Underdog: The Shepparton Gators Story will officially premiere this November, and McPherson Media Group is hosting a special screening event to mark its debut.
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Underdog is a McPherson Media Group documentary produced by News senior photographer Megan Fisher and reporter Jay Bryce.
The official screening will take place at the University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health, located at 49 Graham St, Shepparton (opposite GV Health), on Thursday, November 21, at 6pm for a 6.30pm start.
You can get your tickets on the Shepp News website.
Tickets are $15, with all money raised from tickets going towards supporting All Abilities basketball in Shepparton.
Underdog co-director and News journalist Jay Bryce has reflected on the experience of creating the documentary and encouraged the community to not miss the chance to be part of a special night.
Last year, while writing the Stand For Our Stadium campaign, senior photographer Megan Fisher suggested we capture some of the interviews on video.
We had collected so many powerful stories from the local basketball community, and it felt like a wasted opportunity to not try and mix up the format in an attempt to reach a new audience.
The growth in Shepparton basketball has been led by the new generation.
Ball-crazy kids have charged the energy at the Shepparton Sports Stadium, helping the Shepparton Gators cultivate the reputation for the best crowd in regional Victoria.
They have been front and centre in Shepparton's renewed cries for an upgrade to the Shepparton Sports Stadium.
So, when the Stand For Our Stadium campaign was put on pause as Greater Shepparton City Council released a new plan for an upgrade, we decided to come up with a different project.
Kids don't read the newspapers, but they do use social media and watch TV shows and movies.
As the Shepparton Gators ascended into the Big V Championship for the first time in almost two decades, Megan and I devised a plan for something The News has never done before and Shepparton has never seen before.
Think The Last Dance (Netflix dominance about the '90s Chicago Bulls) but with a little less Michael Jordan and fewer million dollars involved.
It's been an incredible experience and I feel so indebted to everyone involved.
I'm a 21-year-old cadet journalist.
This feels like the type of thing they let you do after decades of industry experience.
It's been amazing to work with Megan.
She's an incredibly talented individual who is really the driving force behind this project.
She's put in hours of editing to pull everything we've put together, the dozens of interviews and an insane amount of video footage, into three episodes.
I'm incredibly proud of some of the interviews and so grateful for how the players opened up and were so vulnerable.
Some of them let us into their homes, but all of them let us into their worlds.
After all the Shepparton Gators games, the kids rush to the court to speak to the players and get pictures and photos.
There's a scene in the documentary where the Gators take on a team of Guthrie St Primary School students at the school.
After the game, they handed out tickets and signed autographs in the courtyard for what felt like an hour.
American import Devin Thomas stuck around until all the teachers had to practically drag the kids off him.
It's so refreshing to see these kids have local role models when so many have grown up with the internet, where international stars are glamorised and accessible at the click of a button.
This is a chance for the kids to get to know their heroes off the court.
Not only is this show not just about basketball, it's probably more about life than anything else.
Some of these players have travelled across the world to play ball right here in Shepparton.
I mean, how bizarre is that?
Years of funding neglect have kept basketball community in the background.
But it's too big and too special to keep quiet now.
Shepparton's best-kept secret is about to be put on an entirely new stage.
Don't miss a chance to be a part of it.
The debut screening event of ‘Underdog’ would not be possible without the support of Gagliardi Scott Real Estate, Synergy Traffic, CAF Consulting, The Nelson Family, Conquest Pools, State Member for Shepparton Kim O'Keeffe, the University of Melbourne and the McPherson Media Group.
Cadet journalist