This summer, ESPN Films in association with Jigsaw Productions will explore the science behind sports and athletics in 6 episodes of the all-new docuseries, Enhanced. The series is narrated and executive produced by Alex Gibney and will debut exclusively on ESPN+ on July 16th.
What’s happening:
- Beginning on Monday, July 16th, all 6 episodes of the new docuseries, Enhanced will be available to stream exclusively on ESPN+.
- The series is narrated and executive produced by Academy Award and Emmy winner, Alex Gibney.
- Each episode will explore how science and technology plays a role in athletic training, sports recovery, and more.
- The series will show behind the scenes looks at the training, laboratories, and money that goes into pushing for greatness, while raising questions about theses scientific breakthroughs, funding, and ethics.
Enhanced Episodes:
- SKILL, Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, explores the push and pull of Nature versus Nurture in the development of elite athletes. Featured subjects include Portland Trail Blazers basketball player CJ McCollum and U.S. Olympic sprinter Natasha Hastings.
- ALGORITHM WARS, Directed by Jesse Sweet, focuses on the data revolution that transformed baseball 10 years ago, and now has become a disrupting force in nearly every arena of professional sports. Featured subjects include Seattle Reign soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Beverly Yanez, New York Yankees pitcher Dellin Betances, and Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey.
- MIND GURUS, Directed by Paul Taublieb explores the mind-blowing work that promises to evolve the brain into an athletic machine, focusing on the mental training techniques deployed by professional athletes to secure a competitive advantage. Featured subjects include professional beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, sports psychologist Michael Gervais, and Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof.
- POWER, Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, delves into the pursuit of power, from the history of the crackdown on steroids, to exploring controversial new technologies that threaten to change the record books, and the entire landscape of sports forever. Featured subjects include Jeff Novitzky, Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance for the UFC, bodybuilder Ryan Russo, and former powerlifter Tony Fitton.
- ENDURANCE, Directed by Paul Taublieb, asks what are the limits of endurance in the human body? One man, Yannis Pistiladis, the mad scientist of distance running, is determined to find out. Featuring gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele and Olympic marathon gold medalist and Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge
- RECOVERY, Directed by Alison Klayman, takes a look at the medical advances in recovery and the ethical issues surrounding the topic, asking if we are any closer to “cheating” recovery. Notables featured include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Phoenix Suns basketball players Devin Booker and Jared Dudley, Brazilian Olympic gymnast Lais Souza, and former NFL player Jeff Novak.
What they’re saying:
- Libby Geist, Vice President and Executive Producer, ESPN Films and Original Content: “We’ve been talking to Alex for years about making something like Enhanced– an edgy, forward-looking collection about the limits of the human body – and are so grateful to have worked with him and the talented roster of directors on this docuseries. It’s a fresh new format for ESPN Films and we are continuing to push our own storytelling boundaries as our projects take on different forms.”
- Alex Gibney: “I’ve always been fascinated with the will to win – often at any cost – as well as the scientific and ethical issues surrounding the attempts to push the body beyond natural limits. But in Enhanced, there was also an opportunity to look beyond doping and changing the contours of the body to attempts to change the architecture of the mind in order to increase performance. Ever since Catching Hell, I have been talking to Libby, Connor (Schell) and the folks at ESPN Films about doing something on this. And since the beginning of The Armstrong Lie, Dan Coyle and I have been getting together for beers (the original enhancement drug at the Tour de France) to bat around these ideas. I’m delighted that ESPN gave me and the team the opportunity to explore.”