Sonicsgate
Encyclopedia
Sonicsgate: Requiem For A Team (2009) is a 2009
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...

 educational feature documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 chronicling the rise and demise of the Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...

 NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 franchise 1967-2008, having left Seattle after 41 years to move to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...

 and become the Thunder
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ; their home court is at Chesapeake Energy Arena....


Background

Sonicsgate chronicles the Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City
Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City
The Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City was a successful effort by the ownership group of the Seattle SuperSonics to move the team to Oklahoma City...

, focusing on the more scandalous corporate and political reasons why the Sonics left Seattle and became the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2008. The film contains interviews with former Sonics figures and fans including Gary Payton
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...

, George Karl
George Karl
George Matthew Karl is a former National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association player. He is the current head coach of the Denver Nuggets. On December 10, 2010 he became the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins.-Biography:Karl was born in Penn Hills,...

, Wally Walker
Wally Walker
Walter Frederick Walker is an American former professional basketball player. Walker is best known for his National Basketball Association career - both as a player and as a front office executive - for the Seattle SuperSonics....

, Kevin Calabro
Kevin Calabro
Kevin Calabro is an American play-by-play announcer and talk show host for 710 ESPN Seattle. The Kevin Calabro Show airs from 3-6p PT and features cohost and Seattle P-I columnist Jim Moore, as well as ESPN Senior NFL Writer and Analyst John Clayton...

, Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film...

 and others. It also contains local news and press conference footage.

Participants

  • John Keister - Narrator (voice)
  • Kevin Calabro
    Kevin Calabro
    Kevin Calabro is an American play-by-play announcer and talk show host for 710 ESPN Seattle. The Kevin Calabro Show airs from 3-6p PT and features cohost and Seattle P-I columnist Jim Moore, as well as ESPN Senior NFL Writer and Analyst John Clayton...

     - Sports Broadcaster, KIRO-AM (710 ESPN Seattle)
  • Chris Daniels - News Reporter, KING 5
  • Steve Kelley - Sports Columnist, Seattle Times
  • Slade Gorton
    Slade Gorton
    Thomas Slade Gorton III is an American politician. A Republican, he was a U.S. senator from Washington state from 1981 to 1987, and from 1989 to 2001. He held both of the state's Senate seats in his career and was narrowly defeated for reelection twice as an incumbent: in 1986 by Brock Adams, and...

     - former U.S. Senator
  • Sam Perkins
    Sam Perkins
    Samuel Perkins is a retired American professional basketball player, also known by the nicknames "Sleepy Sam" and "Big Smooth." He attended Samuel J. Tilden High School, Shaker High School and the University of North Carolina, where he was a teammate of Michael Jordan...

     - NBA
    National Basketball Association
    The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

     Player
  • Brent Barry
    Brent Barry
    Brent Robert Barry is an American former professional basketball player. The , shooting guard was selected out of Oregon State University by the Denver Nuggets with the 15th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, but was traded shortly after to the Los Angeles Clippers.Barry played professionally...

     - NBA Player
  • Nick Collison
    Nick Collison
    Nicholas John Collison is an American professional basketball player, currently a power forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA, and well known in basketball circles for his accomplishments at the University of Kansas.- Early life and high school career :Nick Collison was born in Orange...

     - NBA Player
  • Desmond Mason
    Desmond Mason
    Desmond Tremaine Mason is an American former professional basketball player. He was designated as a shooting guard and small forward.-Career:...

     - NBA Player
  • Jamal Crawford
    Jamal Crawford
    Jamal Crawford is an American professional basketball player who most recently played with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. He is a 6'5" and 200 lb shooting guard–point guard...

     - NBA Player
  • Aaron Brooks
    Aaron Brooks (basketball)
    Aaron Jamal Brooks is an American basketball player who is currently a point guard for the Guangdong Southern Tigers. He was selected 26th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft...

