“Wait, the name at the top of this website reads ‘Den of Geek’ and now they’re talking about sports? Don’t they know I’m gangly and uncoordinated?”
Yes, dear reader, we know that. Truth is, we’re all gangly and uncoordinated as well. But that doesn’t mean that we geeks can’t occasionally get together and enjoy the dramatic majesty of competitive sports. Sports documentaries have always been a part of the entertainment ecosystem. Of late, however, it seems as though there’s more of them for the casual sports fan or even fully sports-phobic TV-watcher to enjoy.
ESPN’s “30 for 30” sports documentary initiative kicked off a new era of TV sports documentaries in 2009. And since then, the offerings have only gotten better. With streamers like Netflix fully into the fray there have never been as many compelling sports stories being told as there is right now.
Yes, dear reader, we know that. Truth is, we’re all gangly and uncoordinated as well. But that doesn’t mean that we geeks can’t occasionally get together and enjoy the dramatic majesty of competitive sports. Sports documentaries have always been a part of the entertainment ecosystem. Of late, however, it seems as though there’s more of them for the casual sports fan or even fully sports-phobic TV-watcher to enjoy.
ESPN’s “30 for 30” sports documentary initiative kicked off a new era of TV sports documentaries in 2009. And since then, the offerings have only gotten better. With streamers like Netflix fully into the fray there have never been as many compelling sports stories being told as there is right now.
- 6/16/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
When wrestler Mack Beggs stepped onto the mat to compete during his days as a high schooler in Texas, he not only faced the opponent in front of him, but often a raft of adversaries in the stands. They booed him and hurled invectives.
“I do think people hate me,” Mack says in the Emmy-nominated documentary Changing the Game. The reason? “There was a huge uproar and controversy with me being trans.”
Beggs found himself twisted into knots — not by another wrestler, but by a state imposing restrictions and regulations on the activities of trans athletes. Beggs wanted to compete against boys, but Texas refused and would only allow him to wrestle girls. When he did wrestle girls, crowds rained down abuse.
Beggs said he tried to tune that out and keep focused on the match.
“I was just like, why are you being malicious? I’m not going to feed into your negativity,...
“I do think people hate me,” Mack says in the Emmy-nominated documentary Changing the Game. The reason? “There was a huge uproar and controversy with me being trans.”
Beggs found himself twisted into knots — not by another wrestler, but by a state imposing restrictions and regulations on the activities of trans athletes. Beggs wanted to compete against boys, but Texas refused and would only allow him to wrestle girls. When he did wrestle girls, crowds rained down abuse.
Beggs said he tried to tune that out and keep focused on the match.
“I was just like, why are you being malicious? I’m not going to feed into your negativity,...
- 8/12/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
With an unprecedented number of anti-trans bills signed into law during the first half of this year, the Human Rights Campaign didn’t need to wait until June to declare 2021 the worst year for LGBTQ rights in recent history. Of the 17 new laws and dozens of bills making their way through state legislatures, the vast majority concern prohibiting transgender youth from competing in sports consistent with their gender identity. As the latest lightning rod issue for bigots to rally around, transgender athletes have been making national news for the last couple of years.
What too often gets lost in the incendiary headlines are the very real people — ahem, children — whose young lives are affected by these discriminatory policies. The moving new Hulu documentary “Changing the Game” presents a fuller portrait of three such athletes, a wrestler, runner, and a skier who are wise beyond their years. By following their passion while living their truth,...
What too often gets lost in the incendiary headlines are the very real people — ahem, children — whose young lives are affected by these discriminatory policies. The moving new Hulu documentary “Changing the Game” presents a fuller portrait of three such athletes, a wrestler, runner, and a skier who are wise beyond their years. By following their passion while living their truth,...
- 6/2/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
There are currently more than 100 anti-trans bills hitting stage legislatures across the country, many of them aimed at trans kids who want to participate on sports teams according to their gender identity. While this issue is getting more attention now, it isn’t new. As the new Hulu documentary “Changing the Game” shows in intimate detail, trans kids, their parents and medical professionals have been fighting constant misinformation for years.
“The responses [to the documentary] have been just astonishing,” says producer Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s associate director of transgender representation. “People are suddenly activated to want to fight for these young people to be able to participate fully in public life, which includes being able to go to school and play sports and do all the things that kids should get to do.”
“Changing the Game,” which premiered June 1 on Hulu, follows three trans student athletes. Sarah Rose is a bubbly trans girl...
“The responses [to the documentary] have been just astonishing,” says producer Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s associate director of transgender representation. “People are suddenly activated to want to fight for these young people to be able to participate fully in public life, which includes being able to go to school and play sports and do all the things that kids should get to do.”
“Changing the Game,” which premiered June 1 on Hulu, follows three trans student athletes. Sarah Rose is a bubbly trans girl...
- 6/1/2021
- by Caroline Framke
- Variety Film + TV
More than 40 years ago, Renée Richards successfully fought for the right to play women’s tennis after undergoing gender confirmation surgery. Richards goes unmentioned in “Changing the Game” — a fast-moving, vivid, and touching account of three teenaged transgender athletes and their struggles to play competitive sports in high school — but her example should be taken into consideration when thinking through this issue.
Richards had her surgery only when she was over 40 years old, and it cannot be stressed enough how difficult it was for her to get to that point in 1975. By contrast, the three modern-day transgender teenagers in “Changing the Game” have already started taking hormones, and so the challenges they are facing are very different from the ones that Richards faced; still, one constant on this issue is the outright prejudice of the right wing.
