With more than a decade of observational documentary experience across titles such as Bondi Vet, Ask the Doctor, and Paramedics, producer Anne-Maree Sparkman is no stranger to seeing subjects at their rawest.
However, even she was taken aback at the candour shown throughout the filming of Disney+ docuseries Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW.
“When we talk about television newbies, you wonder whether they will freeze up in front of cameras, or will they want to run away from cameras?” she said.
“In the end, I was surprised at not only what great ambassadors [the players] were for themselves and for their clubs, but also how articulate they were and how willing they were to absolutely reveal themselves in both funny and sad moments.”
Sparkman executive produces the six-part series, which when it launches next week, will mark Disney+’s first Australian original. The Mouse House has eight further local titles planned for the streamer, announcing a slate of scripted and unscripted content during a showcase in May.
The JAM TV Australia production spotlights four clubs – Adelaide Crows, Collingwood, GWS Giants, and Western Bulldogs – in their bid for premiership glory during the league’s sixth season, with cameras capturing the historic victory of the Adelaide Crows in April’s Grand Final to take their third AFLW premiership.
Filming took place at various locations across Australia, with Sparkman, director Michael Venables, and series producer Becky Taylor offered unrestricted access to the clubs from the pre-season right up until the best and fairest awards.
Sparkman identified making decisions about which players to follow specifically as one of the biggest challenges of the project.
“There is just a beautifully rich range of stories amongst these women,” she said.
“You think of the ones you want to focus on in each club and do some pre-season filming because there are some that definitely stand out.
“But as the season goes on, you think to yourself that each episode is only 45-50 minutes, which doesn’t seem like very much room when you’re trying to tell all the stories. I hope that we got the mix of background and football right for the viewers.”
The unpredictable and often cruel nature of sport is displayed early on when Collingwood co-captain Brianna Davey — already earmarked as one of the players to feature prominently within the project — suffers a season-ending ACL injury in the first game.
Sparkman said the level of trust between the clubs and film crews allowed for “the greatest coverage of season-ending injury in terms of pictures and access that you will ever see”.
“Right from the beginning, we said, ‘You understand if we’re here, this is this is not about just showing your great moments – this will be about showing your worst moments as well but trust in us that there’s going to be a context for all of those themes’,” she said.
“So there were discussions that went on throughout the season, and throughout some of the filming but I think everybody understood the greater good of this message getting out.”
She also paid tribute to commissioner Disney+ for believing in the league.
“Disney+ has just been the most extraordinary partner in all this,” she said.
“Genuinely, they are incredibly positive supportive people.
“I think that the women in this league are truly grateful for the opportunity for people to see just how intense this league is and there was no sense of, ‘Let’s make this sunshine and lollipops’.”
Another player pinpointed for further examination was GWS Irish recruit Brid Stack, who made her debut in league this year after fracturing her C7 vertebrae in a practice match ahead of the 2021 season, leading to a lengthy recovery process.
The 11-time All-Ireland winning former ladies’ Gaelic footballer said the fact the series was being shown on Disney+ gave the league a global audience.
“For people all over the world to see you what’s happening in the AFLW is really inspirational,” she said.
“For [AFLW] to have done so much in such a short space of time is definitely inspirational for sportspeople and sportswomen, in particular, around the world.”
Stack admitted to IF that while she was initially “a little bit apprehensive” about being a focus of the series due to her desire to focus solely on football, the crews ended up being a “pleasure to deal with”.
“It was definitely emotional at times, but also probably a little bit cathartic in terms of having something to look back on and seeing how far everyone in the team has come from what had happened the previous year and how my own story fits into that,” she said.
“I think there was a great story there to be told and looking back on it now, I’m glad it was captured.”
Sparkman agreed, describing the series as “almost like a time capsule”.
“In ten years time, when the women who have been playing football all their lives are coming through, what we’ll see is a clear or exponential increase in standard, although there are some amazing players at the moment,” she said.
“But what shines for me is the passion, dedication, and also love [for the game].
“They work 10-hour days and roll up for training, and even if they’re and they’re exhausted, they feel it is such a privilege to be able to play this game.”
Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW premieres only on Disney+ on August 24.