{"id":16360,"date":"2021-06-23T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2021-07-16T14:50:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T18:50:42","slug":"lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/","title":{"rendered":"LFG & the U.S. Women\u2019s Soccer Team\u2019s Fight for Their Value"},"content":{"rendered":"

Academy Award-winning directors Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine and Everywoman Studios\u2019 Abby Greensfelder talk to <\/em>TV Real about the U.S. women’s soccer team documentary <\/em>LFG, launching on HBO Max and distributed by Propagate Content.<\/em><\/p>\n

After the 2019 Women\u2019s World Cup, which saw the U.S. women\u2019s national team defeat the Netherlands for their second championship title in so many Cups, Academy Award-winning directors Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine met the game-winning goal scorer and de facto face of the squad Megan Rapinoe for coffee. The pair had been approached by their producer partner Everywoman Studios\u2019 Abby Greensfelder, who wanted to make a film about the women who had filed an equal pay lawsuit against their employer, the U.S. Soccer Federation, shining a spotlight on the pay disparity between the women\u2019s and men\u2019s national teams. The film would ultimately become LFG<\/em>, an Everywoman Studios and Change Content production, in association with Propagate Content, CNN Films and HBO Max, which is premiering on the streaming platform tomorrow. Propagate is handling global distribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbby felt that this was an amazing story and she came to us and said, How would you guys tell this story? I’d like to make this but I want to make it big. How would you tell it?\u201d recalls Sean. The plan was to approach the film using their typical style, letting the women themselves serve as the tellers of their own story. During their first coffee meeting with Rapinoe, they pitched their plan and purpose\u2014and she was soon sold. \u201cWe explained what we wanted to do and why we wanted to do it, why it is important, the way that we make films and the way that we tell stories,\u201d says Sean. \u201cAnd she was just like, I\u2019m in. That meant the world to us. That was the first player, but she did say, I\u2019m not going to speak for the team, you\u2019ve got to get other players, they\u2019ve got to agree on their own, you\u2019ve got to go to them<\/em> now. That\u2019s how the whole thing started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the aspects of the many-layered story that drew the Fines to the project was the historical nature of the team\u2019s fight. \u201cThis is the biggest thing in women\u2019s sports,\u201d says Andrea. \u201cNo female athletes have ever sued their employer to be treated like male athletes. That\u2019s the historical part.\u201d On par with the history, for the filmmakers, were the women who were making it. \u201cThese women are amazing personalities,\u201d says Andrea. \u201cThey\u2019re great characters. They have a secret sauce. They are great athletes. They are also articulate and driven and understand what this means, not just to the people on the soccer team and the generations of women who will play soccer, but they also understand what it means to women globally.\u201d (You can watch a clip of LFG<\/em> here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Echoing Andrea\u2019s sentiment, Greensfelder points out, \u201cThe issues addressed in [LFG<\/em>] mirror a larger cultural issue\u2014women everywhere can relate to this story. The U.S. women\u2019s national team\u2019s fearless pursuit of equality will inspire viewers to stand up for their worth. I hope viewers walk away with a better understanding of this ongoing problem and feel compelled to join the equal-pay conversation to help create long-lasting change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researching the lawsuit from all angles, including public sentiment about it, proved an inspiration as well. While the women had their supporters, they also had their detractors, many of which came from influential places. \u201cThere were people that were just spewing hate,\u201d says Sean. \u201cThere are people out there, even journalists and reporters and coaches, misinforming people about what [the players] were actually doing and why they\u2019re doing it. We felt we really had an opportunity to tell the story from a different point of view and help people understand the courageous fight that they were taking on to sue their employer, what that takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

With LFG<\/em>, the Fines hope to achieve \u201cglobal domination,\u201d serving as both a rallying cry for those long in support of the players\u2019 fight and as a catalyst to opening and changing minds. \u201cI want people who are naysayers to watch it and go, Oh, I didn\u2019t understand that, I get it now,\u201d says Andrea, who wants diehard fans to come away with a hunger for even more information about their favorite athletes and their legal battle.<\/p>\n

LFG<\/em> also serves as a window into the broader argument for equal pay, as well as what it means to be a powerful woman in any line of work. During a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the documentary was screened last week, Andrea recalls Rapinoe saying, \u201cWomen are always talking to women about equal pay. We\u2019re always inspiring each other. We\u2019re always talking about this. I want the men out there to see this and start talking about it. I want them to be transparent about what they make.\u201d<\/p>\n

