Comment: ​How Indie docs can give the big dogs a run for their money

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Jonny Madderson of JustSo explains why his Broadcast Sport winning documentary Hustle and Run, was so well received

The sports documentary landscape has been dominated in recent years by all-access follow series, celebrity profiles, and glossy behind-the-scenes coverage of major tournaments. Audiences (myself included) love the thrills and access of shows like Drive to Survive and All or Nothing.

But with every major sport being mined for content, there’s a risk of reaching a creative plateau.

For independent producers, the question is clear – how can you create a sports documentary with real edge when you don’t have major IP and big names to play with?

The best sports documentaries have always found answers to this – from Steve James’ Hoop Dreams to Louise Osmond’s Dark Horse.

In its own small but defiant way, we hope our Channel 4 film Hustle and Run also shows us there’s room, and appetite, for intimate, character-led sports stories.

It’s an unusual film about speed, mavericks and diva whippets. But it’s also an empowering portrait of female leadership and a ragtag amateur team.

We believe there’s a future for sports storytelling in taking creative risks on stories like this.

Hustle and Run recently took home Sports Documentary of the Year (<60 mins) at the Broadcast Sport Awards.

Up against brilliant and very moving films about established names including Mark Hughes: Redemption, Billy Monger: The Race is on For Comic Relief, and stories about Formula 1 and The Open, we felt like the underdog in the category.

We are incredibly grateful to the jury. Their decision was a reminder that the thrill, drama, and emotional purity of sport can also be found far from the spotlight.

Hustle and Run tells the story of an amateur flyball team from the overlooked Medway towns in Kent. In their own words, the team is mostly “middle-aged,” self-funded, and competing purely for love, not money.

Betting everything on Hustle, a mercurial whippet deemed untrainable, they set out to defy decades of conventional wisdom.

At its heart is Jeannette, the team’s visionary leader – the Sarina Wiegman of flyball – who transformed her team and revolutionised the sport. But for Jeannette, it’s about far more than winning; it’s about the love and community that sport can give us.

Audience response suggests that this kind of storytelling resonates. The film aired as part of Channel 4’s 2025 Crufts coverage, achieving strong viewing figures and sparking heartfelt reactions on social media – “anyone else cutting onions?” was a typical comment. The film’s subsequent international festival run and Grierson long-listing further highlight the appetite for sports stories that don’t rely on celebrity appeal or mega-budgets.

There were many twists and turns to getting this film made. We learnt so much in the making of this film.

What we learned:

● Find the universal within the niche: while we lack the name recognition of a major sport or team… we did have one thing up our sleeve - dogs! Finding a niche story with a more relatable entry point helped the film connect.

● Make the film with your subjects, not just about them: Jeannette and her team became co-conspirators in willing the film into existence. That shared belief and collaboration gave it an authenticity, energy and mischief no amount of budget or access can manufacture.

● Celebrate voices that are often overlooked: a core theme of the film is about female leadership. It resonated because the team challenges conventions about who gets to be seen and celebrated in mainstream sports docs.

● Find a home that can amplify your audience: Channel 4’s Pete Andrews and Antonia Howard-Taylor took a risk backing this story. It wasn’t obvious subject matter. But with smart programming as shoulder content to Crufts on Channel 4, we tapped into an adjacent audience.

Hustle and Run has been a joy of a project. Our hope is it signals there’s space for storytelling in more unexpected corners of sport - and that these stories absolutely can deliver award-winning television. In a crowded market there’s fresh territory for films without big names, about sports you never knew you needed to know - when told with passion, sincerity, and emotion.

And who knows what other worlds, characters, and communities might follow if we open the gates to more stories like this? Let’s give the underdog a shot… after all, every dog has its day.