Swiss Sports Brand On’s ‘Untethered’ Film About ‘World’s Fastest Blind Sprinter’ David Brown

The start of August, ahead of the Paralympics, saw Swiss sportswear brand On launched its latest feature length film called ‘Untethered’ starring a standout athlete/adventurer focusing on Paralympian David Brown and his mentor Jerome Avery.

The 21-minute documentary shine the spotlight on the world’s fastest blind sprinter David Brown: a 28-year-old US Paralympian and the current 100-meter world record holder at 10.89 seconds.

As a toddler, Brown, contracted Kawasaki disease and began losing his sight when he was a teenager. But the film shows how that disability has never held him back. It focuses on his work with mentor and running guide Jerome Avery and how together, connected by a four-inch tether during training runs, the pair share a deep spiritual bond as they push and support one another and seem to move and function as a single human being.

‘Untethered’ explores this bond as Brown and Avery train on the streets of Manhattan as they prepare for the New York Marathon and even includes a ‘twist’ finale.

An official 90-second trailer launched across the brand’s online channels on 27 July before the full film debuted on 2 August streaming on Untetheredfilm.com and other platforms.

On originally signed up both Brown and Avery as brand ambassadors three years ago and the objective was to work with the Paralympian to tell their brand story during Tokyo 2020: one which brings to life the brand’s ‘Dream On’ ethos celebrating the human spirit.

The two stars, as well as others featuring in the film like Coach Cobb to Black Thought, represent the best of the human spirit.

The project was developed for On by writer/producer Andy Fackrell and was shot in black-and-white by Little Minx director Andrew Dosunmu and cinematographer Mika Altskan with an ethereal score from Peter Raeburn and appearances by Rapper Black Thought from the Roots and comedian JB Smoove (as well as by Brown’s mother Francine and other key people in his life).

The documentary was created for On Head Of Sports Marketing Feliciano Robayna, Athletes’ Agent Sam Friedell, plus PR Executives Elliott Stares and Jessica Hartley, by Writer/Producer Andy Fackrell and a team at production company Little Minx (Los Angeles) led by Director Andrew Dosunmu, Producers Rhea Scott, Annalise Rowane, Helen Hollien and Victoria Curtis, with Cinematographers Mika Altskan and Todd Hollien.

Post production was handled by The Editors (Melbourne0 where the team included Editor Leila Gaabi, Second Editor Grace Eyre, Colourist Fergus Rotherham, Online Producer Matt Edwards, Post Producer Charlotte Griffiths and Assistant Editor Shannon Michaelas.

The music production was by Soundtree Music (Los Angeles & London) with Composer Peter Raeburn, plus Orchestrator Ben Castle, Composer’s Assistants Joseph Cho and Sara Barone, with Soundtree Producer Neil Athale, Music Co-Producer Luke Fabia and input from Score Recording & Publishing, Soundtree Music and Lime Studios (Los Angeles),

The titles and poster design were handled by Julian Wade.

Comment:

The David Brown documentary follows on from On’s 2020 mix of live action and animation in a film profiling a couple’s mountaineering trek and also followed 31 refugee athletes striving to qualify for the Tokyo Games. While two years ago the Swiss sports brand launched a documentary featuring Swiss Olympic gold medalist Nicola Spirig tackling high-altitude training while raising a young family