New ESPN documentary comes with a twist
The latest announcement of an ESPN documentary this week came with a twist: the network is the subject, not the producer, of the feature.
Sunn Stream announced in a press release this week that its original film "will highlight how ESPN's Founder William F. Rasmussen had a bold vision to build the most successful sports cable network in America."
"We're excited to work with Bill Rasmussen to tell the story about the greatest sports entrepreneur in the world in this new documentary," Sunn Stream founder and executive producer Garrett Z. Sutton said in the release.
The documentary is estimated for a "late 2025" release.
"As a life-long sports fan who has spent way too many hours watching ESPN, I am honored that Bill has entrusted us to bring his remarkable story of perseverance and foresight to the world," director Greg DeHart said in the release.
Former ESPN public relations guru Mike Soltys has also been brought on as a producer and "historical liaison to the production team," per the release. Soltys was the network's second-longest tenured executive — he spent 43 years in Bristol, Conn. — when he was laid off in April 2023.
Soltys was reportedly among a planned 7,000 cuts at the time by ESPN's parent company, Disney.
The documentary figures to delve deeper into the network's humble origin story in a sleepy New England clockmaking town. According to Rasmussen's website, he was fired as the communications director of the WHA's New England Whalers (along with the team's entire front office) at the conclusion of the 1977-78 season. Fourteen months later on Sept. 7, 1979 his dream of ESPN became a reality.
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