David Parfitt | Director
David's two lifelong passions are sports and filmmaking. Since merging the two a decade ago, starting his company Parfitt Projects, David has been consistantly hired to produce, film, and edit sports features and short docs for major sports networks such as the Big Ten Network, ESPN, Fox Sports, and NFL Films.
David first came across the World Vision team in 2016 when, on a whim, he accepted an unpaid invitation to cover the team on their three-week tour across China. He was enthralled by the lives and goals of the individuals who made up the team and instantly realized he had discovered an untold story – one he knew would resonate with the evolving expectations of audiences around the world.
Equipped with just a DLSR camera at the time, David knew he needed more resources to do World Vision’s story justice, and share it with the masses. Two years later, in the Summer of 2018 with the teams most important and competitive tournament about to unfold and the stakes higher than ever, the stage was set
Director's Statement
Every day we are oversaturated with details of what Tom Brady ate for dinner or where Lebron is vacationing. We know everything about these stars, often more than we need to. We know where their journeys have taken them - to the top. But these stories are far from the norm. What about the ones who don’t make it? Why are they still at it? How do their stories end, and do they end at all? These are questions I want to answer, and it is these stories, on the fringes, that I find most compelling. And I am not alone.
The success of series like Last Chance U and Cheer have proven there is a public demand for change. For filmmakers to shine a light on the struggles and triumphs of those whose journeys take them to places we’ve never seen before. Audiences in the States
and overseas are willing and eager to invest in the
obscure, varied stories of the guys that just didn’t make it. And in an unsure world where the sports and film industries are directionless, now is the time to once more give audiences what they want, and tell stories like this.
By 2016, I had been working for the better part of a decade producing and filming Big Ten Network’s The Journey, honing the art of identifying and capturing stories untold, when I first came into contact with the World Vision team. I was astonished by what I saw - guys who didn’t make it to the top but are willing to go to unimaginable lengths to keep their childhood dreams alive. I saw guys willing to leave everything behind just for a chance to showcase their skills to anyone willing to watch. I saw guys who dream of million-dollar contracts, but play for hundreds because basketball is the only profession they know.