Dec 12, 2023

NBA All-Star Paul George Launches The Pack Productions, Joins Palm Springs Premiere 'Amongst The Trees'

Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Eight-time NBA All-Star Paul George is launching film and TV outfit The Pack Productions.

First up, George is joining basketball-themed documentary Amongst the Trees as an executive producer. The film will get its world premiere at the upcoming Palm Springs International Film Festival.

George is launching The Pack Productions with his sister Teiosha George, who is also an executive producer on the film, which follows an upstart men’s basketball program at Copper Mountain College – a tiny community college in the middle of the Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree, California – during the final week of their season. In just its second year of the team’s existence, the film drops viewers into the action as the Fighting Cacti make one last push for the playoffs.

The film is co-directed and co-produced by Trent Ubben and Jack Jensen of The Rec League in their feature documentary debut, and produced by Joshua Zev Nathan in association with RTG Features and The Pack Productions. RTG Features is handling world sales.

Paul and sister Teiosha grew up in nearby Palmdale, California and played college basketball at Fresno State and Pepperdine, respectively. Paul George is currently a forward for the Los Angeles Clippers and is a six-time member of the All-NBA Team, as well as a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team and an Olympic gold medalist. Previous to the Clippers, he played for the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Teiosha scored 943 career points at Pepperdine before playing briefly overseas.

“When Teiosha and I decided to launch The Pack we knew we wanted to start with a story that was close to home,” said Paul George. “Joshua Tree is just 125 miles from where we grew up in Palmdale, but the hoops story that Trent and Jack tell is universal.”

“From the very beginning, between the CMC family and Joshua Tree itself, we felt this crazy, unique energy out in the desert that really drove us to this story,” added Jack Jensen. “They were building this amazing team in the middle of nowhere, and their vision for the program and our vision for the film felt connected from the jump. We’re honored they let us into their world to help showcase it and bring our style to the party.”

Upcoming projects for RTG Features include the feature-length documentary Merv And The Miracles from Sundance filmmaker Christopher Makoto Yogi; The Sneaker Boom, a multi-part documentary series directed by Sean Menard; the animated feature Sneaks, produced by and starring Laurence Fishburne; and an untitled multi-part documentary series on Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson from director Kirk Fraser.

Amongst The Trees will debut at Palm Springs (Jan 4 – 15) on Saturday, January 6.