After winning an Academy Award, a Marlboro resident who is the co-founder of an entertainment company has won an Emmy Award for his role in helping to create an animated short film that depicts Kobe Bryant’s farewell to basketball.
The Emmy Award was presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Dan Goodman served as the executive producer of “Dear Basketball,” which received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Post-Produced Graphic Design at the 39th Sports Emmy Awards ceremony on May 8. Goodman, of Marlboro, is the co-founder of Believe Entertainment Group, New York City, which produced the film.
The short film previously won the Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Animated Short Film at the 90th Academy Awards ceremony in March.
Believe Entertainment Group, which was founded by Goodman and Bill Masterson, has also produced series for digital and television distribution, including “The LeBrons” with basketball player LeBron James, “In the Booth” with DJ/producer Tiesto, “Money Where Your Mouth Is” with comedian Jay Mohr, “Poker Nights” with “Saturday Night Live” cast member Chris Parnell, and “Tiger Beat Entertainment” with musician-actress Jennifer Lopez.
Goodman was previously the president of digital media for Media Rights Capital, where he worked on projects such as “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Comedy” and the digital efforts for the 2009 film “Bruno.” He also worked as the chief digital officer for the New York office of Ogilvy, a global advertising agency.
“Dear Basketball” is a five-minute film which was drawn entirely by animator Glen Keane by hand and has Bryant narrating his history with basketball and his eventual retirement from the sport over animated footage of child and adult versions of himself playing basketball.
Bryant, who played in the NBA for 20 seasons and earned numerous accolades during his career, retired at the end of the 2015-16 season. The basis of his narration for the film is from a letter he wrote in 2015 to announce his retirement.
Goodman said that as an executive producer, he and his fellow producers had oversight and helped build the project, which took two years to complete before it was released in 2017. He was involved with the sales and distribution of the film, and Believe Entertainment Group’s partnership with Verizon, which distributed “Dear Basketball” through its video streaming service go90.
“As a company, this was our first short film,” Goodman said. “Usually, short films are used for creators to showcase their capabilities. This was not only a creative showcase, but it also had an important message about following dreams and knowing when to take the next steps and leave that dream behind. ‘Dear Basketball’ is a heartfelt and sincere telling that resonated with fans and viewers.”
The film premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City as an official selection and won Best Animated Short Subject at the 2018 Annie Awards, which are focused on animation. The film’s subsequent Oscar nomination brought Goodman and the rest of the team to the 90th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles and then to the 39th Sports Emmy Awards in New York City.
“Dear Basketball” may be viewed online at https://believeentertainmentgroup.com/portfolio-item/dear-basketball/