Spike Lee to Direct Colin Kaepernick Docuseries for ESPN

Spike Lee will collaborate with Colin Kaepernick for a ESPN docuseries about the life of the activist and former NFL quarterback.

Lee will direct and produce the project, which is part of a first look deal Kaepernick and his Ra Vision Media signed a deal with ESPN mother Disney in 2020. Former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill is also a producer.

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In the multi-part documentary, Kaepernick will provide a full first-person account of his journey, which includes growing up as the son of a mixed race of white adoptive parents; football stardom in high school, at the University of Nevada, and with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers; and his eventual release and effective blackballing from the competition after taking a knee while playing the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality.

Lee will be filming new interviews and will have access to an extensive and never-before-seen archive of Kaepernick to help tell the story.

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Kaepernick’s early life was already the subject of Netflix series Colin in black and whitewhich he co-designed and produced with Ava DuVernay.

Lee and ESPN Films previously collaborated on the 2009 documentary Kobe does his job, who followed Lakers star Kobe Bryant in one day in the 2007-’08 NBA season. Lee was also featured in the 30 for 30 installment Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks.

ESPN Films will produce the self-titled series, with Lee producing through his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. A title and release date have not yet been announced.

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