‘The Sneaker Boom’: Crave Docuseries On How NBA Stars Made Sneakers Essential Footwear Drops Trailer

EXCLUSIVE: Sean Menard’s docuseries The Sneaker Boom explores how young NBA stars and marketing execs drove an explosion in global popularity in sneakers in the 1990s, and we’ve got a trailer for the five-parter here ahead of its launch in Canada tomorrow.

“Everybody in the world knew who Michael was,” says a voiceover as the trailer gets underway. Footwear from brands such as Reebok, Converse, Fila and Nike is showcased, with a variety of voices pointing to NBA’s role in the global popularity of the shoes and how Foot Locker stores sold out in literal minutes of new stock going on sale.

All five episodes are dropping on Canadian streamer Crave tomorrow, with rights being shopped elsewhere. Sean Menard Productions and RTG Features are the co-producers in association with Bell Media-owned Crave. We first told you about the doc in July 2023, before Crave had boarded the project.

The series follows the maverick marketing and advertising execs who bet on unproven rookies and paired them to make wildly creative television commercials, and how the shoes they wore went from niche sportswear to everyday fashion as they reached superstardom. The story is told through the lens of NBA legends such as Dee Brown, Larry Johnson, Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and Allen Iverson, and the brand marketeers and ad creatives who brought their colorful campaigns to life.

Original interviews and never-seen-before archive footage build the picture, while the title sequence was created by a team of miniatures arts, who also created era-accurate boardrooms where brands competed to sign future NBA stars to multi-million dollar contracts.

“We’re thrilled to finally share this series with audiences – starting with my home country of Canada,” said Menard. “Shining a light on the pioneers behind these iconic athletes will hopefully inspire a whole new generation, while offering long-time fans a fresh and nostalgic look at a magical era in sports and culture.”

Menard is known for directing and producing the SXSW-premiering documentary 299 Queen Street West and his 20178 doc The Carter Effect, about NBA star Vince Carter’s impact on Canada. he’s just completed feature-length doc Run Terry Run about Canadian athlete and humanitarian Terry Fox.

TV and film financing biz RTG Features is the sister studio to global basketball media firm Slam. It adapts articles from Slam’s 250-plus magazines into scripted and unscripted ideas for TV, film and podcasts.

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