Connor Schell

Connor Schell at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

Connor Schell is an Award-winning producer of television and film.[1] He is the co-creator and executive producer of the 30 for 30 series for ESPN for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.[2] He has executive produced more than 90 episodes of that series.[3] He is also a creator and executive producer of 30 for 30 shorts for which he also won an Emmy Award.[4] Schell was also the Executive Producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary film "O.J.: Made in America."[5]

In 2017, Schell took on a role as EVP and head of content for all of ESPN. [6] In this role, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of ESPN’s content creation across television, digital and print platforms including all of ESPN's live event programming (NBA Finals, College Football National Championship, Monday Night Football, etc...) and all of ESPN's studio programming (SportsCenter, Pardon the Interruption, etc..). [7] Additionally, Schell has oversight of ESPN.com, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Radio, FiveThirtyEight.com and The Undefeated.

Films

Connor is a producer of the Academy Award-winning 2016 documentary film O.J.: Made in America along with Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow, Libby Geist, Tamara Rosenberg and Nina Krstic.[8] O.J.: Made in America was directed by Ezra Edelman and is an eight-hour documentary that premiered to extraordinary reviews at Sundance Film Festival in 2016. It also played at the Tribeca Film Festival and HotDocs before it was released theatrically. O.J.: Made in America premiered on ABC on June 11, 2016.[9] The film swept year end awards not only winning an Oscar, but also winning a Peabody Award and Best Documentary honors at the Gotham Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, the IDA Awards, the Producer's Guild Awards, National Board of Review, and NY Film Critics. OJ: Made in America was also honored with special recognition from AFI and a prestigious Dupont Award for Journalism. OJ: Made in America originated from conversations between Schell and Edelman in early 2014 [10] and it is the longest film ever to win an Oscar. OJ: Made in America was also nominated for 6 Primetime EMMY Awards. [11]

Along with Bill Simmons, Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray and Joe Roth, Connor served as an Executive Producer of the 2014 Disney film Million Dollar Arm starring Jon Hamm.[12]

Schell also served as an Executive Producer for the 2016 Disney film Queen of Katwe. Queen of Katwe is the first Disney film on which ESPN Films has a presentation credit. It is directed by Mira Nair and it stars Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo.[4]

Television production

The 30 for 30 series, created by Schell and Bill Simmons was created in 2007 and has aired since 2009. It has won four Emmy Awards[13] and a Peabody Award.[14] In 2012, Simmons and Schell announced the creation of 30 for 30 shorts.[15] In 2014, Schell and Simmons discussed the series at the Paley Center with Jason Hirschhorn.[16]

Working with Maura Mandt and MaggieVision productions, Schell is the executive producer of the annual ESPY Awards on ABC.[17] He has been the executive producer of the show since 2013.

In 2014, the Disney XD channel premiered the series Becoming which was created by Schell, Bill Simmons, Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby. Becoming is a series of 30 minute documentaries profiling today's superstar athletes when they were kids and so far episodes have aired about LeBron James, Alex Morgan, Tim Howard, Henrik Lundquist, Chris Paul and CC Sabathia. The show is executive produced by Schell and Simmons along with Libby Geist, Maverick Carter and LeBron James.[18]

In 2008, Schell served as an Executive Producer on Dan Klores' four-hour film "Black Magic," the first film to run under the ESPN Films brand. Black Magic won a Peabody Award in 2008. [19]

Education

He has degrees from Harvard University and Columbia Business School.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Connor Schell". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  2. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (2015-03-21). "Documentaries Are the Go-To Players of Sports Television". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  3. ↑ Rose, Lacey (2010-06-21). "Talking TV With ESPN's Connor Schell - Forbes". Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  4. 1 2 3 "Connor Schell - ESPN MediaZone". espnmediazone.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  5. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2017/01/oj-made-in-america-oral-history/
  6. ↑ http://deadline.com/2017/06/espn-connor-schell-evp-content-1202114793/
  7. ↑ http://espnmediazone.com/us/bios/connor-schell/
  8. ↑ "Forty Under 40: Connor Schell". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  9. ↑ Times, Los Angeles. "ESPN sends a message in film-vs-TV debate: It will qualify upcoming O.J. Simpson series for the Oscars". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  10. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2017/01/oj-made-in-america-oral-history/
  11. ↑ http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/espns-oscar-winning-o-j-made-america-nominated-6-emmys.html
  12. ↑ "ESPN's Bill Simmons, Connor Schell to Exec Produce 'Million Dollar Arm' (Exclusive) | Hollywood Reporter". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  13. ↑ "Fourth Annual Television Academy Honors". Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  14. ↑ "30 For 30". Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  15. ↑ Sandomir, Richard. "ESPN Doubles Up on '30 for 30' Documentary Series". Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  16. ↑ The Paley Center for Media (2015-01-29), Bill Simmons, Connor Schell & Jason Hirschhorn talk Sports Storytelling at 2014 Paley IC Summit, retrieved 2016-07-01
  17. ↑ "ESPN execs explain decision to give Caitlyn Jenner an ESPY | SI.com". si.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  18. ↑ Kevin Noonan. "LeBron James and ’30 for 30′ Producers Set Sports Docu Series at Disney XD | Variety". variety.com. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  19. ↑ http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/black-magic
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