Experiencing Interruptions?

Rise Above

In this coming-of-age journey, three under-the-radar high school basketball players, who are driven to make it to the next level, navigate the uncertainty of their futures when an already volatile recruiting landscape is impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Aided by their dedicated Coach who is driven to get them noticed by college programs, these players must overcome injuries, the daunting recruiting challenges of modern-day college athletics, and personal tragedies off the court, all to achieve a shared dream: to play college basketball.

  • Seth Shapiro
    Director
    MATT, All The Way Up: Baker Mayfield, Gamechangers
  • Erik Butts
    Director
    Lotus, The Long Game, Indivisible
  • Erik Butts
    Writer
  • Seth Shapiro
    Producer
  • Russell Payne
    Producer
  • Marco Kenz
    Key Cast
  • Cord Stansberry
    Key Cast
  • Jaayden Bush
    Key Cast
  • Genres:
    Sports
  • Completion Date:
    January 16, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Seth Shapiro, Erik Butts

Seth Shapiro

Rhode Island native Seth Shapiro grew up learning to appreciate the art of performance, whether on the court, the field, the screen, or the stage. Pop culture influences both past and present now find their way into his work as a director, work best described as high-energy, polished, and always authentic.

Seth’s approach to filmmaking, be it commercial or documentary, comes from a place of organic storytelling. Whether working with high profile actors or athletes or “real” people, he is easy-going and personable but arrives extremely well-prepared, a combination that helps him connect with subjects and put them almost instantly at ease. From the titular subject of MATT, a special needs student who earns a spot on his high school’s football team, to interviews with the considerably more famous likes of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Super Bowl champ Russell Wilson, the camera almost fades away. What’s left is what should be: The subjects—and the story.

For more than 20 years, Seth has worked for and with some of the biggest brands in sports and entertainment, including Nike, the NFL, Major League Baseball, and Electronic Arts. Such projects as a feature-length documentary about tennis legend Vitas Gerulaitis for the Tennis Channel and a documentary following the first pick in the NFL Draft, Baker Mayfield. His short film MATT reached millions as a Vimeo Staff Pick and People.com “Video of the Day.” He is a Emmy Award winner for his work with NFL Media.

Erik Butts

Erik Takagi Butts is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker born in Japan. When his family moved to Hawaii, he got his start creating action films full of ketchup blood and toy guns with his high school friends. Erik was hooked and attended Emerson College to study filmmaking, and moved to LA after graduating. He first worked for Maker Studios as an assistant editor and soon began freelancing, both as an editor and camera operator. His gift lies in intuitively weaving emotion through images to create otherworldly visions that tug at the heart. His masterful use of layers and composition has led him to film & edit music videos for some of music’s most cutting edge artists including Beirut, Sudan Archives, and Taimane Gardner. His mastery of the ethereal is only rivaled by his expertise in sports media. As an integral part of Diesel Films in Los Angeles, he works for most major sports networks including NFL, Nike, Adidas, MLB, and NBA. Erik was the lead editor for the web series NFL UP!, for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding New Approaches. He is also a former 48 Hour Film Project international finalist and has screened his short film “Salam” at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Director Statement

Seth Shapiro

I was searching for my first feature length documentary subject and I had an interest in AAU basketball. I had heard bits and pieces about AAU club basketball, but was curious to dive in and see what it was all about. In 2019 I had a chance meeting with Russell Payne, a basketball coach, at a fundraising event in Downtown LA. Fast forward 2 years later, post Covid, and I saw a twitter post from Russell looking for content creators for his AAU program, LA Elite. I DM’d Russ and said let’s do a doc, and the next thing I knew we were on a Zoom discussing the project and ready to dive in not really knowing what to expect. I really liked Russ, his charisma and honesty. Soon after, we began production.

LA Elite was coming off of a 18-month shutdown and Russ had significant doubts if he could bring the program back to its pre-Covid stature. LA Elite had grown from one team in 2013, to working with 100’s of players on multiple teams and sending many kids off to play college basketball in 2019 alone.

LA Elite is an independent AAU team, non-sponsored, so they look for the underdogs, the players under the radar, to give them the proper exposure they need to be recruited to play college basketball. This aspect was compelling to me because we always see stories about the 5-Star kids but what about the other 99%, the solid players that may not be able to play Division 1 basketball? What are their options? Where do they go? Who gives them a shot?

I quickly was drawn to three players and their athletic journey: an undersized South LA local with a heart of gold, a talented, privileged teen from Palm Desert, and an exchange student from Ghana. During the 2nd week of production, we scheduled our first home visit with point guard Jaayden Bush and his family. Jaayden was raised by his single Mom, Tracy, along with his 2 older siblings, Aaliyah and Chanler. As we we’re about to make the trek down to Carson, I got an emergency phone call from Russ…

And shit got real.

Chanler, JB’s older brother, who struggled with epilepsy, passed away that morning while taking a bath.

Deep breath…

What I first intended to be a doc about basketball players getting to the next level, as well as my own directorial aspirations, urgently became a narrative much more important. The focus was now about these talented teens and the adversity and challenges that must overcome to follow their dreams.

In the following year after Chanler’s death, it was an odyssey that would have been impossible to script. Our cameras captured the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, career threatening injuries and the possibility of deportation. Through it all, for the kids, Coach Russ, and myself: purpose became clear, self-growth was made, and dreams were realized.