Air screenwriter Alex Convery and editor William Goldenberg represented the movie at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles. The movie tells the story of how Nike signed then-rookie Michael Jordan to the sneaker line that turned Air Jordan. Even although Air Jordan is likely one of the most well-known manufacturers on this planet, Convery mentioned it remained suspenseful as a result of Nike govt Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) turned such a robust character.
“If you can get the audience to care about the character, they’re going to forget that they know the ending,” Convery mentioned. “Argo was similar. Titanic, you know how that’s going to end but you care about Jack and Rose.”
Goldenberg mentioned the script laid a number of the groundwork for making the Jordan-adjacent story suspenseful. To make it so, he and director Ben Affleck merely tightened up the occasions of the plot.
“In pacing it, the more I worked on it, the more Ben and I worked on it, we wanted to make it a ticking clock,” Goldenberg mentioned. “Sonny wanted to beat Adidas and Converse and be the first to sign Jordan. The pace being more upcut and really quick lent itself to this film. The more I did it, adding all these things, gave it its own pace as well.”
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Convery wrote Air on spec as a result of he grew up in Chicago within the ‘90s when Jordan was already reigning with the Bulls. Convery said he was inspired to tell Vaccaro’s story by seeing a short clip of him within the documentary The Last Dance.
“His connection to the Jordan deal, I thought that’s your character, the ultimate underdog,” Convery mentioned. “Sonny was ultimately cut out of recognition for this deal. I just felt it was important to tell his story, the relationship he had with Michael, Deloris [Jordan, Michael’s mother] and the family.”
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After Air, Convery is writing one other true story.
“It’s another basketball movie,” Convery mentioned. “Similar material but more of a straightforward sports movie. It’s a true story so I can’t talk about all of the components yet. I’m into the script now. Hopefully, it’ll turn out well.”
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Air is now streaming on Prime Video.
Check again Monday for the panel video.
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