WE MAKE IMPACt.
Led by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Brett Rapkin, Podium Pictures is the global leader in impact-driven sports media.
Founded in 2009, Podium is the first media company dedicated to sports-themed entertainment that inspires audiences to engage in positive social change.
In addition to creating scripted and non-scripted programming, Podium has full production and post-production facilities. Through its worldwide network of traditional and digital distribution, aligned with partnerships with key athletes, teams, brands, non-profits and NGO organizations, Podium is positioned uniquely within the industry to engage a rapidly growing audience while bringing global awareness and action to today’s most vital issues.
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Featured Project
The Weight
of Gold
Impact Issue: Mental Health Stigma
Produced in partnership with Olympic legend Michael Phelps, this is the documentary that reveals the mental health challenges facing our nation's greatest athletes. It also serves as the call to action for better resources to address these challenges. Featuring Shaun White, Bode Miller, Apolo Ohno, Lolo Jones, Gracie Gold, and David Boudia, among others.
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Want to Be a Young Influencer? Maybe Not
HBO’s ‘Showbiz Kids,’ ‘The Weight of Gold,’ and other documentaries recount celebrity’s toll; ‘You always think your child is the exception to the rule and you’re going to be really safe.’ Read More →
Michael Phelps narrated film, ‘The Weight of Gold,’ on Olympians, mental health, sets premiere
“The Weight of Gold,” a documentary about Olympians’ mental health challenges narrated by Michael Phelps, debuts July 29 on HBO. Read More →
‘The Weight Of Gold’ Docu On Olympic Athletes & Mental Health Featuring Michael Phelps Set At HBO
HBO has acquired and set a premiere date for The Weight of Gold, a feature documentary on the mental health challenges Olympic athletes often face. Read More →
Selected Works
For over twenty years, Podium Pictures and its founder Brett Rapkin have worked with the world's greatest athletes, teams, brands, and broadcasters to create impactful content.
Welcome to dodgertown
Impact Issue: Racial Segregation
An Emmy Award-winning documentary narrated by Vin Scully and Larry King detailing the legendary Spring Training facility in Vero Beach, Florida.
Originally built on a former navy base to provide a secure place to develop baseball's first black players including Jackie Robinson, the facility hosted Dodger stars from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela over its storied history.
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Spaceman
Impact Issue: Athlete Empowerment
A scripted feature film starring Josh Duhamel and Sterling K. Brown, this is the story of former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee.
When Lee (Duhamel) is blacklisted from the major leagues in 1982 after protesting the release of his teammate Rodney Scott (Brown), he ultimately finds a way to continue playing the game he loves on his own terms… and continues to do so into his mid-seventies.
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Game Changers
Impact Issue: Athlete Social Action
An NFL Media series created by Podium that paired the NFL’s biggest stars with top entertainers. The series paired athletes including Drew Brees and Chris Johnson with entertainers such as Harry Connick Jr., Faith Hill, and Wyclef Jean.
One highly regarded episode featured Connick and Brees meeting up at Habitat for Humanity's “Musician’s Village” in New Orleans shortly after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
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The Nagano Tapes
Impact Issue: International Diplomacy
The inspiring story behind the Czech Republic’s heroic upset in hockey at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the first Olympics to feature professionals from the NHL.
This was the first of the Olympic Channel’s “Five Rings Films” series produced by Mandalay Sports Media (ESPN’s Michael Jordan series “The Last Dance”) and The Kennedy Marshall Company (“Jurassic World,’ “The Bourne Identity.”)
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Take Action
The weight of gold
We must all work together to reduce mental health stigma and let everyone know "it's OK not to be OK."
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