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8 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: American rugby union is going under the doc series spotlight.
The sport’s North American professional league, Major League Rugby (MLR), has struck a deal with indie film financier and producer Goldfinch to produce an all-access, multi-year series that’s been billed as an “unprecedented ten-year commitment.” This will chronicle the sport’s growth and development in the U.S.
Filming on the first season, Stars, Stripes and Scrums: The American Rugby Journey (working title) is underway and will focus on the Chicago Hounds team, while also exploring the sport at all levels across the States.
All-access sports team docs have been one of the big trends in unscripted over recent years, with international rugby union featured in Netflix’s Six Nations: Full Contact last year and the English league the subject of Prime Video’s Mud, Sweat and Tears: Premiership Rugby in October.
In the U.S., where American football is king, rugby union is at a pivotal stage of its development, with the country slated to host the 2031 Men’s and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cups. The MLR, which is run by CEO Nic Benson, has grown from seven teams competing its inaugural 2018 season to 12 in 2024.
The Hounds, which is owned by Peter Bernick, is in its second season, with new clubs from Miami, LA and Charlotte, North Carolina joining, and more teams are expected to be formed in the run up to the world cups.
“The trajectory of rugby in America is at an historic inflection point that we will never see again,” said Phil McKenzie at Goldfinch. “Our vision is to capture every layer of the sport, using the Hounds and MLR as a lens to view these through, across a time horizon peaking at the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups.”
McKenzie and Kirsty Bell will be producing for Goldfinch alongside Julian Oliver, with Mike D Ware and Seth Savoy producing stateside for the docu-series. Post-production will be managed by Periscope.
“Peter, Matt [Satchwell, chairman of the Hounds] and Nic have been perfect partners in putting this deal together and understand that in granting us ‘access-all-areas’ they are giving us the opportunity to show the audience behind the scenes of the most exciting sport in the world as it takes off in the most exciting sports market of the world, the USA,” added McKenzie, Goldfinch’s co-owner and COO.
“The series, is an unprecedented ten-year commitment to the journey of young athletes at the forefront of making American sporting history,” said producer Oliver. “There exists already a proud narrative within Chicago, the Hounds, the fans and the filmmakers sharing this passionate identity, special moments in film originate from rare opportunities like this.”
“We are excited to have helped put this deal together and to have the Chicago Hounds be at the forefront of the story for season one,” said Bernick, the Hounds owner.
“We believe as an organization that we have the players, coaching, and management to compete for a championship in a very exciting MLR this year. We feel telling the story of rugby in America, the Hounds and MLR will grow the game and its audience, and bring fans old and new a behind-the-scenes look at what we love so much about the game of rugby and its characters.”