     - NBA Player
  • Doug Christie
    Doug Christie (basketball)
    Douglas Dale Christie is a retired American basketball player.-Early life:Christie is the son of John Malone and Norma Christie...

     - NBA Player
  • Jim McIlvaine
    Jim McIlvaine
    James Michael McIlvaine is a retired American professional basketball player who spent seven seasons in the National Basketball Association with the Washington Bullets, Seattle SuperSonics and New Jersey Nets...

     - NBA Player
  • James Donaldson
    James Donaldson (basketball)
    James Lee Donaldson III is a retired professional English-American basketball player who grew up in California and played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association....

     - NBA Player
  • Tom Carr - City of Seattle Attorney
  • Brian Robinson as Himself - Save Our Sonics Co-Founder
  • Steven Pyeatt as Himself - Save Our Sonics Co-Founder
  • Sherman Alexie
    Sherman Alexie
    Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film...

     - Writer
  • Jim Moore - Sports Columnist, Seattle PI
  • Bill Krueger
    Bill Krueger
    William Culp Krueger , is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from -. Krueger would play for the Oakland A's, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers, and San Diego Padres.-Early career:After graduating from McMinnville...

     - Sports Analyst, FSN Northwest
    FSN Northwest
    Root Sports Northwest is a United States regional sports network available in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska...

  • Don James - former University of Washington
    University of Washington
    University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

     Huskies Football Coach
  • Todd MacCulloch
    Todd MacCulloch
    Todd Carlyle MacCulloch is a retired Canadian professional basketball player. He was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets in the NBA.-Basketball career:...

     - NBA Player
  • Ryan Stiles
    Ryan Stiles
    Ryan Lee Stiles is an American actor, comedian, director, and voice actor whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his improv and co-production work on the American and British versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the role of Lewis Kiniski on The Drew...

     - Comedian
  • Ross Hunter - Chair of House Finance Committee in Washington State Legislature
  • George Karl
    George Karl
    George Matthew Karl is a former National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association player. He is the current head coach of the Denver Nuggets. On December 10, 2010 he became the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins.-Biography:Karl was born in Penn Hills,...

     - NBA Coach
  • Gary Payton
    Gary Payton
    Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...

     - NBA Player
  • Wally Walker
    Wally Walker
    Walter Frederick Walker is an American former professional basketball player. Walker is best known for his National Basketball Association career - both as a player and as a front office executive - for the Seattle SuperSonics....

     - NBA Player / Front Office

Free Internet Release

On Oct. 12, 2009, the film's producers opted to release the 120-minute feature cut online for free viewing on their website without any advertising or revenue sources embedded in order to spread their grassroots message to as wide an audience as possible.

Sonicsgate collected more than 55,000 online views from Oct. 12 to Nov. 10, 2009 and more than 250,000 to date.

Theatrical Screenings

Sonicsgate premiered at two sold out screenings in Seattle at SIFF Cinema (Oct. 9, 2009) and Pacific Place Cinemas (Oct. 10, 2009). Seattle's SIFF Cinema (Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...

) picked up Sonicsgate for a one-week theatrical run from Dec. 11 to Dec 17, 2009.

In February 2010, the Beer And Movie Fest (BAM Fest) of Portland, Oregon selected Sonicsgate to screen at the Bagdad Theater and Pub as part of the four-venue, 50 film festival.

The film's producers independently booked a four-day East Coast premiere in New York City at the People's Improv Theater from April 28 - May 1, 2010. During the NYC premiere, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 dedicated an entire episode of its sports journalism program Outside the Lines
Outside the Lines
Outside the Lines, or also referred to as OTL, is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in American sports on and off the field of play....

 to the Sonics Saga and Sonicsgate movie, showing a 3-minute trailer of the film and having director Jason Reid on as a guest contributor.

In May 2010, the prestigious Park City Film Series gave Sonicsgate a special selection to screen in Utah at the Park City Film Music Festival, which recognizes films with the best musical scores and soundtracks. After the festival, Sonicsgate took home the Audience Choice Silver Medal for Excellence.

