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Hollywood said 'nobody cared' about women's sports. Luckily, Sue Bird didn't listen.

Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Basketball

"The way Megan says it, she wants to build a media empire and this is a part of that," says Bird. "A Touch More, that'll focus largely on production, scripted and unscripted, trying to shed light on the stories you don't normally get to see."

Although the focus of A Touch More will not be limited to sports and athletes, Bird says they'll start with "sports-adjacent" stories "because it's what we know."

"There's always more stories to be told that have nothing to do with the actual game itself and we want to tap into those," Bird says. "Because, honestly, they deserve to be told, they'll change people's lives and it'll help the sport grow."

Bird's own viewing habits are eclectic. She rattles off titles like Netflix's French comedy "Call My Agent!," Prime Video drama "Expats" and Apple TV+ thriller "Defending Jacob" as shows she's watched recently. And she's of course taken a look at "Under Pressure," the documentary series about the 2023 U.S. women's World Cup team (though she has yet to start the last episode).

Among the onscreen stories Bird cites for their effect on her growing up are two documentaries about women's college basketball teams: the first about Stanford's 1990 championship run and another following the University of Tennessee's 1997 season. They offered Bird a glimpse at a future involving basketball before there was a road map to go pro.

And if you're thinking that film and TV production is a far cry from being a point guard — the player who essentially runs the offense on a basketball team — think again.

"You're out on the court, you've got yourself and four other people, and you're trying to make things fit [in a way] that's going to allow us to have the best product at the end — that's going to allow us to score a basket," Bird explains.

 

And though not all of it is familiar quite yet — like the lid on discussing certain projects she has in the works — Bird is warming to this next chapter. For instance, there's "Sue's Places," a series she hosts on ESPN+ where she digs into the history of college basketball.

"I love [the episodes] because they tell a story, you're probably gonna get a fun fact you didn't know, but they're also kind of ridiculous and gimmicky and shticky," says Bird. "I really enjoy being in front of the camera for that."

There's also the upcoming documentary "Power of the Dream," on which Bird is an executive producer alongside WNBA star and players' association president Nneka Ogwumike, actor Tracee Ellis Ross and director Dawn Porter. Slated to hit Prime Video in June, the film follows how WNBA players took on then-Atlanta Dream co-owner and Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler to help the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, win the Senate race in 2021.

"My dad actually said this after Warnock got elected," Bird says. " 'You think gold medals are cool? … This is the biggest achievement of your career.' "

Given Bird's track record, that's high praise. And her career — well, her second one — is just getting started.


©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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