Cowbell Kingdom Podcast Ep 27: Spotlighting “Small Market, Big Heart”

“Small Market, Big Heart” is a documentary detailing the 27-year history (and counting) of the Sacramento Kings.  It’s also about the capital region’s battle to establish identity through its only major pro sports franchise.  The film is directed by Tobin Halsey and produced by Blake Ellington and Cowbell Kingdom’s own James Ham.  It premieres tonight at the Crest Theater in Downtown Sacramento.

A conversation with the filmmakers in this week’s Cowbell Kingdom podcast.

• Ham on how the story is told: “When we decided to do this, we wanted to look at it from four different approaches.  We wanted to tell the story from the media’s eye.  We wanted to tell the story through the politician’s eye.  We wanted to tell the story through the team’s eye.  And lastly, through the fan’s eye.”

• Ellington on why the film is an extension of the fan’s voice:  “After they decided to stay, we needed to have a direction as far as what we wanted to do, having a voice going forward.  And the documentary itself, I think is going to come out at a time when the community’s voice still needs to be heard.  And this is really going to demonstrate…how important professional sports and entertainment is to this region.”

• Trying to beat the March 1st relocation deadline, the filmmakers produced this film in a condensed time frame.  It was a challenge, says Halsey.  “When we started talking about it, we knew that it was going to be intense.  That, especially at the finish, there would be very little sleep.  We didn’t have a crew of people to work with – a large crew of people.  We had lots of people that helped, but we didn’t have a full production crew.  We had to do all this stuff on an abbreviated time frame, but you know, some of the best stuff is done like this.”

Music Credit: Ronald Jenkees – Guitar Sound

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