A Radical Act: Renee Montgomery
A Radical Act: Renee Montgomery
In the documentary ‘A Radical Act: Renee Montgomery,’ two-time WNBA champion Renee Montgomery plans to recount her childhood in West Virginia and how her passion for basketball saw her rise to become the co-owner of the Atlanta Dream women’s basketball team.
“I’ve been surprised by the response to the documentary, in particular the most recent screening at Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival,” Montgomery said per TheWrap. “It’s quite the surreal feeling since I never thought that my own life story would be able to influence other people’s lives in such a positive way and I am grateful to all the people who came forward and told me how my story has influenced them.”
The Roku Original tells the story of Montgomery’s rise and achievements including two titles won with the Minnesota Lynx and her transition into the C-suite of the WNBA after co-ownership of the Atlanta Dream, and is produced by LeBron James’ and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted and P&G Studios, directed by Emmy award-winning Sandrine Orabona.
Eric Austin, Procter & Gamble’s Vice President of Global Marketing & Media Innovation stated: “P&G Studios was excited to go on with Uninterrupted because they had made it a point to deliver this message of strong women shattering ceilings and seeking new frontiers that can connect with the P&G brands, and Renee’s Mielle story was skirted in perfect praise as Mielle, the top Black-owned and women-operated beauty brand and also the official textured hair care brand of WNBA was associated with the brand. ”
Roku described the film like this: ‘This new feature documentary is a personal account of Renee and the events that shaped her life, from her childhood in West Virginia, to winning a national championship with the University of Connecticut, to two WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. The documentary illustrates as well the personal development of Renee from a player to a front office executive, and how the family and neighbourhood turned Renee’s ideals into a sport altering influence “.
“Few athletes can boast of their titles in high school and college and in the WNBA championship as well. But when Renee became the first former WNBA player to hold the position of executive with a team ownership stake, she instantly set the tone of ‘More Than an Athlete’ we have always aimed for,’” Uninterrupted remarked.
The film “A Radical Act: Renee Montgomery” is created by Uninterrupted, Storyform, P&G Studios, and WNBA. Executive producers of the film include: Montgomery, James, Carter, Austin, Jamal Henderson, Philip Byron, Stephanie Acevedo, and Kimberly Doebereiner. The co-executive producer is Camille Maratchi.
“Atlanta is such a central feature of who Renee is, and of the film more generally. It was extremely important for us to focus the attention of the audience on the location, its role during the civil rights movement, and its role today for Black Americans. This bridge and overlook are classic Atlanta and are part of Atlanta’s culture. So much so that the location appeared in many music videos and films over the last several decades,” said Orabona.
“We were filming the vignette that marked the emotional high point of the film. When I initially viewed the archival footage that Renee and [spouse Sirena Grace] had sent us during cat production, a moment that caught my attention was the Juneteenth pop up block party that Renee held immediately after she opted out. That was a perfect moment for us to match cut the drumline and with the same drummers in a vignette and depict all different kinds of turbulent emotions that were going on for Renee and Sirena at that time not knowing what lay ahead, in addition to the overarching themes of Black Excellence that we had already introduced in the film,” she went on.
“Renee’s path for glory does not stop with just activism and ownership of her ventures. She is pushing the standards of how she operates as a sports commentator and who she is infront of the camera. A little easter egg here — the basketball you see here is the exact basketball Renee used to practice with when she lived in a house as a child. It signifies how her foundation is with her all through out her life,” Orabona finished.
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- Genre: Documentary
- Country: United States
- Director: Sandrine Orabona
- Cast: Renee Montgomery, Sirena Grace, Suzanne Abair
