As an American and lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team - formerly known as perennial hard luck losers - a team who infamously went 86 years without winning a title - I can totally relate to the supporters of Newcastle United Football Club.
I became a fan of NUFC in the winter of the 1995/ 96 season when my then girlfriend introduced me to “The Entertainers”. I watched that team implode and blow a 12 point lead, and have since endured the same frustration and soul-crushing disappointment as all fans of Newcastle United.
I see a lot of similarities between the Boston Red Sox and Newcastle United - and the cities of Boston and Newcastle - two blue collar/ working class regions situated in the North East of their respective countries, and I’m hoping that as an American who has spent the last 18 years living in the Region, I will be able to bring a unique outsiders’ perspective to this film, while also being able to relate to the intricacies of being an avid NUFC supporter in the North East of England.
If it’s true that in Newcastle, United is a religion and St James’ Park a cathedral, then what does that say about the away fans? These apostles who sacrifice their time and money to passionately follow and support their team through thick and thin.
This will be an up close look at several traveling fans as they follow their favourite team to stadiums across the UK, shooting their activities on their own mobile devices. Through interviews, video clips, stock-footage and re-enactments I hope to uncover the passion, the love, the unbridled emotion. This film will be a love letter to the fans of NUFC, to the city, by the fans for the fans. One City, One Club, United.
The goal of this film is to get into the nitty gritty of what it is like to be a die hard NUFC supporter, a fanatic - a celebration of what goes into being a hardcore fan - an examination of the sacrifices, the dreams, the disappointment.
I have long admired the lyrical sports writing of the USA: Normal Mailer, George Plimpton, Hunter S Thompson and other esteemed purveyors of “creative non-fiction”, with its romantic tone and subjectivity. I hope to apply that style and tone to this documentary.
The films that most closely emulate the style I wish to bring are “Still We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie” and “When We Were Kings”, directed by Leon Gast.
Using “cinema verité” techniques, coupled with the aforementioned lyricism, this story will be told through interviews with fans, both home and away, and the exiled fans from Thailand to San Francisco, from Dubai to Indonesia. Through these interviews and other footage, particularly fan footage, I hope to learn about the true effect of the 12th man on the players and team, while creating a viewing experience that is as exhilaratingly close to the real thing as possible.
In order to achieve this vision, I envisage that the recording of sound and the sound design overall to play an important role in this documentary - the rallying songs, the chants, the distinctive sounds of the beautiful game as it is played in football grounds throughout the country.
Supporting NUFC is almost like a marriage. Undying devotion - through the good times and bad, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health - ‘til death do us part.
I became a fan of NUFC in the winter of the 1995/ 96 season when my then girlfriend introduced me to “The Entertainers”. I watched that team implode and blow a 12 point lead, and have since endured the same frustration and soul-crushing disappointment as all fans of Newcastle United.
I see a lot of similarities between the Boston Red Sox and Newcastle United - and the cities of Boston and Newcastle - two blue collar/ working class regions situated in the North East of their respective countries, and I’m hoping that as an American who has spent the last 18 years living in the Region, I will be able to bring a unique outsiders’ perspective to this film, while also being able to relate to the intricacies of being an avid NUFC supporter in the North East of England.
If it’s true that in Newcastle, United is a religion and St James’ Park a cathedral, then what does that say about the away fans? These apostles who sacrifice their time and money to passionately follow and support their team through thick and thin.
This will be an up close look at several traveling fans as they follow their favourite team to stadiums across the UK, shooting their activities on their own mobile devices. Through interviews, video clips, stock-footage and re-enactments I hope to uncover the passion, the love, the unbridled emotion. This film will be a love letter to the fans of NUFC, to the city, by the fans for the fans. One City, One Club, United.
The goal of this film is to get into the nitty gritty of what it is like to be a die hard NUFC supporter, a fanatic - a celebration of what goes into being a hardcore fan - an examination of the sacrifices, the dreams, the disappointment.
I have long admired the lyrical sports writing of the USA: Normal Mailer, George Plimpton, Hunter S Thompson and other esteemed purveyors of “creative non-fiction”, with its romantic tone and subjectivity. I hope to apply that style and tone to this documentary.
The films that most closely emulate the style I wish to bring are “Still We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie” and “When We Were Kings”, directed by Leon Gast.
Using “cinema verité” techniques, coupled with the aforementioned lyricism, this story will be told through interviews with fans, both home and away, and the exiled fans from Thailand to San Francisco, from Dubai to Indonesia. Through these interviews and other footage, particularly fan footage, I hope to learn about the true effect of the 12th man on the players and team, while creating a viewing experience that is as exhilaratingly close to the real thing as possible.
In order to achieve this vision, I envisage that the recording of sound and the sound design overall to play an important role in this documentary - the rallying songs, the chants, the distinctive sounds of the beautiful game as it is played in football grounds throughout the country.
Supporting NUFC is almost like a marriage. Undying devotion - through the good times and bad, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health - ‘til death do us part.