Sportswriter Bill Simmons is the latest entertainment media personality to try his hand at producing a music documentary series. A new report shared by The Hollywood Reporter reveals Simmons and his team at The Ringer will partner up with HBO for music-focused documentary films similar to ESPN‘s sports-driven 30 For 30 series.
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According to the report, the forthcoming six-part series to air on HBO will see six filmmakers explore and portray “pivotal moments or stretches in an artist’s career, iconic albums or larger looks at the music industry.” Simmons and his Ringer Films–a subsidiary of his Ringer media group which provides digital content covering pop culture at large–will produce the series alongside Polygram Entertainment and Universal Music Publishing Group executives Jody Gerson and Marc Cimino.
The untitled project is expected to air on HBO sometime in 2021, and no specific directors or documentary subjects were revealed with the report.
“It’s been a dream of mine to put this project together,” Simmons mentioned in a statement to go with Wednesday’s report. “We see an opportunity to elevate the storytelling form with music docs much like ’30 For 30′ changed the landscape for sports documentaries at the end of last decade. We don’t want to make music docs that just cover the beginning, middle and end of someone’s career. We think there’s a different way to do these. And we want to work with the best directors possible, talented filmmakers who have the same passion for this project that we do.”
Simmons has a strong history with the subscription-based television and movie platform, having previously produced his own sports-focused talk show and an after-show for Game of Thrones in recent years. Ringer Films also produced the 2019 HBO documentary on the larger-than-life wrestler Andre the Giant. Ringer Film’s forthcoming film for HBO, Showbiz Kids, was directed and produced by Bill & Ted actor, Alex Winter.
[H/T The Hollywood Reporter]