FOX Sports Films Announces “Q Ball,” Executive Produced by Kevin Durant, as the Newest Film in “MAGNIFY” Documentary Series

Next Film in the Sports Emmy®-Nominated Series Focuses on the San Quentin State Prison Basketball Team

LOS ANGELES, CA – FOX Sports Films today announced “Q Ball” as the newest documentary in its Sports Emmy®-nominated “MAGNIFY” series. The film chronicles the lives of incarcerated basketball players at the San Quentin State Prison. It’s executive produced by Golden State Warriors All-Star Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Media, in conjunction with HEIST and Hunting Lane Films.

In the spirit of the series’ previous films, “Q Ball” utilizes sports as the lens for exploring important cultural stories.

Set to premiere in early 2019, “Q Ball” follows the lives of the San Quentin Warriors — teammates and inmates at “The Q”, California’s San Quentin State Prison. Durant and fellow Golden State Warriors team members’ previous visits to the prison helped kick-start the project. The documentary explores the inmates’ personal struggles, as they search for redemption and transcendence both on and off the court. The answers, characters, and stories are complex, but in San Quentin — a place where freedom is taken away — basketball gives a little bit back.

“My first visit to San Quentin with my teammates was an unforgettable experience that moved me and made me want to bring it to a larger audience,” said Durant. “This film shines a light on these individuals, their struggles and their connection through basketball.”

Emmy® and Peabody Award winning Michael Tolajian (“30 for 30: Once Brothers”) will direct the film. Along with Durant, “Q Ball” executive producers also include Durant’s Thirty Five Media business partner Rich Kleiman, Jamie Patricof and Katie McNeill of Hunting Lane, Jordan deBree of HEIST, and Tolajian. Rebekah Fergusson will also serve as a producer.

“It’s been an incredible first six months for Magnify, and we’re excited to continue adding compelling new projects to the series,” said Gabe Spitzer, Senior Vice President and Executive Producer, FOX Sports Films. “We’re focused on growing Magnify with films like “Q Ball” that open up larger cultural conversations through the lens of sports.”

The film is the latest addition to FOX Sports Films’ MAGNIFY documentary slate, which includes:

• 2018 Sports Emmy®-nominated “89 Blocks,” executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter for Uninterrupted, along with Sports Illustrated (November 2017)
• “Shot in the Dark,” executive produced by Dwyane Wade and Chance the Rapper (February 2018)
• The upcoming documentary, “Nossa Chape,” from award-winning directors Jeffrey Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist (The Two Escobars, Pele: Birth of a Legend) focuses on the 2016 plane crash involving Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense (June 2018)

“The partners we’ve had on the early part of this journey – producers and directors — have been really outstanding,” said Charlie Dixon, Executive Vice President, Content, FOX Sports. “Influential voices that truly care about the stories are a crucial part of what we’re building with this series.”

About FOX Sports
FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing 21st Century FOX’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, FOX Sports includes ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing partnerships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Broadcasting Company; FS1, FS2; FOX Sports Regional Networks, their affiliated regional web sites and national programming; FOX Soccer Plus; FOX Deportes and FOX College Sports. In addition, FOX Sports also encompasses FOX Sports Digital, which includes FOXSports.com and FOX Sports GO. Also included in the Group are FOX’s interests in joint-venture businesses Big Ten Network and BTN 2Go, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.

About Thirty Five Media
NBA Champion and Finals MVP Kevin Durant founded Thirty Five Media in Spring of 2017 with business partner and sports/entertainment executive Rich Kleiman. Thirty Five Media serves as the duo’s media production and creative development arm, including a partnership with YouTube and the forthcoming scripted series “SWAGGER,” in partnership with Imagine Entertainment. Additional projects will be announced later this year.

About HEIST
HEIST (www.heistprojects.com) is a San Francisco-based production company. Founded in 2008, HEIST develops and produces creative content for both commercial and narrative platforms. ”Q Ball” is the first of several longform documentary projects HEIST currently has in development.

About Hunting Lane Films
Hunting Lane, founded by Jamie Patricof, produces director-driven narrative features and television, documentaries and digital content. Hunting Lane has produced four documentaries for ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, earning them both a Peabody Award and an Emmy. Other documentary projects include Levitated Mass by filmmaker Doug Pray, Confessions of a Superhero by director Matthew Ogens, and HBO’s The Offseason: Kevin Durant. Narrative features include 2017’s The Zookeeper’s Wife starring Jessica Chastain, Captain Fantastic starring Viggo Mortensen for which he was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe, The Accountant starring Ben Affleck, Tim Burton’s Big Eyes starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz, Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Eva Mendes, Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine for which Ryan Gosling was nominated for a Golden Globe and Michelle Williams was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar, and finally Half Nelson also starring Gosling. The company’s next release will be The After Party written and directed by Ian Edelman (How to Make it in America) and starring Super Duper Kyle. It will be released this summer on Netflix.