The Concept

This weekend my family and I gathered for a family member’s birthday and I shared the struggles I was having with coming up with a strong documentary topic. One by one people started giving ideas, some good, some not so good, but I appreciated any help I could get. Then my aunt’s husband said something funny, “Do it on me. I’m famous.” We all laughed but then I began thinking, he’s not famous but he’s got a great story to tell. Josh played baseball many years, starting as a kid, until suddenly an injury stopped him from playing ever again.

Now we often hear of these stories of sports players with big dreams of going pro, but we often never see the downside or the failures of one's efforts. Now, this documentary isn't meant to come off as sad or unfortunate, simply informative and showing a different perspective. Josh was excited to tell his story which is quite unique as his parents always pushed him to have bigger goals for his future than just baseball, giving him something to lean back on if baseball wasn't the outcome for him. 

I will tell this story through interviews and mementos. When visiting his childhood home, I see his room was full of newspaper articles he was featured in and loads of memorabilia from his games as a kid to his high school career, eventually leading to his commitment for FGCU to play baseball. 

Although this is just an extract of an episodic documentary, I hope to convey his emotions and his story in which we share the impact sport can have on the lives of many athletes, whether it be good or bad.

I'm currently in the process of creating a mood board with photos I have of Josh's accomplishment in baseball as well as talking to his mom to see if I can possibly find some old footage. I think this would really bring the documentary together.