LOS ANGELES, CA – FOX Sports Films today announced “Q Ball” as the newest documentary in its Sports Emmy®-nominated “MAGNIFY” series. The film chronicles the lives of incarcerated basketball players at the San Quentin State Prison. It’s executive produced by Golden State Warriors All-Star Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Media, in conjunction with HEIST and Hunting Lane Films.
In the spirit of the series’ previous films, “Q Ball” utilizes sports as the lens for exploring important cultural stories.
Set to premiere in early 2019, “Q Ball” follows the lives of the San Quentin Warriors — teammates and inmates at “The Q”, California’s San Quentin State Prison. Durant and fellow Golden State Warriors team members’ previous visits to the prison helped kick-start the project. The documentary explores the inmates’ personal struggles, as they search for redemption and transcendence both on and off the court. The answers, characters, and stories are complex, but in San Quentin — a place where freedom is taken away — basketball gives a little bit back.
“My first visit to San Quentin with my teammates was an unforgettable experience that moved me and made me want to bring it to a larger audience,” said Durant. “This film shines a light on these individuals, their struggles and their connection through basketball.”
Emmy® and Peabody Award winning Michael Tolajian (“30 for 30: Once Brothers”) will direct the film. Along with Durant, “Q Ball” executive producers also include Durant’s Thirty Five Media business partner Rich Kleiman, Jamie Patricof and Katie McNeill of Hunting Lane, Jordan deBree of HEIST, and Tolajian. Rebekah Fergusson will also serve as a producer.
“It’s been an incredible first six months for Magnify, and we’re excited to continue adding compelling new projects to the series,” said Gabe Spitzer, Senior Vice President and Executive Producer, FOX Sports Films. “We’re focused on growing Magnify with films like “Q Ball” that open up larger cultural conversations through the lens of sports.”
The film is the latest addition to FOX Sports Films’ MAGNIFY documentary slate, which includes:
- 2018 Sports Emmy®-nominated “89 Blocks,” executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter for Uninterrupted, along with Sports Illustrated (November 2017)
- “Shot in the Dark,” executive produced by Dwyane Wade and Chance the Rapper (February 2018)
- The upcoming documentary, “Nossa Chape,” from award-winning directors Jeffrey Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist (The Two Escobars, Pele: Birth of a Legend) focuses on the 2016 plane crash involving Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense (June 2018)
“The partners we’ve had on the early part of this journey – producers and directors — have been really outstanding,” said Charlie Dixon, Executive Vice President, Content, FOX Sports. “Influential voices that truly care about the stories are a crucial part of what we’re building with this series.”