Describing the collaboration with Malka for Shattered Glass as a “true partnership” rather than a sponsorship, Giorgio said joining the documentary was a “no-brainer.”
“When [Giorgio] called me, it was just relief and excitement. … That was the call that made it all real. That was the one domino I needed to fall to get the momentum—we can make a movie now,” said McCourt. “Puma is a brand that will stand on a hill and scream their support for the people that they believe in, and they will make no apologies about it, and I wanted that allegiance for this film.”
Ultimately, Puma, which was already partnered with the WNBA’s Stewart, was an integral part of the production process, finding meaningful ways to integrate the brand and standing firmly behind the documentary and its message.
And for Giorgio, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“This is going to be something that sheds light on the women’s game,” Giorgio said. “We were honored to be part of it.”
Shattered expectations
Even with Puma’s partnership, Shattered Glass wasn’t out of the woods yet.
“We lost our distribution,” McCourt said. “When I say that was the hardest week of my life…”
Two years into the production process, the distribution loss was devastating for Shattered Glass, jeopardizing the film’s release.
However, around the time McCourt was looking for distribution, Tubi CMO Nicole Parlapiano was looking for more women’s sports documentaries.
After expressing her disappointment to a friend about the lack of female sports docs, that friend introduced Parlapiano to McCourt and the project. The Tubi CMO was drawn to Shattered Glass, connecting with a story that’s about more than athletes.
“It’s about being a mother. It’s about working hard. It’s about knowing that you’ve had so much growth and success, and sometimes it’s not reflected in—whether it be compensation or credit or all of those things,” Parlapiano said. “It’s a lived shared experience we have as women, and I think that that really comes through.”
After learning that the film’s distribution fell through, Parlapiano thought it could have a home on Tubi.
“The thing about these stories is access is really important,” Parlapiano said. “It’s important for the story that we get as many eyeballs on it [as possible], and you don’t have to hit a paywall to see it. The WNBA actually indexes really high for our viewers, so it was a win-win on both ends.”
Tubi time
Parlapiano initially thought it’d be difficult to convince McCourt and Jackson to trust Tubi with the WNBPA story, but the idea just clicked.
“[Jackson] got it right away. I don’t know if that’s a gender thing. I think I’m used to having to explain more to partners,” Parlapiano said. “It’s a competitive space. Why would you choose us over everywhere else you can choose?”
The partnership worked on multiple levels.
According to Parlapiano, women’s basketball and the WNBA are “high-indexing” sports categories among its somewhat female-skewing viewers, making a documentary like Shattered Glass a desirable property for the Fox-owned ad-supported service.
