Agency lads turn sports dreams into ‘The Project’



DDB copywriter Ethan Cole and Circle Production head of sales Laurence Payne are sitting in a van outside a 7-Eleven in New Jersey with disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. The trio is patiently waiting to confront Johnson’s American rival Carl Lewis on his way to get his morning coffee. Payne asks Johnson about a television campaign he did for the Cheetah brand of sports drinks. “I don’t want to talk about that. That’s off the record,” says Johnson. “Are we friends yet?” Cole asks Johnson. “No… No chance,” says Johnson.

Awkwarrrrrrd. But funny.

These unlikely exchanges are part of The Project, a docu-style sports show on The Score that follows Cole and Payne as they track down their sports heroes and ask them to participate in often off-the-wall activities.

Cole and Payne first approached The Score, known for its unconventional sports programming like Cabbie on the Street (Cabbie, aka Cabral Richards, was lured away to CTV late last year and now appears on TSN), with a documentary they made about heavyweight boxing champion Buster Douglas, best known for knocking out Mike Tyson.

When pitching the idea to The Score execs, Cole and Laurence shared some of the antics and “crazy stuff” that went on behind the scenes, similar to the aforementioned stakeout with Johnson. From there it was decided that this is what the show would be: two hard-core sports fans doing what they can to meet legendary athletes.

In one episode Cole and Laurence ask former major league baseball player Otis Nixon to re-enact the worst moment of his career—his failed bunt during the 1992 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Ben Johnson episode was scheduled to air Nov. 29.

With a small crew and a shoe-string budget of only about $15,000 per episode, Cole and Payne are left to their own devices with little direction from The Score (though the episodes are edited by the sports network).

Right now, the list is void of female athletes and ice sports. But Cole says it will continue to grow over time. He and Payne are encouraging sports fans to share their ideas at ThisIsTheProject.com. “Everyone’s got a list,” says Payne. “We want to start getting those ideas rolling in. You never know—it could be the next episode.”