We often hear about elite athletes from a distance – the familiar hero’s journey arc from humble beginning to heroic present, from meteoric high to painful low to iconic comeback. But we don’t often see these moments told from up close: the stories about athletes as they are right now, and what drives them forward from one point to the next. Why this sport? Why this pursuit? Why this moment?
In 2021, we continued a partnership with Nike and developed All Points Between, a new series for Nike Journal that follows elite athletes in-the-moment, capturing the human behind the hero. We started with a simple one-liner from Nike about the franchise they wanted to create – a series of stories centered on athletes navigating a major turning point in their career. Our Revery team brought that concept to life, building out a full series concept and delivering the first episode. We provided full creative development and end-to-end production services, drawing on our hybrid production model to shoot remotely and on-location in Atlanta, and see the project through from inception to production to delivery.
Our pilot episode centered around Renee Montgomery, a WNBA player in the midst of a major inflection point in her career. In 2020, Renee benched herself for a year, sitting out the season in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and in protest against institutional racism – risking her career to stand up for herself and others. Renee became an outspoken opponent to the lies and transparent racism of her team’s owner, Georgia State Senator Kelly Loeffler, and organized to have her removed from her ownership position, and her seat as governor.
In the process, Renee made history. She worked with state and national leaders to turn out the largest voting block Georgia had ever seen, effectively flipping the Senate from Red to Blue. And, when Renee finally bought out Loeffer’s stake in the Atlanta Dream, she herself became the team’s VP and Co-Owner – the first former player to be both an owner and executive of a WNBA team. This wasn’t simply a story about Renee as a remarkable athlete, it was also a story about Renee as a Black woman, a queer woman, a mother, a Southerner, and an activist who was on the brink of changing the industry – and the country – empowering younger female athletes to do the same.
Our goal was to close the physical and emotional distance between this remarkable human and the audience, following Renee’s story as it moved from the green room, to the locker room, to the living room, and all points between. Our nimble team completed both creative development and production in seamless succession, working on a quick and flexible timeline. We had the same Revery team working on both phases of the project, with all team members deeply involved in each step and in tune with our client’s needs and goals. From the cinematographer who captured the power of our visual story, to the music house that brought vibrancy to its sound, we ensured that every detail was carried by expert hands.
Together, we aimed to create resonance through a tone and story that was introspective, real, accessible, and inspiring – not looking up at Renee on a pedestal, but instead meeting her at eye level. We captured content at multiple different events, working with a nimble, flexible crew with minimal equipment so that we could easily pick up and move to the next location – following Renee through a true day-in-the-life.
But even the production logistics echoed back to us the premise of this story: That even the in-between moments in a hero’s journey inspire action, movement, and change for the better. Our creatives and producers were struck by how every single person we encountered during our shoot was so willing to be a part of Renee’s story – and so willing to help tell her story. Renee right now was the same as Renee the hero, Renee the athlete, and Renee the leader, just seen from a different vantage point.