Who Says I Can't

There’s never a shortage of sports stories to tell, and this one about high school football coach Rob Mendez is without a doubt one worth telling.

About the project

The pursuit of a dream to coach football. Rob’s life has been full of hardship ever since he was born with no arms or legs.

The Process

This short doc follows Rob in his first season as a JV football coach for Prospect High School in Saratoga, CA. We worked with ESPN Producer Kristen Lappas and split shooting days with fellow San Francisco-based production company, The Seventh Movement. Together we divided the shooting duties.

Filming took place over the course of the 2018 football season, and across the San Francisco Bay Area. We filmed games, practices, interviews, and a variety of supplementary footage for b-roll. It was a privilege to get to know Rob. He inspired not only the players he coaches but also every individual on the production team who got to know him.

The Result

The Rob Mendez piece aired on February 16, 2019 on ESPN’s SportsCenter. It is nominated for a 2019 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Short Sports Documentary. Additionally, we also filmed a short-form documentary titled Through The Fire, the story of the Cardinal Newman football team continuing their season amidst the destruction of wildfires in Northern California.

Client

Services

  • Production

Genre

  • Sports
  • Documentary