• by Wayne Friedman , March 4, 2008

ESPN has announced a major push into films--establishing a new feature film division and hiring Creative Artists Agency, the major Hollywood talent agency.

ESPN Films will now be part of the ESPN Content Development group, which is headed by Keith Clinkscales, ESPN senior vice president of content development and enterprises of ESPN. ESPN's first film project, under the new unit, will be its "30/30" initiative, where it will invite 30 filmmakers to each tell a one-hour sports-themed story that will air on Tuesday nights beginning September 2009. The move is timed to coincide with ESPN's 30th anniversary.

The network also announced a closer association with its sister company division, the Walt Disney Studios, on scripted sports films to be presented both theatrically and on television. The new unit will be part of the ESPN Content Development group.

ESPN has made films for its own network for a number of years under its ESPN Original Entertainment brand--with mixed results. One of the more notable movies was a biography about Nascar driver Dale Earnhardt, called "3," which earned some of the highest ratings for the network.

Recently, ESPN's eight-part miniseries about the 1970s New York Yankees championship teams, "The Bronx is Burning," earned a number of nominations from the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the NAACP, the MMPA and the New York Festivals.

Coming this spring, ESPN and ESPN2 will televise up to 10 ESPN Films-branded films--including one on black colleges and universities from the civil rights era to the present day. Another film involves an against-all-odds Harlem high school football team. There's also a documentary from Bud Greenspan about a group of high school wrestlers and their 34-year winning streak.

ESPN started producing theatrical films in March 2006 with "Through the Fire," about the troubled life of NBA player Sebastian Telfair. It also created the documentary "Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos."

The net's deal with Creative Artists Agency is telling. It's not only a full-service film, TV, music talent agency, but also represents some 350 athletes through its CAA Sports division. CAA Sports deals in the areas of broadcast rights, corporate marketing initiatives, and sports sponsorship.