve out narratives and allow the cast to tell their story. These interviews are combined with scenes and B-roll shot throughout the 2021-22 WNBL season. The overall style is a mixture of curated talking head interviews, run-and-gun game action, off-court scenes and B-roll, and some context building archival footage.

 

Sidelined is firmly committed to authenticity, and has the opportunity to achieve this through the access we have been given to every aspect of the team and players, along with the relationships and trust we have built over an extended period of time.

 

This is not a Deakin Melbourne Boomers marketing piece. We are interested in what is real, and reality runs the spectrum.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

 

Adam McKay is directing, editing and producing Sidelined, which sits perfectly in the intersection of his experience in basketball and production. Adam spent 10 years as the Founder and Executive Director of Helping Hoops – a charity running free basketball programs for underprivileged children across Melbourne. That’s where Adam learnt the power of storytelling through engaging creative. He is now using this skill set to bring previously untold stories to life in an emotive manner that does justice to the people who feature.

WHY THE MELBOURNE BOOMERS?

  • The Deakin Melbourne Boomers (formerly Bulleen Boomers), founded in 1984, is Australia’s longest running professional women’s sporting team. Notably, in their 38 years of existence, they’ve won just one Championship.

  • The Boomers feature three Olympians and three WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) stars.

  • It is a golden age for sports documentaries (The Last Dance, Making Their Mark, The Test, Untold, Bad Sport, etc). Now is the time to restore the balance and spotlight the story of women in sport.

  • The genre has demonstrated its ability to transcend core fans through previously unseen storylines, behind-the-scenes footage, unique access, highs and lows, celebrations and commiserations.

  • Basketball in Australia is riding high following the success of the men’s national team at the Tokyo Olympics and years of sustained participation growth. In addition, the Women’s World Cup is being held in Sydney in September 2022, providing a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the coverage of women’s basketball.

  • Despite recent progress towards gender equality in sport, media coverage of women’s sport still represents just a fraction of the overall, whilst dogs and horses get more coverage than female athletes.

  • Beneath the surface, often hidden from the view of the Australian sporting public, is the blood, sweat and tears of female athletes and women’s sport – they work equally as hard, if not harder, than their male counterparts, and deserve to be recognised for this.