“Stephen Curry: Underrated” producers Sean Havey, Erick Peyton, Marissa Torres Ericson and director Peter Nicks discussed their new documentary at the Variety Sundance Studio presented by Audible.
The documentary chronicles the NBA star’s personal life as he works to fulfill his promise to his mother, Sonya Curry, to graduate from college. Curry made the pledge when he left Davidson College to declare for the draft in 2009 and now must also juggle his basketball career.
Director Nicks uses footage of Curry both as a young basketball player and current professional athlete to illustrate his transformation from a modest high school player to an NBA star.
“The expected thing maybe would be to follow Steph during the season chasing after a championship,” Nicks explained. “But that story of Davidson…we really wanted to lean into that, because that’s the story that hasn’t really been told.”
The film features Davidson basketball coach Bob McKillop taking the player under his wing, leading to their monumental 2008 NCAA tournament run, as well as the Golden State Warriors 2021 season, where the team aimed to win the NBA championship despite a disappointing season prior. Echoes of the doubts people had for Curry in his early career come back, as the documentary parallels the two times in his life.
Nicks is no stranger to Sundance. His film “Homeroom” won the inaugural Jonathan Oppenheim editing award at the festival in 2021, and in 2017, his project “The Force” received the Sundance Directing Prize.
In addition to this quartet (and Curry himself), the documentary also counts Ryan Coogler and Ben Cotner as producers, with Allison Joy Gale billed as co-producer. Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler and Emily Osborne served as executive producers, with co-executive producers Jenelle Lindsay and Tiffany Williams.
“Stephen Curry: Underrated” premiered Jan. 23 at Sundance.