It was Tucker Carlson’s father Richard Carlson who first outed Richards as transgender,...
Richards had her surgery only when she was over 40 years old, and it cannot be stressed enough how difficult it was for her to get to that point in 1975. By contrast, the three modern-day transgender teenagers in “Changing the Game” have already started taking hormones, and so the challenges they are facing are very different from the ones that Richards faced; still, one constant on this issue is the outright prejudice of the right wing.
It was Tucker Carlson’s father Richard Carlson who first outed Richards as transgender,...
- 6/1/2021
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Composer Tyler Strickland has co-written a new song, “Chasing Dreams,” from the new Hulu documentary “Changing the Game.”
“Chasing Dreams” is also co-written and performed by music producer/artist Gozé and features Old Man Saxon and trans artist Shea Diamond. The power anthem that ends the film is a striking tune, one that is about resilience, and strength and overcoming obstacles — a perfect fit to the theme of the story.
The documentary, which premieres June 1 in celebration of Pride Month, is directed by Michael Barnett and centers on the lives of three high-school athletes, all at different stages of their athletic seasons, personal lives and unique paths as transgender teens. Their stories cover an array of experiences, from Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire, to Andraya, a track star in Connecticut openly competing on the girls track team. Mack Beggs is the core focus of the doc,...
“Chasing Dreams” is also co-written and performed by music producer/artist Gozé and features Old Man Saxon and trans artist Shea Diamond. The power anthem that ends the film is a striking tune, one that is about resilience, and strength and overcoming obstacles — a perfect fit to the theme of the story.
The documentary, which premieres June 1 in celebration of Pride Month, is directed by Michael Barnett and centers on the lives of three high-school athletes, all at different stages of their athletic seasons, personal lives and unique paths as transgender teens. Their stories cover an array of experiences, from Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire, to Andraya, a track star in Connecticut openly competing on the girls track team. Mack Beggs is the core focus of the doc,...
- 6/1/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Hulu has acquired the “Changing the Game,” Michael Barnett’s look at transgender athletes, and will premiere the film on June 1 as part of its celebration of Pride Month.
The film, which debuted at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, follows three high school students at different stages of their athletic seasons, personal lives, and unique paths as transgender teens. Their stories span the United States, covering an array of experiences — from Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire, to Andraya, a track star in Connecticut openly competing on the girls track team. The film also focuses on Mack Beggs, who made headlines when he became the Texas State Champion in girls wrestling – as a boy.
“Changing the Game” produced by Clare Tucker and Alex Schmider. Chris Mosier serves as executive producer. Music for the film is composed by Tyler Strickland. The film will debut as a director’s cut...
The film, which debuted at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, follows three high school students at different stages of their athletic seasons, personal lives, and unique paths as transgender teens. Their stories span the United States, covering an array of experiences — from Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire, to Andraya, a track star in Connecticut openly competing on the girls track team. The film also focuses on Mack Beggs, who made headlines when he became the Texas State Champion in girls wrestling – as a boy.
“Changing the Game” produced by Clare Tucker and Alex Schmider. Chris Mosier serves as executive producer. Music for the film is composed by Tyler Strickland. The film will debut as a director’s cut...
- 4/15/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Perhaps you will recall last year’s headlines about Mack Beggs, a then-18-year-old high school athlete from around Dallas. In case you need to refresh your memory: Mack is a practically undefeated transgender wrestler who won the girls’ title in the state of Texas even though he wanted to contest in the boys division as per the gender he identifies with. He is the first subject we meet in “Changing the Game,” Michael Barnett’s compassionate documentary that follows three teenage transgender athletes as they brave numerous societal biases to practice their chosen field of sports with the respect they deserve.
Unadventurous in its design — Barnett goes for a conventional mélange of clips and talking heads to structure the story — “Changing the Game” admittedly benefits from a traditional approach that slowly familiarizes the audience both with the subjects and the layers of an ongoing discriminatory debate around fairness. Most...
Unadventurous in its design — Barnett goes for a conventional mélange of clips and talking heads to structure the story — “Changing the Game” admittedly benefits from a traditional approach that slowly familiarizes the audience both with the subjects and the layers of an ongoing discriminatory debate around fairness. Most...
- 8/1/2019
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
Another hurdle for trans rights could quite literally be the track and field hurdle. Transgender student athletes are put in the spotlight in the forthcoming documentary “Changing the Game,” set to premiere at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Variety has the world premiere of the doc’s first teaser trailer, which gives an in-depth look into the young athletes’ inspiring stories.
The doc is centered around the story of Mack Beggs, an athlete who made headlines when he became the Texas state champion in the girls’ wrestling championship, twice. “I am a man,” Beggs says in the trailer. “I don’t want to wrestle females — all I’ve ever wanted to do was wrestle men.”
But “Changing the Game” also focuses on two other trans athletes, Andraya, a track star in Connecticut and Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire. Michael Barnett, the Emmy-Award winning director at the film’s helm,...
The doc is centered around the story of Mack Beggs, an athlete who made headlines when he became the Texas state champion in the girls’ wrestling championship, twice. “I am a man,” Beggs says in the trailer. “I don’t want to wrestle females — all I’ve ever wanted to do was wrestle men.”
But “Changing the Game” also focuses on two other trans athletes, Andraya, a track star in Connecticut and Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker in New Hampshire. Michael Barnett, the Emmy-Award winning director at the film’s helm,...
- 4/19/2019
- by Anna Tingley
- Variety Film + TV
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