UBC alum directs documentary about Canadian basketball legend
After directing an award-winning documentary on the Occupy Wall Street movement, filmmaker and UBC alum Corey Ogilvie tackled a decidedly different topic for his next project: two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash.
A lifelong basketball junkie, Ogilvie dreamed of working with Nash and found the B.C.-bred basketball star to be a fascinating subject.
The result is Nash, a documentary co-directed with Michael Hamilton, available for download on iTunes.
Why did you want to make a documentary about Steve Nash?
Steve is a multi-faceted character–father, humanitarian, NBA MVP, filmmaker–and he has had a roller-coaster life. As a basketball player myself, I am naturally interested in what happens behind the scenes with a childhood hero of mine. Having the chance to be with him as he went to games, looked over emails at home and visited film sets was amazing. The film essentially paints the portrait of an imperfect hero with the same problems we all face–ourselves.
How is the 40-year-old Nash approaching the prospect of retirement?
He is facing his upcoming retirement by finding another job–film. I’m not sure what he has been up to, but I know he and his cousin Ezra Holland are working hard. I have no doubt Steve will do this 60 hours per week when he steps off the court.
Regarding my own career, Steve’s work ethic is way stronger than mine, even though he is a multimillionaire who could sit back whenever he wants. He showed me that success at his level comes with some costs, but if you’re willing to accept them, then go for it.
Your IMDB profile picture shows you putting a microphone on U.S. President Barack Obama. Was that a daunting experience?
We interviewed Obama for Nash. I set the camera on a 10-second timer before attaching the microphone on him. I had to get a different shot than the typical president photo with everyone smiling into the camera. The camera beeped and beeped as it neared the 10-second limit, and I got scared because I feared the Secret Service would think it was a ticking time bomb and rush the room. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
Corey Ogilvie graduated from UBC’s Dept. of Sociology in 2005, winning the Kaspar Naegle Award Memorial Prize in Sociology. He is the director of A Requiem for Che (2010), Occupy: The Movie (2013) and Nash (2013), which won a 2012 Leo Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary.