A spotlight on the growth of basketball amongst high school basketball in New Zealand, and one kid’s dream of getting to the next level. ‘To The Line’ follows Finn Mcclure and Rongotai College through his senior season at high school, as he navigates the scouting process in Aotearoa and looks to impress at the Nationals.

Director’s Note

The growth of a sport relies very much on sociological factors. What is one country’s relationship to the sport and what are the views held by its population? How does a non-native sport take root in a country and what exists to permeate growth? One could look at the growth of basketball in a linear timeline and identify the key moments when the sport’s popularity has increased. However, for this film we wanted to look at it through the eyes of a young aspirational kiwi who has been directly affected by the growth of the game and is looking for a college scholarship.

Steven Adams story is well documented; a Rotorua boy plucked from obscurity, mentored by long time Wellington youth basketball coach Kenny McFadden, then goes on to be recruited by the University of Pittsburgh.  Drafted by Oklahoma City Thunder he’s become New Zealand’s most famous NBA basketballer.  Since Adams joined the NBA, secondary school player numbers have grown 60%, and today dozens of Kiwi kids have a realistic chance to secure a college scholarship playing basketball in the US.

To The Line follows Rongotai College as they go in pursuit of a National Championship. The season comprises of success and failures but through this adversity, a young player emerges. The team is full of stud players, and Finn Mcclure is arguably the third best player on the team - though we quickly learn that college scouts look for character in these men and Finn gets invited to a invitational in the US. as he aims to impress the coaches and secure a college scholarship.

We explore the teams’ situational conflicts and the player’s individual conflicts, on and off the court using a combination of observational and verité. We l frame the overall landscape of basketball in NZ by capturing footage and interviews from within communities across the country and over in the U.S. Often pulling away from our protagonists to hear from key individuals in the basketball community, looking at the culture of street basketball and how the sport is consumed in Aotearoa. But the spine of our story, is personal, intimate and emotional.

The story of our characters will be told subjectively, as we show passionate youths putting everything on the line. But we pair this subjectivity with stats and archives that present our audience with a well rounded view.

This was my first film documentary and a real learning curve. We approached it very much in verité style, as the story needed to unfold in real time in front of us. The season didn’t end the way we had hoped for Rongotai, but the relationships forged with the team during that time, meant another story presented itself and we were incredibly happy to follow that narrative.

Often one-manning, To The Line is raw and imperfect. But a project I am incredibly proud to have worked on and grateful for all that it taught me when approaching future films.

Thanks to Antony Young, we were able to secure network positions on Sky Sport NZ & Three NZ, with Toyota and Rebel Sports sponsoring the 30min programme.

PRODUCERS ANTONY YOUNG & JACK CHAPMAN