UNINTERRUPTED Film Festival: CEO of The Springhill Company Maverick Carter on empowering athletes to tell their stories [Complete Interview Transcript]
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On July 13, 2023, the Emmy award-winning studio founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, The Springhill Company, co-hosted its first-ever UNINTERRUPTED Film Festival powered by Tribeca Film Festival at NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles. The one-day experience included featured film premieres of “Black Ice” and “Goliath,” lively Q&A sessions, “State of the Game” chats, and a live podcast recording of “The Draymond Green Show” with host Draymond Green (NBA player for the Golden State Warriors, four-time NBA champion and All-Star). This first-of-its-kind film festival placed the spotlight on athletes, creators, filmmakers, triumphs and stories.
Gold Derby associate editor Latasha Ford was on the scene to catch up with Carter, who co-executive produces “Black Ice,” a documentary that peels back the layers of racism athletes of color experienced as professional hockey players. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival, where it was the People’s Choice documentary winner. Read the our full interview transcript with Carter below.
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Latasha Ford:
Maverick, I want to first start by asking you, how do you feel? What is going through your mind right now? We are here at the very first ever UNINTERRUPTED Film Festival. What does this moment feel like for you?
Maverick Carter:
For me personally, I feel amazing. I feel like UNINTERRUPTED, as a company, as a brand is fulfilling its mission, which is a feeling of accomplishment as being a person who’s been around the brand since the beginning. And to see all the athletes here, young, old, all across sports from different parts of the world, telling their stories – and really finding this moment important means a lot to me. And it’s what’s defined UNINTERRUPTED as a brand to really get a chance to work with those athletes and to see all the people in attendance who came to watch the panels and the films is just amazing. It’s a culmination of everything that we’ve been working for, and it’s just an amazing and beautiful day.
Latasha Ford:
Absolutely. So why now? Why do you feel like now is the ideal time for athletes, creatives and those you know, minorities, to tell their stories and to ultimately be behind their own storytelling? Why is now the time?
Maverick Carter:
I think it’s not just about now, but it’s always been the time. But I think technology and where the world is, the world is ready for it and technology enables it. And I think that the fact that athletes now get to tell their stories and tell ’em in the way that’s important to them, right? It can’t just be about making content for the sake of making content. You have to make something great, something good, something that matters, and something that comes from the heart and their soul and means something to them, and then it’ll mean something to the audience.
Latasha Ford:
Absolutely. And can you just take me back to the beginning, very briefly, that overall vision and big picture that you had in mind for the UNINTERRUPTED brand? What were some of the goals that you initially had in place for the brand itself?
Maverick Carter:
Yeah. It was always about building a platform that would become a brand that really empowered athletes because personally and obviously my partner LeBron, our careers had led us to a place where we had worked with companies and brands, specifically Nike, who was all about storytelling, but through the lens of advertising. So we wanted to expand that scope and be able to not just tell stories through the lens of advertising for the sake of a brand, but also for the sake of telling amazing stories that mattered, that could shift and change things. And I think that was always the mission, the goal, and it still is today.
Latasha Ford:
And what is that thing or those things that ignites that fire underneath you? When you’re experiencing moments of defeat, or exhaustion, what is it that keeps you going and pushing forward?
Maverick Carter:
You know, for me it’s always the addiction to the feeling of accomplishment and the addiction and the feeling of exposing myself to the process of getting things done and also exposing myself to things, hurdles, places, obstacles, people that I don’t have exposure to. So I think ultimately, if I had to boil it down to one word it would be my curiosity.
Latasha Ford:
I love it. I love it. And before I let you go, legacy, what is it that legacy means to you? Years and years down the line, what legacy are you looking forward to leaving behind?
Maverick Carter:
I never think about it that way. It sounds a little cliche, but I just get up every day and try and fill that void of curiosity that I have, and pushing through and try and build a team of people and a company that is filled and strive and focus on the mission of empowerment. And really, whatever that means in the future, and long after I’m gone, or whatever it means, I don’t think about it in a way of like, is this gonna change that or do something different? It’s just about doing what we have to do to fulfill and live to that mission, that vision of the company.
The SpringHill Company produces and develops high-quality sports and entertainment films, theatrical releases with some of the world’s most prominent networks, streamers, brands and platforms globally: Netflix, HBO, Disney+, Apple TV+, CBS, NBC, ABC and ESPN. UNINTERRUPTED is Springhill’s athlete empowerment brand.
On Friday, July 14, “Black Ice,” directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis, will make its debut in AMC theaters nationwide. “Black Ice” is co-produced by LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Adel “Future” Nur, Vinay Virmani, Aubrey “Drake” Graham and Scott Moore.
“GOLIATH,” a Wilt Chamberlain docuseries, will make its on demand and streaming debut on Friday, July 14 for all Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers; and will make its on-air debut via Showtime on Sunday, July 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT with new episodes premiering each Sunday. “GOLIATH,” the three-part docuseries, will travel back in time, highlighting and celebrating the life of the NBA Hall of Famer, utilizing artificial intelligence to recreate Chamberlain’s voice. The docuseries will unveil the race, sex, politics, celebrity and cultural impact of Chamberlain’s life. “GOLIATH” is produced by Village Roadshow Television and Gotham Chopra’s Religion of Sports in association with Kevin Garnett’s Content Cartel, Happy Madison Productions and Heeltap! Entertainment.
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