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Sale the latest Premiership club to consider fly-on-the-wall documentary series
By Jack Zorab
Gallagher Premiership club Sale Sharks could soon feature in their own sports documentary on Amazon Prime with Steve Diamond, their colourful director of rugby, a potential star of the show.
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The Sharks have told RugbyPass that initial discussions have taken place between Amazon representatives and a team of independent filmmakers about creating a television series which follows the club through the course of one or more seasons.
A four-minute trailer has even been created to illustrate the Sale story, with Diamond featuring prominently. South African World Cup winner Faf de Klerk and England internationals Tom Curry and Manu Tuilagi would also represent a significant draw for rugby fans, especially if full behind-the-scenes access is granted.
The discussions at Sale come just a few months after Northampton confirmed it had engaged sports marketing agency CSM Sport & Entertainment to find broadcasting and production partners for a fly-on-the-wall documentary on life at Franklin’s Gardens.
The revelation that Sale are now also in the race to bring the inside story of an English club rugby season to the screen may prompt others to explore the possibility. However, any hope of filmmakers gaining league-wide access to all twelve Premiership clubs – as Formula 1 managed to negotiate for the Drive to Survive documentary on Netflix – would be premature.
The life of @MarkyJ13 fell apart when he learned of the horrific circumstances of his birth.
The ex-England U20s centre talks to @heagneyl about fighting back from drink, drugs, ballooning up to 112kg and finding himself on the brink of homelessnesshttps://t.co/cdx4CZS7rb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 21, 2020
Sale, who have indicated that other production companies are also interested in hearing more about their plans, represent an intriguing proposition, especially if the Sharks can challenge for the Gallagher Premiership title while the cameras are following them.
Despite last weekend’s restart loss at Harlequins, they currently lie third in the 2019/20 Premiership and their recent signing of Tuilagi is a forewarning to opponents that they want to be challenging for the title consistently over the next few seasons.
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Off the pitch, the club also believes they have a compelling story to tell about rugby union in the north-west of England and how communities in which the Sharks are active in are benefitting from the game.
The ultimate challenge, though, would be to create a series which matches the thrills and insights rugby fans have become accustomed to, not only in the behind-the-scenes Lions documentaries but also the high calibre productions from RugbyPass, such as Inside The Barbarians and Tonga: Road to Japan.
Worth checking out before the England game tomorrow. RugbyPass’ latest documentary. Behind the scenes with Tonga in the build-up to the RWC. https://t.co/Lub923r2Ez
— Alex Shaw (@alexshawsport) September 21, 2019
