Behind the documentary that is putting Canberra, it’s basketballers and it’s creatives on the map

Mustard Flats spoke with filmmaker Lachlan Ross about the road to premiere at NBA All-Star Weekend.

When the NBA set up a permanent camp in Canberra it was expected that it would be a global pipeline to the pro league. But what was unexpected was the impact it would have on Canberra and its homegrown talent. Lachlan Ross noticed something was cooking in the capital, as a Canberran, basketballer and now filmmaker the recipe was there for a story that had to be told.

Lachlan explained that over the past year Canberra players had been juicing up the capitals trophy cabinet. Chima Moneke just won MVP in the European league, Alex Toohey won MVP at the U20 National Championships, Bul Kuol had just won NBL Rookie of the Year and Bowyn Beatty secured an NBA Global Academy Scholarship. The first time 2 Canberra's were in the program along with Alex Toohey.

“How is nobody really talking about this?”

Lachlan Ross had been working with the NBA for years with his production company LGR, but for the first time he was able to pitch to them an idea he had stewing for a while with the opportunity to premiere at NBA All-Star Weekend. His team of local creavtives assumed there would be little interest from the NBA in a story about our humble capital and thought it would be a long shot.

“One worry was whether it was too Canberra centric in that only people from Canberra would think it's a cool story. And so I think with any story or any sports story you got to find the human interest elements”

Something's Cooking In The Capital would follow 4 Canberra players on their journey to making it in the NBA. These names had been talked about through the youth leagues and local pick-up games but with the development and backing of the NBA Academy were making a splash globally. But it was what’s behind the basketball that became the key ingredient. Lachlan recalls what really struck him during the production, Bul talked about his first impression of coming to Australia as a refugee, Bowyn’s mom moving to Canberra to play for the Canberra Capitals and literally growing up on the court.

`Bowyn Beatty - Something's Cooking In The Capital`

The NBA were ultimately inspired by the vision and selected the humble Canberra team in the Film for Fans festival. This meant production had to begin across two continents and just a few months out from the NBA biggest fan activation, All-Star Weekend.

“It was a bit of a scramble to figure that out and thank god Dylan Simpson (Producer) loves crazy ideas and agreed to come to the US with me with about a week's notice.”

All 4 players had the same goal of reaching the sports highest level, albeit at different stages. Shortly before shooting one of them, Chima Moneke achieved it. Signing with the Sacramento Kings.

`Chima Monek - Sacramento - Something's Cooking In The Capital`

“So we had the guy that had just cracked the roster for the first time. Bul who's playing NBL. So he's starting to get looked at as a potential to get some opportunities. Then we had Alex and Bowyn who are in the youth academy system. So being considered already as a potential prospect for the NBA long term. “

It’s quite unique for a city like Canberra to have such a strong representation in the NBA and the documentary explains the impact of the AIS, the NBA choosing Canberra as it’s Global Academy hub and the legacy of the Canons and Capitals.

“That's one of the things I love about especially Bul and Chima who have left and gone on to these huge things elsewhere. Both of them definitely haven't forgotten where they've come from and the people that have helped them along the way. So yeah, it's really humbling to hear both of them talk so proudly about being from Canberra.”

Watch here - Something's Cooking In The Capital

After a frantic few months the film was ready and the team moved from the court to the red carpet.

“To have a story about little Canberra that's not known for basketball, that's used to coming last and kind of get to put that up on a big screen in front of a bunch of other filmmakers and NBA people from around the world. It's absolutely incredible.”

Putting together such a complex project in such little time was always going to be a challenge but for this filmmaking team, that's the way they like it.

“Stressful… I always know that I've potentially got something good if I'm absolutely exhausted mentally, physically, by the time I get to finishing it.”

@lachlanrosslgr

And it’s a team that is putting runs on the board (or baskets) having produced films on NBA sensation Josh Giddey and a feature film on the Canberra Capitals run to the WNBL Championship in production now.

While the setting for this story is on the court Lachlan was keen to mention that this is a film for everyone, not just basketball diehards, the journey is universal whether it’s to the NBA or whatever your grand final, playoff or championship may be.

I really hope that not only we could show it what's possible for basketball players through the awesome stories of these four guys, but to show what's possible to filmmakers or other creatives that want to kind of get their work out to the world or get to travel for work or, you know, end up getting to their own version of whatever the all star weekend was for me.

Watch now on the NBA App

How to make it in America: exporting Canberra basketball to the world.