In early 2022 I heard about a local club basketball team in Phoenix that was described to me as “imagine Last Chance U - Basketball in a young club format.” As a fan of the show from a documentary storytelling perspective, my ears immediately perked up at the idea of working with this team which I know now fondly as the AZGorillaz. After a brief introductory meeting with the head coach, Jake Jensen, I was amazed at his posture of servitude and love for the boys he was coaching.

This was a club team with virtually no money, limited resources, no home gym, but plenty of talent and heart. It checked all of my boxes for a great documentary story. It was real, it had consequences, it had hope, it had impact, and absolutely no budget; But that didn’t matter because this was an opportunity to give back to a coach that had given so much of his time and personal resources to the team that he loved.

Over the next two years, I would film different practices and tournaments to build as much b-roll and structure for the film as possible. Interviewing the players was what really sealed the deal, as it showed Coach Jensen’s heart and drive for the team. I didn’t want the film to feel like it was the Coach begging for money or trying to ask for sympathy because that couldn’t be further from reality. The entire time filming the documentary Jake struggled with opening up about all the ways he contributed and poured into the life of these young men.

For anyone reading this that’s thinking "how do I create a film after I find a story? How do I premiere a film?" My first piece of advice is that no one is going to give you permission because you don’t need permission to create what you want to create. The only thing between our goals and where we’re at now is doing it. I was fortunate enough to have my own personal film equipment to work with outside of my 9-5 job that allowed me to create the film, but I can honestly say as long as your story, structure, and technicals are in working order the gear doesn’t matter. Each one of us has unique connections, locations, and stories that we have access to, it’s just about shifting our mindset to seeing them with fresh eyes.

The film went through many months of editing as I was struggling to find the main character and structure of the film. The first iteration had Jake as the primary character of the story, which worked but it wasn’t as impactful as I knew it could be. A friend of mine watched the film and told me that he wanted to see more of the player's personalities and perspectives. This was a great note, the only problem was the film premiere was scheduled 1 week after this comment. I’d lay awake at night knowing that he was right, the story needed to be about the impact of the club for years to come not just a chapter of a person’s life. I filmed 2 more interviews of different players and some more b-roll of a pick-up game in a local Phoenix park. It ended up making the film 10X more impactful and that's not an exaggeration. I can’t imagine that scene and those interviews not in the film. I cringe at the thought of my friend not giving me those notes. The last edits to the film were made the morning of the premiere, so if you’re feeling like it’s only you or your business that makes last-minute tweaks I promise it’s not.

As far as the financials and fundraising part of the event, I helped Jake create a GoFundMe page with a description of the team, their mission, and financial needs. We printed business cards with QR codes linking to the Gofundme along with pamphlets of their story and where the money would be allocated for the teams needs. The AZGorillaz kept 100% of the profits from the fundraising outside of GoFundMe’s fees. The gain for myself and my business Wild Hues was the opportunity to give back to a club and mission we align with and to create new connections. From the event, the AZGorillaz raised over $12,400 in support for new team jerseys, budget for practice gyms, and vehicle maintenance costs of the team’s van. One of the single Mothers of the players came up to me after the film with tears in her eyes and embraced me with shoulders trembling. All she could muster to say was “thank you.” I’ll never forget that moment of the power of film as a spotlight and beacon of hope. A moment where a Mother could see her son’s work ethic, passion, and character come through on screen. A moment where a coach could witness just how much his efforts meant to his players. It was all so much to take in after years of effort and tweaking the edit. I was emotionally exhausted for weeks after the premiere but extremely proud to create a piece of art that wasn’t about bringing attention to ourselves but shining the light on a community that needed the support and praise.

Here at Wildhues we have every intention to carry this legacy forward of creating pro-bono films for stories in our local communities that need support. As a business, we’ll continue growing our revenue, attaining new clients, and pushing forward in our skillsets and technological advancements, but we’ll always have a flag in continuing this style of “work.” In the words of Winston Churchill “"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” - at Wildhues we don’t want to just make a living but make a life of our business and expertise.

- Silas

Link to Film

How we raised over 10K at our first documentary fundraising event. - AZGorillaz Club Team