Critical response

Sonicsgate: Requiem For A Team has received positive reviews from sports critics.

In its December 2009 Year in Media issue, Sports Illustrated wrote the following about Sonicsgate:

"The Most Persuasive Grassroots Flick (of 2009)... Don't be fooled by the price tag: This pitch-perfect documentary shows the collateral damage when a team leaves town."
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

, Dec. 21, 2009 issue, Page 73


Pete Croatto of AMC Film Critic wrote:

**** out of *****
"The movie's unsettling truth is out there for all to learn: A fan's love for their team can be taken away by outside forces... That series of unfortunate events is expertly recounted and explained in the absorbing documentary, Sonicsgate."



Laremy Legel of Film.com wrote:

"Sonicsgate is interesting for the larger questions it asks about our culture. Do cities owe teams brand new facilities every decade? Should billionaires and millionaires receive subsidies in the name of civic pride?"


Bob Condotta of the The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...

 Movie Review
wrote:

***1/2 out of ****
"More than just a sports film, Sonicsgate also reveals some larger truths about government and big business, that ultimately everything comes down to ego, power and money."


Sara Michelle Fetters of MovieFreak.com wrote:

"Reid's film is about love, loss and the heartache that ensues when a beloved enterprise decides to skip town, the removal of the Supersonics
from Seattle leaving a hole the size of which still hasn't been fully calculated."


Bill Simmons
Bill Simmons
William J. "Bill" Simmons III is a sports columnist, author, and podcaster. He currently writes columns and hosts podcasts for Grantland.com, which is affiliated with ESPN.com. He is a former writer for ESPN The Magazine and Jimmy Kimmel Live!...

, bestselling author and ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

columnist, wrote:

"The Sonics were stolen from Seattle — literally, STOLEN, and if you don't believe me, watch this movie."



Matt Lawyue of SLAM Magazine
SLAM Magazine
SLAM Magazine is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994, published by Source Interlink. SLAM publishes nine issues a year to its circulation of over 500,000 readers worldwide.-History:...

wrote:

"This is a must-watch film for any basketball fan... By the end, you just want to hug a Sonics fan."

Awards and Festival Selections

  • Winner - "Best Sports Film" at the 2010 Webby Awards
    Webby Awards
    A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....

  • Nominee - "Best Editing" at the 2010 Webby Awards
    Webby Awards
    A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....

  • Winner - "Best Online Presence - Sports" at the 2010 Seattle Weekly Best of the Web Awards
  • Nominee - "Best Twitter"; "Best Tweet"; "Best Shameless Self-Promoter" at the 2010 Seattle Weekly Best of the Web Awards
  • Special Selection - Park City Film Music Fest
  • Winner - Audience Choice Silver Medal for Excellence - Park City Film Music Fest
  • Official Selection - Beer and Movie Fest in Portland, Oregon

2010 Webby Awards Gala

On June 14, 2010, the 14th Annual Webby Awards Gala was held at Cipriani in New York City. The Webby Awards
Webby Awards
A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....

 recognize the best content on the internet as selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a 650-person global organization whose members include David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...

, Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...

, Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....

, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone
Biz Stone
Christopher Isaac "Biz" Stone is a co-founder and Creative Director of Twitter, Inc and also helped to create and launch Xanga, Blogger, Odeo, and , founded in June 2011 with his long time collaborators Evan Williams and Jason Goldman to focus on building systems that help people work together to...

 and Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

.

The producers of Sonicsgate were all in attendance to accept the award for Best Sports Film, but they unveiled a special surprise guest to accept the award on stage on their behalf: legendary Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...

 point guard Gary Payton
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...

.

As is the Webby Awards tradition, honorees are limited to acceptance speeches of five words or less. Payton said these five words as he accepted the award on behalf of the Sonicsgate filmmakers: "Bring Back Our Seattle SuperSonics!"