LFG<\/em> stands to get that conversation going with men and boys alike. \u201cThere\u2019s that 15-year-old boy who we want to see this and to change his life and to have him look at the world differently,\u201d says Sean. \u201cThen there\u2019s the non-soccer fan guy who thinks that this is a frivolous lawsuit, and to see them actually understand what [the players] are going through. I think that if we can turn a few of those or get them to watch the film, that\u2019s a big success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at the lawsuit and what it means to these players, many arguments are there to be made. There are the sheer dollar amounts, there\u2019s the emotional aspect that\u2019s tied into that and then, of course, there\u2019s the undeniable talent of these players and the team they comprise. The most potent argument, according to Andrea, is that they’ve never been offered the deal that the men were offered. \u201cEverybody thinks, Why did they accept this deal, they agreed to it, why are you complaining now?\u201d she says. \u201cNo, no, no, they were offered a pay-to-play structure, but never with the same dollar figures attached. Until you have that parity, that line-for-line exact deal that\u2019s put on the table…. That\u2019s probably the biggest misunderstanding that I want people to walk away from the film getting. That\u2019s where the discrimination is the clearest and the easiest to understand. It\u2019s the most foundational aspect to the case that I think will hopefully go the distance to being righted at the end of the appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another misunderstanding is how lavish a life a female soccer star lives. \u201cEven Megan isn\u2019t making what a male counterpart in her position would make,\u201d says Sean. Talking about her teammate Jessica McDonald, Sean adds, \u201cI didn\u2019t expect to see her right after the World Cup coaching little kids\u2019 soccer on the field. I just would never expect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Fines, it was just as important to feature a bonafide celebrity like Rapinoe in the film as it was to have other members of the team who had different perspectives and experiences. \u201cJessica was someone, who as a single mom, as the only mom on the team, we wanted to show the struggle and challenges that she has on her back throughout her career,\u201d says Andrea. \u201cWe wanted to show that although these women are on the national team, the life that most of the professional soccer players live, that\u2019s really what it feels like.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also wanted to include players \u201cwho could really speak to the lawsuit and were articulate and had worked for years on this,\u201d including Christen Press and Becky Sauerbrunn. Also featured in LFG<\/em> are Sam Mewis, a rising star on the squad, and veteran Kelly O\u2019Hara, who speaks in the film about wanting to leave the team better than she found it. \u201cJust the collective power of those players coming together, we felt like it was the right move,\u201d says Andrea.<\/p>\n

Talking about the film\u2019s emotional lens, Everywoman Studios\u2019 Greensfelder says, \u201cThe women trusted us to share their stories and gave us behind-the-scenes access to their lives during this extremely demanding time. We were able to watch Jessica McDonald say goodbye to her son before going to camp, Christen Press on her way to the deposition at 6 a.m., Becky Sauerbrunn reviewing briefings with the legal team, the women on a conference call following the judge\u2019s verdict and so much more. I think the women giving us access to those intimate and vulnerable moments are what makes this film so impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the players are motivated by the justness of their cause and know the power of media to spread the word and change minds around the world, speaking out against one\u2019s employer in a lawsuit and in a documentary is not an easy feat, a fact that both the Fines acknowledge. A hurdle to succeeding with the documentary was providing an environment that allowed the players, female athletes who eschew vulnerability almost as a rule, on and sometimes off the field, to open up and give those watching a complete view of their fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always found it fascinating that almost never\u2014it happens sometimes\u2014but almost never do women\u2019s soccer players flop,\u201d says Andrea. \u201cHow men play the game, they\u2019re in histrionics. I\u2019m like, where is your honor, get up! It sort of speaks to the fact that women don\u2019t want to look vulnerable. Sean and I both knew that when we came to them and wanted to get at them and have them trust us, we knew that the vulnerable side, the emotional side, was going to be hard. Because this case is not just a lawsuit in dollar figures to them, it\u2019s about being respected and it\u2019s about value and it\u2019s about being seen and appreciated. It\u2019s about the pain of being asked repeatedly to be valued.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very important for us not to have people feel sorry for them,\u201d adds Sean. \u201cThat\u2019s not what we\u2019re trying to do with the emotional connection, and people should never feel sorry for them; they should feel inspired by them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Fines and their production company Change Content, the aim is always to inspire, to have an impact, to use the medium of film as a call to action to effect change\u2014whether it be for equal pay, rare diseases or the all-too-common struggle of homelessness. \u201cEvery time we make a film it has an impact,\u201d says Sean. \u201cI think we\u2019ve seen the power firsthand of films to change society, to change the narrative, to change the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking real stories and we\u2019re going to make the most amazing, entertaining, impactful stories that everyone wants to see\u2014but when you\u2019re done watching that film, it sticks with you and you want to do something,\u201d adds Sean. \u201cWe want to really start from the beginning and say, If we make this film, where can this film make a difference and how are we going to use that to make a difference?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine and Everywoman Studios\u2019 Abby Greensfelder talk about the U.S. women’s soccer team documentary LFG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1033,"featured_media":16363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[5600,5597,5601,5599,4158,5397,5598],"class_list":["post-16360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-abby-greensfelder","tag-andrea-nix-fine","tag-change-content","tag-everywoman-studios","tag-hbo-max","tag-lfg","tag-sean-fine","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nLFG & the U.S. Women\u2019s Soccer Team\u2019s Fight for Their Value - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LFG & the U.S. Women\u2019s Soccer Team\u2019s Fight for Their Value - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine and Everywoman Studios\u2019 Abby Greensfelder talk about the U.S. women's soccer team documentary LFG.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-23T13:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-16T18:50:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2021\/06\/LFG-still-621.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"599\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chelsea Regan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/\",\"name\":\"LFG & the U.S. Women\u2019s Soccer Team\u2019s Fight for Their Value - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-23T13:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-16T18:50:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/lfg-the-u-s-womens-soccer-teams-fight-for-their-value\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"LFG & the U.S. Women\u2019s Soccer Team\u2019s Fight for Their Value\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2a2c6d8fb3c7c8b4220b8877ecffb79a\",\"name\":\"Chelsea Regan\",\"description\":\"Chelsea Regan is the managing editor of World Screen. 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