British Triathlon are one of my biggest clients and ive been working with them for a long time creating many different videos. But September 2021 I had a meeting with them and they wanted to create a Documentary.
The focus for the documentary was around diversity, and the diversity in triathlon. It all came about after the 2020 Olympic Games and the lack of diversity in the triathlon games. Further research, they found only 2.4% of their members were ethically diverse. So we started to think about creating a documentary to dive deep and find out why.
Find out more on their website - https://www.britishtriathlon.org/diversity-in-triathlon
We had 2 days to film for this documentary and to be honest there wasn't any schedule or plans for the shoot. Now as this was during Covid times we only had one face to face interview and the rest were done over Zoom. As this was an investigation piece there was no storyboard or script, it was almost made on the spot with what we found out.
As a one man crew for this job I filmed the majority on my FS5ii with the secondary camera on a motorised slider to get some nice cutaways without needing anyone else to get me the movement I needed. It was only at one point I needed three cameras. With help from British Triathlon Marketing team, the filming was manageable.
Jaqueline shephard was brought in to host the film and she was perfect for this role. As a TV and Radio presenter she brought so much to the table and ultimately made the documentary. We all agreed that without her the documentary wouldn't have been the same.
The story telling really came alive in the editing process, we had so much information and content we didn't know what to do with it all. Now I do wish that a few more interviews were done in person but for this kind of documentary, it's more about the content, than the look of it. The interviews did create the bulk of the film and we were filming very 'Run and Gun' but we had Jaqueline reflect between interviews to create the flow of the piece, as well as Voice Over after filming was complete.
This documentary was a great success, it started a lot of conversations and started a movement to a more diverse sport. We know not all of the conversations were positive, but the story isn't positive with such a small number of ethically diverse members. We wanted it to be real, even if the truth wasn't ideal. I honestly felt so proud and empowered by this project and as a white male, I felt out of my comfort zone, but it is everyone responsibility to end racism and become one.