#Mike hamilton writer professional

And it’s funny because I wasn’t the first or only person that put those two kinds of connections together. Was that intentional? I noticed that the climactic title match with Luke Rockhold closely paralleled Rocky’s fight with Apollo Creed.Ībsolutely. The 1976 film Rocky is brought up several times throughout the documentary. But I think the film speaks for itself on a human level. I watched it a bit here and there, but I wasn’t a super fan. It’s not like I didn’t know anything about UFC or MMA. Everyone will love this film regardless if you’re a UFC fan, it’s going to resonate.

If you’re a human being, you’re going to love this film because it’s all about perseverance, overcoming goals, beliefs and every human on the planet has that. The film isn’t about UFC, it’s not about MMA. This is going to sound weird, but I don’t think you need to know a ton about UFC to make a film about a UFC fighter. What were some of the challenges you faced in immersing yourself in the sport and gaining access to some of its prominent figures like Dana White? In a previous interview, you had mentioned you didn’t know a lot about UFC. I want to do this.” And the rest is history. I said to the producer immediately, “I’m the guy for this project. But more, his personality is infectious … and that that really drew me in when I left that meeting.

And I really got an understanding of who he was. The producers asked me to do it, and I was just kind of like, “I don’t know.” We met in Hollywood, and we sat down for like two and a half hours just talking about stories. What really cemented it with me was getting the chance to actually meet Michael before I signed off. I just think those guys are a different breed as people will tell in the Bisping film. Michael Hamilton: I’ve never done a story on a fighter before and was always kind of intrigued with that space. Hamilton sat down with Digital Trends to talk about what attracted him to Bisping’s story, how Rocky influenced the documentary’s narrative, and the limitations of interviewing a subject who is sometimes unwilling to reveal his most personal details.ĭigital Trends: In many of your documentaries, you’ve focused largely on subjects from different sports: Hockey, track and field, and basketball. In Bisping: The Michael Bisping Story, Hamilton profiles the fighter as he reveals his difficult childhood in working-class Northern England, his steady and hard-earned rise within UFC ranks, and how an injury to his almost derailed his career.

#Mike hamilton writer professional

From chronicling Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and Eric Staal’s bumpy journey to the NHL to revealing the multifaceted and often misunderstood personality of track and field star Donovan Bailey, Hamilton is fascinated by the struggle of professional athletes to reconcile their heroic public images with their personal dilemmas.įor the first time in his career, Hamilton turns his lens to the world of UFC and, in particular, Michael Bisping, who is the first British fighter to win a UFC championship title. It does not store any personal data.Documentary filmmaker Michael Hamilton has been interested in profiling sports figures for nearly 20 years. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other.

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