The video from Payton's speech is on the Webby Awards YouTube Channel, and a longer version shot by Sonicsgate cinematographer Ian Connors is viewable on the Sonicsgate YouTube Channel.

Steve Kelley
Steve Kelley
Steve Kelley is a former Minnesota state Senator. In 2006, he received the Democratic-Farmer-Labor endorsement for Attorney General. Kelley served in the Minnesota Senate from 1997 to 2007; he previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997...

, longtime sports columnist for The Seattle Times who is also interviewed in Sonicsgate, was embedded with the film's producers for the Webby Awards Gala and described the festivities in his column:

As host B.J. Novak from "The Office" introduced him, Payton came on stage to loud applause. (Only Buzz Aldrin received a louder ovation, and he walked on the moon, for crying out loud.)

Payton, dressed in a gray suit, strode to the microphone and said what everyone associated with the film, everybody who came to its showings in Seattle and most everybody who has taken the time to watch it on the Internet, wants most.

"Bring back our Seattle SuperSonics", Payton said forcefully, and this mostly-New York crowd stood and cheered as if he'd just said, "Bring back Willis Reed."

Standing alongside Payton, wearing Sonics T-shirts, were the film's executive producer Camp Jones and director Jason Reid. They unfurled a Sonics banner just before Payton's "speech."

"It blew me away", Reid said of the standing ovation.

Sonicsgate was an unconventional piece of filmmaking. It was a full-length documentary, released for free on the Internet. It encapsulated everything this night was about — openness and a new way of expression.


Shortly after the Webby Awards Gala, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 blog SportsCenter.com posted a lengthy interview with director Jason Reid on its website.

Original score and soundtrack

The music of Sonicsgate was recognized at the 2010 Park City Film Music Festival in Park City, Utah, winning the Audience Choice Silver Medal for Excellence. The original music score for the film is credited to Seattle-area composers Lil Kriz, Curtis Seals, Steve Stearns and John E. Low.

The Sonicsgate soundtrack features songs by several northwest hip-hop artists including Jake One
Jake One
Jacob Dutton, better known as Jake One, is an American hip hop record producer from Seattle, Washington.-Biography:Dutton grew up in Capitol Hill and moved to the North End of Seattle when he was 15. He started making music on a Casio keyboard in 1992. He attended the University of Washington and...

, Blue Scholars
Blue Scholars
Blue Scholars is a hip hop duo based in Seattle, Washington, created in 2002 while the members, DJ Sabzi and MC Geologic, were students at the University of Washington....

, Grayskul
Grayskul
-Formation:In 2003 Onry Ozzborn and JFK, both members of the Pacific Northwest hip hop collective Oldominion, teamed up with bassist Rob Castro to form Grayskul. They recorded about 55 songs in eight months at ATB Studios; these would eventually become Creature, Thee Adventures! and Deadlivers...

, Common Market, Dyme Def
Dyme Def
Dyme Def is a hip hop group based in Seattle, Washington. The trio consists of MCs, Brainstorm, S.E.V., Fearce Villan and DJ/Producer Bean One.-History:...

, Grynch, Neema, Spaceman, Wizdom
Wizdom
Wizdom is a hip hop artist based in Seattle, Washington. The emcee has released two studio albums and one EP release. Guests on his music include Brainstorm of Dyme Def and New Balance / Nate Burleson....

, Cancer Rising and Sir Mix-a-Lot
Sir Mix-a-Lot
Anthony Ray , better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an emcee and producer based in Seattle, Washington. The founder of the Nastymix record label, he debuted in 1988 with Swass...

. It also features the song "SuperSonics" by Seattle rock band Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...

.

These artists donated their music to the soundtrack to further the Sonicsgate cause. Like the film itself, the soundtrack is streaming free online but is not available for sale. Individual tracks are available for purchase through the artists' accounts on third-party sites such as iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 and Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

.
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