Cannes Lions

The Rugby Boys of Memphis

PEPSICO BEVERAGES INTERNATIONAL, New York / PEPSICO / 2017

Awards:

1 Shortlisted Cannes Lions
Film

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Description

At its core, sport and competition celebrates the desire and will to win. We wanted to capture this spirit – this ability to win from within - by documenting the lives of young athletes who try to win against all odds.

Execution

The film takes a look at Power Center Academy’s first rugby team, and how senior Calvin Gentry used rugby as motivation to live a more positive lifestyle. His charter school couldn’t afford a football team, much less a proper school campus. But Coach Rob Reetz wouldn’t take ‘no’ as an answer and presented an economical alternative to football that only required a patch of grass and ball. Within the first year, the school’s all African American rugby team was competing against prominent rugby prep schools of the wealthy suburbs. While the Power Center Academy battled a series of losses in their first year, the team later won nearly every game, fostering three national All-Star players. The rugby boys of Memphis are on the brink of their potential - nearing graduation, fighting for college scholarships and chasing a future they otherwise would not have seen without the game of rugby.

Outcome

As a result of the film's limited distribution, El Rey Network has accepted the film and will be creating hour-long programmatic content on broadcast and on-demand video that includes extended versions, along with ‘Behind the Scene’ footage.

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