How to Make a Sports Documentary Series – The Iron Heart Podcast
Introduction
What’s up, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to a brand-new episode of The Iron Heart Podcast. I’m super excited to bring you fresh content, and today, we’re diving into working on a sports documentary series.
This is Part 2 of our discussion because I have even more insights and knowledge to share from my recent experience.
Working on a Sports Documentary Series
I recently worked on a sports documentary, and it was an incredible experience. The project involved:
- 60+ hours of interviews
- Covering two major South African soccer teams
- Interviews with players, coaches, management, journalists, and legends
- Some of these legends even played for both teams during their careers
The documentary focused on the rivalry between these two teams, their origins, and how the clubs were formed.
The Process of Making the Documentary
I’ve always been fascinated by documentaries, but before working on one, I assumed they took too long to make. However, being part of the process as a Content Director gave me a whole new perspective.
This documentary series was designed to be a three-part, 48-minute series—but we had 60 hours of interviews and tons of archive content (including match footage). The biggest challenge was cutting all of that down into three structured episodes.
How We Managed the Content
To handle the large amount of footage efficiently, we followed a structured approach:
Transcribing Interviews with AI
- We used an app called Trint to transcribe all interviews automatically.
- This gave us a written script of every conversation, making it easier to analyze the content.
Building a Content Plan
- After transcription, we created a content script to organize interviews into segments.
- Instead of watching all 60 hours manually, we could scan the transcripts, highlight key moments, and note time codes.
Creating a Paper Edit
- Before actual video editing, we structured the documentary on paper.
- We assigned time codes to specific segments and prepared a content plan for the assistant editor.
Editing Process
- The assistant editor compiled footage based on our content script.
- The first rough cut was around three and a half hours for just one segment.
- The editor then cut it down from three hours → 45 minutes → 15 minutes → final 8-minute segment.
- Each 48-minute episode had six segments, and editing each one took around three weeks.
The Challenges of Documentary Editing
Documentary editing is extremely time-consuming. Each segment required multiple versions before reaching the final cut. The process was:
- Raw footage → First rough cut (3 hours)
- Refined cut → Down to 45 minutes
- Fine-tuned cut → Reduced to 15 minutes
- Final edit → 8-minute segment
Since we had six segments per episode, and each took around three weeks to edit, you can imagine how long the entire documentary took to complete!
How Big Sports Documentaries Are Made
This experience gave me a new appreciation for major sports documentaries like:
- The Last Dance (Michael Jordan documentary)
- The Defiant Ones (Dr. Dre & Jimmy Iovine’s documentary)
These productions take years because they involve hundreds of interviews and thousands of hours of footage. Our documentary followed a similar workflow, just on a smaller scale.
The Team Behind the Documentary
A project of this scale requires a large team:
- Producer
- Director
- Content Director (me)
- Two assistant editors
- Two main editors (to help us meet deadlines)
- Post-production coordinator
Documentary production is a team effort, and without a structured workflow, it would be impossible to manage so much footage.
Final Thoughts
This experience was challenging but rewarding. I’ve always been curious about how major documentaries are made, and now I understand the time and effort that goes into them.
If you’ve ever wondered how documentaries are structured, this is the process. It takes time, patience, and teamwork, but the result is worth it.
The documentary should be released sometime this year or next year, and I can’t wait for you all to see it!
