BestCrosses Studios has optioned the book “NBA Jam” by journalist Reyan Ali, as the basis for a documentary feature.
Back in the early 90’s, Mark Turmell, Sal DiVita and the rest of their small team redefined entertainment. They revolutionized development and design and gave birth to a simulation sports industry that now competes with the real thing. But just a few years after their billion-dollar hit conquered the world, developer Midway, publisher Acclaim, and video arcades themselves completely disappeared.
How did this simple basketball game become the MVP of the arcade, transform basketball pop-culture, usher in the e-sports revolution... and then disappear as fast as it arrived?
Adapted from the exhaustive research and original interviews from journalist Reyan Ali’s best selling book, NBA Jam, the documentary takes you along for the ride with the development team at Midway as they unknowingly revolutionize basketball and interactive entertainment forever.
BestCrosses Studios has optioned the book Game of Privilege: An African American History of Golf by historian Lane Demas, as the basis for a documentary series.
The book traces the remarkable history from the advent of golf to the arrival in the 1990’s of golf superstar Tiger Woods. It’s a remarkable story of race and golf in American culture. As national civil rights organizations debated whether to pursue the game’s integration, while many passionate African Americans nationwide filed lawsuits and went to jail or risked death in their efforts to desegregate the golf courses, many black golfers and black caddies often took matters into their own hands and helped shape the game’s subculture.
BestCrosses Studios optioned the book “The Lost Dream” by sports journalist Steve Simmons, as the basis for a scripted series.
Mike Jefferson started out as a suburban kid who dreamed of making it to the NHL, with parents determined to do anything and everything to make their son’s dream come true. So how did this promising young man’s hockey career turn into a harrowing crime story? Coach and agent David Frost fast-tracked Jefferson’s route to the NHL, but at a staggering cost. Along the way, the affable young player turned against his parents, changed his name to Danton, and descended into a spiral of paranoia and violence that finally cut short the career he had sacrificed everything for when he was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.
In this fast-paced and gripping story, veteran hockey journalist Steve Simmons digs beneath the surface to answer questions that have left fans shocked and fascinated. How did Frost get such a grip on Danton and his family? How did Frost work himself into such a position of trust in the world of minor hockey? What exactly was Danton’s relationship with Frost? And who was it that Danton hired a hitman to kill—his father or his agent? Full of the insights from one of Canada’s most-trusted hockey columnists, who is intimately familiar with both minor hockey and the big leagues, The Lost Dream is the story of the dark side of our fascination with a game loved by so many.
BestCrosses Studios has partnered with writers George “Cash” Boykin and Shaun Mathis to develop a scripted series titled “Day-to-Day.”
The series is inspired by George's real-life experiences being the Road Manager for hip-hop superstar 2 Chainz for six crucial years when 2 Chainz went from being an underground rapper to a mainstream artist.
When rappers are coming up in the music game, they perform on the "Chitlin Circuit," which are venues across the south previously home to African-American blues musicians in the 60's. Today, the Chitlin Circuit is home to up-and-coming rappers who perform in these gang-run, underground clubs. It's up to the rappers Road Manager, aka their "Day-to-Day," to make sure the money is collected and they make it out safe in a world full of sex, drugs, alcohol, dirty money and violence.
BestCrosses Studios, alongside Darius Films, has partnered with Zero World Media to develop a scripted series titled “Fractures.”
Fractures takes us into this world of athletes (NBA players) who push their bodies to the absolute limit, where our series leads, the team medical professionals, are forced to operate in a gray area no hospital or private practice ever navigates – where treatment is weighed against a billionaire team owner’s need to sell tickets, a player’s ego, their agent’s demands, and a culture of toxic masculinity that makes their patients some of the most complicated to treat.
BestCrosses Studios has optioned the official Marshall McLuhan biography, “Marshall McLuhan: Escape into Understanding,” by linguist W. Terrence Gordon, as the basis for a documentary.
There was a revolution of sorts during the 1960s. An intellectual revolution. A paradigm shift, certainly, but also an evolution in Western self-consciousness. For its one thing to understand the impact of technologies on the external world - as the electric light illuminates, so the car transports - it’s another to understand the impact of these technologies on ourselves. This revolution didn’t happen in Boston at Harvard, nor the Sorbonne in Paris, nor Oxford or Cambridge, but at St Michael’s College at the University of Toronto.
As a result of this intellectual revolution, celebrated Professor and Philosopher Marshall McLuhan pronounced the implosion of the Western world, anticipated the internet, Artificial Intelligence, and virtually all the technological advancements of the 21st century, remarkably, close to 50 years before the societal impact of these advancements could even be considered or assessed.
Many dream about playing basketball in the NBA, but some are willing to work harder than everyone else to make that dream come true. So what’s the difference between the Dreamers and Doers? What separates the “good” from the “greats”? Where is the line between commitment and obsession? Is obsession a bad thing? What are you prepared to sacrifice to be the BEST? With remarkable access behind the scenes, “Hate Me Now, Thank Me Later” is an original docu-series featuring premier NBA skills coach Drew Hanlen — who has been called the Tony Robbins or Gary Vee of Basketball — featuring 3 of Drew’s many NBA clients: Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Bradley Beal of the Phoenix Suns – as Drew works with some of the best basketball players on the planet to make them even better… and help them navigate a career, and life, along the way.
BestCrosses Studios produced and distributed the 6-episode docu-series “Anyone’s Game.”
New York? Los Angeles? Miami? Chicago? — The world’s top basketball prep school is not where you think it is. Tucked away in the middle of Canada lies basketball’s best kept secret: Orangeville Prep; the little known basketball program that is arguably the best in North America after sending 30 players to NCAA Division 1 schools and 7 to the NBA. Despite the success of the program, Orangeville Prep has never received the recognition it deserves, so it continues to fight for respect.
Anyone’s Game dives deep into a season with Orangeville Prep as we were granted unprecedented access into the underbelly of what makes these programs tick. Set against the backdrop of the high stakes’ world of the prestigious Grind Session prep basketball circuit, the docu-series takes a deep look into one of the most unique and successful programs in this cut throat world.