Rhythm Masters: A Mickey Hart Experience

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

Rhythm Masters is a unique film that explores the rhythmic connection between music and sports from Grammy award-winning artist Mickey Hart, drummer of the Grateful Dead. His breath-taking score combined with insight from athletes helps show the depths of the universal rhythm found in music, sports, and life.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

While Rhythm Masters was not a traditional ESPN project, the project was able to permeate the culture at the intersection of music and sports. Hundreds of thousands of viewers were impressed with the collaboration. Due to these results and a new bar that was set, ESPN will continue to look for projects that occur at the intersection of sports and music.

Objective

_Rhythm Masters: A Mickey Hart Experience_ is an ambitious, innovative film that occupies a unique juncture of sports and entertainment, encouraging us to think about the deeper connections between the two – and of our world at large.

Grammy-winning artist and Kennedy Center honoree Mickey Hart, drummer of the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company, takes the viewer on a sonic journey as he creates an original score inspired by conversations with iconic voices from the world of sports. The project began as a collaboration between Hart and his longtime friend - NBA legend, Hall of Famer, and famous Deadhead Bill Walton. After Walton passed during the production of the film, the project became more than a sonic journey - it evolved into a deeper meditation on life through the forces we encounter in sport, music, and beyond.

Strategy & Execution

Throughout this visual and symphonic odyssey, Hart connects with a host of legendary sports figures including Joe Montana, Bob Cousy, Marshawn Lynch, Sheryl Swoopes, Jack Nicklaus, and Phil Jackson to examine the deeper forces present in both music and sports. These figures provide experiences and personal insights into the ways sports and music share a universal language. The film celebrates the artistry behind these two worlds, illuminating how they mutually inspire and elevate each other. The striking visuals and evocative soundtrack illustrate the pulse and energy that music brings to sports and vice versa.

We come to understand forces like power and speed through not just the movements they embody in the arena, but also in the studio and in the natural world. It is a meditation on the inner self, exploring the ways music and movement can provide clarity and focus in an unsettled world. With its powerful themes of peace, calmness, pain, suffering, and redemption, it is an unprecedented crossover of music and sports, a tribute to mastery in multiple forms.

Organizations

• Bluefoot Entertainment
• Fresh Features
• ESPN Films

Featured

• Bill Walton
• Marshawn Lynch
• Joe Montana

Credits

Scott Frankel
Produced By
ESPN Films

Kyle Van Dam
Produced By
ESPN Films

Burke Magnus
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Wright Thompson
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Timothy Horgan
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Eric Neel
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Mickey Hart
Original Score & Music By
ESPN Films

Torey Champagne
Director
ESPN Films

Heather Anderson
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Marsha Cooke
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Brian Lockhart
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Matt Allen
Co-Producer
ESPN Films

Caryl Hart
Co-Producer
ESPN Films

Reya Hart
Co-Producer
ESPN Films

Rose Soloman
Co-Producer
ESPN Films

Tom Furcillo
Director of Photography
ESPN Films

Thom McCallum
Director of Photography
ESPN Films

Lindsay Rovegno
Executive Producer
ESPN Films

Dave Lynch
Editor
ESPN Films

Julia Foust
Associate Producer
ESPN Films

Ben Daniels
Additional Camera
ESPN Films

Jeremy Davis
Additional Camera
ESPN Films

Julian Focareta
Additional Camera
ESPN Films

Mat Furuta
Additional Camera
ESPN Films

Jeremy Williams
Additional Camera
ESPN Films