While Colin Kaepernick awaits a hopeful return to the NFL this year, as the tone of the league has shifted in recent weeks, he has made waves in the world of entertainment with a pair of major announcements.
The first was a partnership with Netflix on a six-episode mini-series called “Colin in Black and White,” written by Ava Duvernay, that will look at Kaepernick’s high school experience as a Black kid adopted by a white family and living in a predominantly white community. On Monday, we learned that will only be the beginning of Kaepernick’s work in the visual media space, as Disney and ESPN announced an overall first-look deal with Kaepernick that will extend to all areas of Disney’s media empire.
The Walt Disney Company today announced an overall first-look deal with Colin Kaepernick’s production arm Ra Vision Media. The partnership will focus on telling scripted and unscripted stories that explore race, social injustice and the quest for equity, and will provide a new platform to showcase the work of Black and Brown directors and producers. The first-look deal will extend across all Walt Disney Platforms including Walt Disney Television, ESPN, Hulu, Pixar, and The Undefeated. Kaepernick will work closely with The Undefeated, which is expanding its portfolio across Disney, to develop stories from the perspective of Black and Brown communities.
The first part of the deal will be a docuseries on Kaepernick’s journey over the last five years since he began protesting police brutality and racism, and his subsequent ouster from the NFL, through never-before-seen footage and interviews to tell his story from his perspective. The project will be produced on the ESPN side by Libby Geist, Kevin Merida, and Connor Schnell, with Kaepernick also bringing former ESPNer Jemele Hill on as a major part of the project.
“I am excited to announce this historic partnership with Disney across all of its platforms to elevate Black and Brown directors, creators, storytellers, and producers, and to inspire the youth with compelling and authentic perspectives,” Kaepernick said. “I look forward to sharing the docuseries on my life story, in addition to many other culturally impactful projects we are developing.”
Kaepernick’s deal with Disney will go well beyond telling his story and will look to elevate Black and Brown creators across various platforms to tell more stories from perspectives not often given prominent platforms.