Cinetic Media founder and CEO John Sloss has launched Vertical Leap, an investment vehicle and producing pathway created exclusively for media-curious professional athletes, the company announced Monday.
Vertical Leap is built to give athletes more than the ability to back films for producer credits. Members gain a working seat inside Cinetic’s slate, with access to rough cuts, creative input and the same industry guidance the company provides the filmmakers behind its most successful projects. The goal is to prepare each member not just to back a film, but to eventually build a production career of their own.
“Vertical Leap offers a pathway for elite athletes to support commercial, impactful documentaries, while learning the ins and outs of film production from the most experienced storytellers working today,” Sloss said in a statement. “It is also a way for them to build something lasting beyond their playing days, expanding their brand, deepening their creative voice and putting real equity behind the stories they believe in.”
Sloss added: “For the documentary community, Vertical Leap brings the adrenaline jolt of a new class of collaborators, athletes with real creative instincts and the reach to bring documentary storytelling to audiences who might not otherwise find it.”
Cinetic is best known for structuring and executing landmark finance and sales transactions for independent films, including some of the most significant sales in Sundance and Cannes history. Cinetic has handled the financing and/or sale of more than 600 films and series, including “Hoop Dreams,” ESPN’s landmark series “30 for 30,” “Summer of Soul,” and this year’s Oscar contender “Once Upon a Time in Harlem,” as well as several of the most iconic independent films of the past 30 years such as “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” and the Academy Award-winning Best Picture “Green Book.”
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