From Hoop Dreams to Amazon Prime: The Story Behind the Meal Ticket Documentary.

Rohit caught up with producer Billy Burke and writer/producer Terrence Watson to talk about Meal Ticket, their documentary about the McDonald's All-American Game, now streaming on Amazon Prime. These two have serious resumes... Billy produced New York City Point Gods, and Terrence has worked with everyone from Gatorade to creative duo Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah. But Meal Ticket might be their most personal project yet.

We get into how the film came together, why Flau'jae Johnson is everyone's favorite character (you'll see), and the Tracy McGrady interview that didn't make the cut but probably should have. We also talk about Hoop Dreams, the cultural weight of the McDonald's All-American game, and why 60% of All-Americans make the NBA.

If you love basketball, documentary filmmaking, or just a good conversation about the moment when everything becomes real... this one's for you.

Meal Ticket is streaming now on Amazon Prime: https://amzn.to/4lJR7Jo

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TIMESTAMPS

• 0:00 - Intro & Rocking and Copping: McDonald's orders
• 3:00 - Meal Ticket on Amazon Prime and the Hoop Dreams connection
• 6:25 - How the film came together: from pitch to Amazon greenlight
• 10:51 - Terrence's story: two calls in two days (Point Gods AND Meal Ticket)
• 15:53 - Character selection: Why Flau'jae, Derek Lively, Janiah Barker, and Maury Bailey
• 17:48 - Poking holes in the game: who got overlooked and why
• 21:23 - The cultural weight of the McDonald's All-American Game
• 26:15 - Favorite characters and the Tracy McGrady interview that hit different
• 35:30 - Could the game go international?
• 39:06 - Closing thoughts and where to watch

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