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UNDENIABLE – STORIES FROM THE NEGRO LEAGUES

INVISIBLE COLLECTIVE, Los Angeles / MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL / 2023

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Overview

Credits

OVERVIEW

Why is this work relevant for Sport Entertainment?

From its inspiration to the history it represents, every aspect of Undeniable is relevant within the world of modern sports entertainment.

At a time when many are pushing to make sports more inclusive, the creators’ ability to highlight underrepresented stories and showcase them through exquisite comic-strip style animation is highly impactful. The animation team worked in collaboration with MLB to get the details exactly right—everything from the precise color blue on the Indianapolis Clowns’ uniforms to the accuracy of the player’s physical features was considered— they knew this project had the potential to enhance meaningful inclusion in baseball, and beyond.

Background

The road to Undeniable began in 2020, when MLB decided it would officially begin treating the approximately 3,400 players of the Negro Leagues, which operated between 1920 and 1948, as Major Leaguers, making their stats and records part of MLB history. After this was announced, the directors and creators of this project reached out to MLB to see how this achievement could be celebrated.

In response, MLB asked the creators to pitch them ideas for a project. The objective being to create something approachable that would celebrate, entertain and educate baseball fans about the Negro Leagues around the world.

The result are three animated shorts covering legends like Jackie Robinson and Monte Irvin, trailblazing women in the league, and the league’s international impact. The objective was to create a series that would celebrate and educate baseball fans around the world.

Describe the strategy & insight

In December of 2020, MLB officially gave Major League status to the Negro Leagues. This meant that approximately 3,400 Negro League players would officially be recognized as major leaguers and have their stats and records included in MLB’s history books. To celebrate this moment MLB partnered with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to tell some of the incredible stories from the Negro Leagues. Without much archival footage from this era, the best way to visually do this was through animation. The strategy was to create an animated series that appeals to viewers of all ages and all levels of fandom. By design, each episode focuses on a different theme which resonates with viewers of varying interests. Undeniable is rooted in baseball but also explores stories of female empowerment, the fight for civil rights, and the way different cultures around the world have worked together to impact the sport.

Describe the creative idea

The idea behind Undeniable was to create a series that could be enjoyed by all audiences that also accurately and artfully celebrated the significant role the Negro Leagues and its players have had on baseball’s history. Another objective was to preserve these underrepresented stories, which are vulnerable to being lost forever if we don’t make the concerted effort to archive and record them. After all, much of the information found in these shorts isn’t online because it's held by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and its orator Bob Kendrick. So, the directors went directly to the source to curate the most integral stories that they would highlight with these engaging, culturally reflective animations. This creative directly amplified, celebrated, and drew awareness to MLB’s recognition of the Negro Leagues as part of the Major Leagues.

Describe the craft & execution

The directors asked Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Musuem to give as many stories about the players as he could. The directors and writers then researched those stories and put them to script. It took 6 months to write, and an additional 12 weeks for the animation team to complete the hand-drawn 2D animation. They worked in collaboration with MLB to get every detail exactly, historically correct — everything from the right shade of blue on the Indianapolis Clowns’ uniforms to the cultural accuracy of the player’s physical features.

Undeniable was distributed across all of MLB’s owned and operated platforms including YouTube, Facebook Watch, MLB.com and MLB.TV. The series was amplified via short-form promotional content on MLB’s social platforms, articles on MLB.com and through joint PR efforts between creators and MLB.

Describe the results

Undeniable made a substantial impact on baseball fans around the world and created a deeper connection to the American game.

The three animated shorts were distributed across all of MLB’s owned and operated platforms, including YouTube, Facebook Watch, MLB.com and MLB.TV. Along with earning front-page placement on YouTube Kids as part of YouTube’s Black Joy initiative, the series engaged viewers across MLB’s channels and earned media placements in over 20 different publications of varying focuses. MLB also hosted a screening, panel discussion, and Q&A at Bowie State University where collaborators of the series discussed the project and the phases of animation and production.

Undeniable successfully reached young, diverse audiences of varying levels of fandom, receiving 9M+ views, 129.7M reach and 83.9% positive sentiment across social mentions.

Is there any cultural context that would help the jury understand how this work was perceived by people in the country where it ran?

Undeniable was released only a few years post-George Floyd and in the midst of nationwide attempts to prevent black history from being taught in schools. Not to mention, the battle for diversity and inclusion in Hollywood continues. With that in mind, these stories of Black adversity, resilience and heroism are just as relevant and important today as they were when Robinson was up to bat.

“These are Black and Brown legends who were up against a tremendous amount of adversity and still found a way to overcome and become the icons that they are. We face similar obstacles as Black creatives in Hollywood, where there’s a lack of diversity all around,” said one co-director.. “As Black entrepreneurs, we are specifically focused on telling our stories in an authentic way. Which requires a lot of attention paid to our cultural nuances—to how we talk, walk, dress, and move.”

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