Keep Pushing, An Adaptive Sports Documentary by Mill+ presented by The Hartford, in partnership with Move United.
For more than three decades, The Hartford Insurance Co. has been a sponsor of athletes and advocate for the adaptive sports movement. As a leading provider of disability insurance, the company has a long-held belief that sports are an important part of physical rehabilitation following a disabling illness or injury. Their mission is clear: make adaptive sports and equipment more accessible to youth and adults with disabilities.
Having worked with The Hartford on a range of film and design projects over the years, we were approached as a trusted partner to make a documentary film that celebrates the athletes and organizers behind their adaptive sports program.
This project was really unique due to the lack of traditional VFX or Design work. This was a live action-forward project that came to us because we have a strong brand partnership with The Hartford. We used a range of cameras in order to capture some of these adaptive events. Drones, GoPros mounted underwater, etc. That was a lot of fun — and credit to our DP and camera team for being so flexible throughout the shoot. I look forward to doing more nonfiction/doc work with Mill+ in the future.”
Ty Richardson, Director
The Hartford was one of my favorite projects that I’ve worked on at the Mill. From the minute I started going through the footage, I felt emotional and inspired by the athletes, the organizations, and the movement. Being able to see first hand how they work their way through their struggles and use the community in a positive way was so inspiring.
Leanne Belgiorno, Editor
As the editor for this project, the biggest hurdle I found was wanting to show everything we shot but of course, that was not possible. Ty and the team did a fantastic job of capturing the biggest moments, the smallest moments, and every one in between. Between the interviews from The Hartford Team, Move United, and the athletes, I had everything I needed to try and put together a moving piece of video content.
We also worked with an amazing music partner, Coolfire, to have these pieces composed which I think really elevated the energy and feeling the edits portrayed.
For this campaign we sought to bring forward the warm, vibrant spirit inherent to the footage and the inspiring lives of the athletes. The vintage lenses Mike used helped to impart a distinctive texture to the footage which we pushed further in the grade.
Ashley Woods, Colourist