Mandalay Sports Media and Michael D. Ratner’s OBB Pictures have entered into a co-production agreement to develop and produce a slate of sports-themed films, TV projects and multiplatform programming. Their first series project is Embiid, a documentary that centers on Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid’s journey from Cameroon to Kansas, and ultimately the NBA. MSM’s Mike Tollin is producing and Ratner is directing and producing. Ratner will also direct six episodes of Ride Along, MSM’s digital series for Vice Sports, each episode of which features star players inside their cars as they head to their biggest games of the year.
“We’re excited to team up with industry leaders Mike Tollin, Dick Glover, and Peter Guber to find and develop strong narratives within the sports environment; they are dream partners to continue the pursuit of converging entertainment and sports,” said Ratner, who’s CEO/founder of OBB Pictures.
The deal comes at a time where both companies are extremely active. MSM recently completed production on the Chuck Wepner biopic, The Bleeder, a story of “the real Rocky” starring Liev Schreiber; their feature documentary, Kareem: Minority of One was nominated for both a NAACP Image Award and Producers Guild Award; their documentary Patrick and Zoe will be released by SI Films next month, as will their L.A. Clippers Dance Squad LA for E! Ratner and OBB recently completed production on the feature documentary One in a Billion that chronicles Satnam Singh’s journey to becoming the first-ever Indian-born player drafted to the NBA; there is also a scripted digital comedy series starring Erin Foster; and an ESPN 30 for 30 short film which will all be released later this year. UTA, 3 Arts and Hansen Jacobson rep OBB.
