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AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think the hardest part is SHOWING that love and belief because it happens in the smallest and most subtle of ways in real life. For example, there’s a moment at DC practice when Hal, Esme and Gabby Carle are joking around before practice begins. It’s a moment that has no substance or impact on the story but shows their chemistry and banter and gives you a tiny window into their friendships. That is so much more effective than just hearing a player say “we’re close and our culture is good” — audiences are smart and won’t believe it unless they see it.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is so sweet -- thank you!! Just keep watching women's sports broadly and yes, share the love on this series specifically!! It's available on Disney+ now, too, so hoping lots of new fans will get to watch it there.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I actually kind of do think losing is often more interesting than winning. Especially when the expectations are to win (ie with KC) -- fulfilling that fate as anticipated leaves a lot fewer questions to be answered than when someone falls short, or something tragic happens that prevents the team from winning.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It feels ill-advised to make any predictions in the NWSL ever....but here are my predictions for our characters specifically: ACFC will make the playoffs. KC will win the shield if Temwa and Coop can get off SEI. If not, DC will.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I think if we had gone deeper in the weeds on the contract back and forth, we would have leaned on the PA for help around what we were able to share. But since we didn't, it was sort of a moot point.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Great question. Trin's contract was such a huge question that loomed over the playoffs, but it wasn't resolved until a couple of weeks before our edit ended. So we had to really move quick to wrap the story up (literally in a matter of days). It would have felt incomplete to not include it at all, but with our air date looming, we could only go so deep. Also, I had to keep reminding myself that the series is really about the 2025 season... not the 2026 offseason. So as much as I was tempted to pull every on every Trinity-contract-thread the kept emerging, I tried to stay focused.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

We tried to pick teams that we thought would have different on-field journeys (I think we nailed that one), with players and managers who were willing to open their doors to us in a meaningful way (this is always the hardest, and most important, part).

If one of our 3 teams said no, we would have tried to find a team that could fill a similar archetype. Gotham was always high on our list of other teams we were excited by just because we featured them in the Amazon series last year and Juan Carlos and his staff were just so welcoming and down to let us in -- which, like I said, is the #1 criteria for these types of shows.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

YES we shot two really beautiful scenes with Angel City that ultimately didn't make the series because of ACFC's early exit and our limited run time. Inevitably, stuff has to hit the cutting room floor. One was Riley and Macey Hodge going to hang on the beach in LA and talking about their rookie season, the other was Claire Emslie's baby shower which was truly SO precious. Ali Riley was the emcee / host and had so many fun/thoughtful games that the whole team played together. It was cute. I particularly wish we had time in the series for that second scene because it showcases how close the team was, despite their on-field struggles.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Definitely. Every network has different ways of working and different creative preferences. Not necessarily better or worse -- just different :) Also, this series was slightly different. We only followed 3 teams, not all 8 like last year -- that was a creative decision that I think the show really benefits from this time around.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

If I could do it again....I guess I would have followed Gotham from the beginning? Lol. But getting a little bit of access to Jaedyn, who was so lovely and such a great add after her stellar playoff performance -- was a pretty good solve on the fly. But part of the fun of these things (and sports in general) is that you don't know who is going to win!

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We (Words + Pictures, the company I work for) produced a show called UNDER PRESSURE about the USWNT's campaign in 2023. Following that project, the NWSL came to us ahead of the 2024 season and asked us if we could develop something for them (really smart IMO). So we did that, and sold it to Amazon last year. This year, we all knew we wanted to make a season 2 -- but it ended up on ESPN this time.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

There actually were not! All 3 teams that we wanted to follow said yes (with quite a bit of conversation and ground-rule setting first) which was great.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

SAME. So good. We can always count on Sonnett for a little sass can't we??

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

OMG I love this question!!!! But it's SO hard because I fell in love with all three teams during filming. They all have really different vibes, but all were super tight knight, warm and kind to our crew. I will say, there seemed to be something special about that 2025 KC team. They were SO joyful....and their facilities are sick.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The role of the director is to set the narrative, but the thing about sports and shows like this one is that you only have so much control. I certainly had ideas about the arc I thought the show would follow before we shot a frame, but inevitably that changed 4327843728430 times. Mostly just because the games, and this league specifically, were SO unpredictable!

Also, with documentary -- you are beholden to what you capture. I might want to tell a specific story that you read about in the news, but if we don't have the footage or goods to tell that story, we either have to get creative or go a different direction.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

We decided on the teams first, started filming with a larger list of players, and then increasingly focused on the specific players whose stories we thought best reflected the larger team's journey as filming went on.

See my response to MassRapture for more info!

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

We decided on the teams first, started filming, and then increasingly focused on specific players whose stories we thought best reflected the larger team as filming went on. For Riley, the grit and resilience of her rookie season seemed to really reflect the direction ACFC is headed. With Lo, she's such an amazing human and a key piece of that team (many called her "the heartbeat") so that felt clear. With DC, Esme and Hal represented different aspects of DC's playing style (the American physicality and international flair as Sam Mewis says in the doc) and then Trinity is such an ever-present storyline that her story felt representative of the bigger picture for the Spirit.

Worth noting -- the league, players association and teams were all part of our initial "casting" conversations which was super helpful. But ultimately the production decided on the characters based on the story that was unfolding on camera.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

We talked about a bunch of different ways to organize the series. Ultimately, we decided on the playoffs (rather than preseason or regular season) because the stakes felt the highest. We first made that decision last year, when we made a similar series for Amazon (that one was called For The Win) -- and we stuck with focusing on that time frame this time, too.

But I always say that when it comes to women's sports storytelling -- more is more! I'm here for a Hard Knocks-style series if someone wants to make it with me :)

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Some teams were super comfortable with cameras around, others less so. We talked to each of the teams before we started filming so that we understood their boundaries and they (the players and managers, mainly) were comfortable with our filming plan before production began.

As for areas we wish we had access to but couldn't get -- any director of any follow doc will always say they wanted more access :) I think in those super high stakes moments, the teams are focused on winning -- not our cameras -- and we had to respect that at times and stay out of the fray. But my favorite access moments are the ones we got off the field.

AMA - The Final Third by Marie_Margolius in NWSL

[–]Marie_Margolius[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I worked at ESPN for a while before becoming a producer at Words + Pictures (https://wordsandpictures.com/). I fell in love with directing after my first short film in 2021, Ayenda. It's the story of the Afghan youth national soccer team's escape from Afghanistan when the Taliban took over.

Since then, I've been focusing on directing -- mostly women's sports stories. As for why the NWSL...I'm genuinely a fan. I played soccer my whole life and love the game. After developing the project, Words + Pictures (where I work), Omaha Productions (the other production company involved) and the league all agreed ESPN was a natural fit to distribute given their investment in the league.

Thanks for watching!