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"He's a basketball genius." Crackle has released the official trailer for a docu-series titled Promiseland, directed by filmmaker Dexton Deboree. Take an intimate journey with the NBA rookie Ja Morant as he navigates the perils of the 2019–2020 season—not just a challenging year for live basketball, but for all of humanity. Apart from the NBA pausing the season, the young point guard must grapple with a world utterly transformed by the pandemic and the urgent call for racial justice. Guest stars include Carmelo Anthony, A’ja Wilson and more. This six-episode sports docu-series made for Crackle chronicles the rise of Memphis Grizzlies star and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year. Described as a "visceral, intimate and all-access coming of age story", sharing "Ja's experience over his debut season as it unfolds." Featuring an original score from Steve "Swiff D" Thornton. Yeah this looks damn good, way better than a Crackle series should!

YouTube has again turned to big-name entertainment personalities to anchor its latest slate of ad-supported originals.

At its Brandcast Delivered event for advertisers Tuesday, YouTube announced an unscripted series with Will Smith following his latest fitness journey and a new docuseries with Alicia Keys premiering this summer.

The video giant also announced the third and final season of comedy “Liza on Demand,” starring popular comedian and YouTube creator Liza Koshy — marking the last of YouTube’s scripted originals, after phasing them out starting in 2019; “Ice Cold,” a docuseries produced by hip-hop trio Migos exploring issues around racial inequity; and a new special celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander culture from executive producers including LeBron James and Michelle Kwan.

The YouTube Originals strategy remains the same: They’re projects built around personalities and top YouTube creators designed to draw a large audience, as well as specials to support specific causes, said YouTube ‎chief business officer Robert Kyncl.

YouTube is lining up more original docuseries and has teamed up with Will Smith and Alicia Keys on separate projects for its latest programming lineup.

The digital platform unveiled a swathe of originals at its Brandcast Delivered advertising event.

Best Shape of My Life (w/t) is a six-part fitness series from Smith’s Westbrook Media. It is the story of Smith challenging himself to improve every aspect of his fitness, from agility to power to recovery and more, teaming up with guests including pro athletes, scientists and experts, and top YouTube creators.

Premiering next year, Dexton Deboree, who directed Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1, will direct and showrun. It marks the second YouTube original for Smith, who previously teamed up with the Google-owned platform for Will Smith: The Jump.

Alicia Keys is also the focus on a docuseries premiering this summer. The pop star is fronting Noted (w...

Ja Morant, the NBA’s reigning rookie of the year and a rising star with the Memphis Grizzlies, is the subject of a new documentary series, “Promiseland,” that will focus on up and coming rookie athletes.

Dexton Deboree, who directed the feature “Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1,” directs the first season of “Promiseland” that looks at Morant’s rise from high school prospect to college standout at Murray State to finally the top tier of the NBA.

“Promiseland” is in post-production now after following Ja Morant from the start of the 2019-20 NBA season, and filming continued up through the NBA playoff bubble during the pandemic.

Future seasons of the show will follow rookie athletes across other sports, as well as other NBA stars. The filmmakers are currently shopping the series to buyers.

The series is a joint project from Dlp Media Group, which produced the “30 for 30” film “Lance...

Dexton Deboree, a filmmaker and branded content creator with a strong connection to Nike and Jordan Brands, has launched Falkon, a creative boutique billed as being “born at the intersection of entertainment and advertising.”

The new operation aims to help marketers forge new paths to consumers as traditional formulas and ad units continue to be reworked. Deboree recently directed Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1, which explores the saga of the original Air Jordan sneaker from 1985. The film, which had its world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, began streaming on Hulu this month after a transactional VOD run.

While Unbanned was not officially a Nike or Jordan commission, it embraced the brand story and followed projects Deboree had done via his Los York agency for brands like Jordan, Nike, Fitbit, Sonos and North Face.

Falkon will continue Deboree’s collaborations with Nike and Jordan, alongside a slate of TV, feature film and new media projects.

Welcome to Trailer Binge, a recurring feature where we get a chance to catch up on some of the recent trailer releases in the past week. Whether it be indie releases, or recent movie and TV trailers that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks, Trailer Binge allows us to catch up on the seemingly constant onslaught of new new content being released each week.

In this edition of Trailer Binge, we take a look at a new ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising‘ IMAX Trailer, a surprise trailer for the Javier Bardem-led film ‘Thy Kingdom Come‘, and a fascinating documentary exploring the cultural significance of the Air Jordan’s called ‘Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1′. In the TV realm, we have a new trailer of ‘Silicon Valley‘ Season 5, a nifty trailer for the new Amazon series ‘The Dangerous Book for Boys‘, and we leave off with an new trailer for the...

I remember when Nike released the Air Jordan show in the 80s. I was such a huge fan of Michael Jordan and I wanted a pair so bad! Of course, I never got a pair because my parents couldn't afford them. I used to go to the mall to look at the shoes and wish that I had a pair. I especially loved the color combo of red and black. 

At the time, I was too young to realize how big of an impact these shoes were having on society. I just wanted to be a part of the Air Jordan club! These shoes helped lead the charge of a new cultural revolution. It bled into multiple aspects of pop culture like fashion, sports, music, and more. 

Well, now there's a new documentary that's been made called Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 and it dives into the story behind the...

If you’ve watched basketball at any point in the last 30 years, you know that sneakers are serious business. We largely have Michael Jordan and the Air Jordans to thank for that, though the development hasn’t always been a positive one. The new film “Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1” looks set to explore that dynamic, and its first trailer dropped last night during All-Star Weekend. Watch below.

The film explores “the dynamic journey of the Air Jordan 1 shoe and its role in disrupting the NBA, changing the game of basketball, birthing sneaker culture and influencing a social and cultural revolution in sports, music, fashion, art, social behavior and, of course, sneakers.”

“The AJ1 is more than a shoe. It’s a symbol of a much greater meaning across genders, race, geography and time,” said writer/director Dexton Deboree in a statement. “Now more than ever, what this shoe represents,...