The Hollywood Reporter – August 14, 2019

Creative Space

The Business

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 42 AUGUST 14, 2019

O

n a blazing hot July day in

Boston, Julian Edelman is

wearing a thick cardi-

gan and nerdy black glasses that

he doesn’t need as he stumbles

through a movie theater drop-

ping popcorn. The reigning

Super Bowl MVP is playing the

part of a pretentious film critic

for a three-part web series called

Movie Tyme for his YouTube

channel that will begin airing

in September, timed to the start

of the 2019 NFL season. Just two

months ago, the New England

Patriots wide receiver launched

Coast Productions with market-

ing executive Assaf Swissa, a

co-founder of Boston-based ad

agency Superdigital, which has

worked with such high-profile

athletes as Steph Curry, David

Ortiz and Kyrie Irving. Their

first project, the Showtime doc

100%, which debuted in June,

traces an improbable 18 months

in Edelman’s life from a season-

ending ACL injury in 2017 to his

championship win this year.

Edelman, 32, and Swissa, 38,

want to expand their footprint

beyond shortform content and

docs and move into narrative

features and TV series. The

ICM-repped pair have assembled

a staff of seven for the company

they back themselves and are

about to begin shopping a TV

series based on Edelman’s rookie

season, which he says was noth-

ing at all like HBO’s Ballers or his

current wild, off-field life that he

regularly shares on Instagram.

Ahead of preseason football, the

producers, both single (Edelman

has a 3-year-old daughter from a

previous relationship), sat down

with THR to talk about how they

came together, the Coast busi-

ness model and some words of

encouragement from Patriots

superfan Mark Wahlberg.

How did you two partner up?

ASSAF SWISSA It was 2012. I was

coming out of a huge, horribly

failed startup [Unreal Brands

Inc., which created healthier

versions of popular candy bars].

Right at the same time, Julian

came off of a pretty signifi-

cant foot injury. He and I were

friendly through my dad’s hair-

cuts [business]. We both hit rock

bottom together and started

talking, and we did some mar-

keting stuff together. We fooled

around with some videos and did

a couple of social media posts.

One thing led to another, and we

realized we had some creative

chops together.

What sparked your interest in doing

shortform content?

JULIAN EDELMAN It was a way

for us to communicate with

the fans. It’s a way for us to do

something completely differ-

ent from football. I was probably

one of the first to start in this

whole locker-room genre of social

media. I grew up in the Bay Area,

with Facebook, MySpace, and

then Instagram and Twitter. We

were like that first generation

of athletes to [bring a camera]

into the locker room. It was just

kind of a way for me to go out and

be creative.

How did you feel in front of

the camera?

EDELMAN I’ve always been

intrigued with acting. Assaf came

up to me one day and asked what

I liked doing in my spare time. I

like watching the Food Network.

He goes, “What do you cook

every day?” I don’t really cook

that much, but I make smoothies

every day. He said, “Why don’t we

make a smoothie cooking show?”

So we made Smoothie Tyme. I

can remember I was totally out

of my element. [Director] Kyler

[Schelling] went to film school.

Assaf knows a lot about produc-

ing. But I thought it was going to

be a complete disaster. (Laughs.)

I got hooked.

What was the mind-set behind

doing the doc 100%?

EDELMAN We wanted to go a step

higher and do documentary-

type stuff with our own twist.

We partnered up with the NFL

and did a documentary [for NFL

Films] about the [2017] Patriots-

Raiders game in Mexico. It turned

out cool, and it was a fun experi-

ence. [Months before,] I tore my

ACL in the preseason. Assaf said,

“What do you think about doing

a comeback doc?” At the time, all

these outlets and content people

and providers wanted us to do

our story of me coming back. So

we decided if we’re going to do

this, I want complete control.

Every sports documentary is slow,

monotone. They are all kind of

similar. We wanted to do some-

thing our own way and put our

own twist on it.

Is everything you do through Coast

self-financed?

EDELMAN Ye s.

How much money did you put into

the venture to start?

SWISSA High six figures.

You guys are developing a romantic

comedy that Assaf wrote. Would

you star in it?

EDELMAN I probably wouldn’t star

in it, but I’d definitely have a role.

It’s a football rom-com. I love

rom-coms. Does that make me

weird? I don’t know. But I will be

producing and maybe find a role.

And you’re pitching a TV series

next month. What’s that about?

EDELMAN It’s going to be loosely

based off the early part of my

career. Everyone thinks that NFL

football players are like the show

Ballers, when in fact, probably 65 to

75 percent of the guys are scratch-

ing for a roster spot. They are not

known. We all have helmets. There

are only a handful of guys that are

known. When I was a rookie,

Tom Brady was talking about tak-

ing a helicopter to the Hamptons

with his supermodel wife while

I’m about to go to [an Irish pub

near the stadium] and not be rec-

ognized. You know what I mean?

What’s the most interesting incom-

ing call you’ve received since you

announced the launch of Coast?

EDELMAN The call from [Showtime

Sports president Shephen]

Espinoza telling us how 100%

has done. [Michael] Strahan,

[Mark] Wahlberg. Those are

people I looked up to as a kid.

You’re dipping your toe into their

Thunderdome, so for them to give

you a compliment is pretty cool.

What did Mark Wahlberg say?

EDELMAN He said he was excited

for me. We’ve been friends for a

number of years now. He said,

“If you want to do something, go

out and do it yourself.”

Interview edited for length

and clarity.

Says Swissa:

“Social media is

our backbone. It’s

how we got into

the business. Julian

has a real instinct

for social.”

Edelman, whose

father is Jewish,

sells a signature

yarmulke through

his merchandise

company JE11.

RÉSUMÉ

CURRENT TITLES

Partners,

Coast Productions

OTHER JOBS

Edelman: Wide

receiver for the New

England Patriots

Swissa: Co-founder and

creative director of

Boston-based marketing

firm Superdigital

BIG HIT

100% (Showtime’s

most-watched sports

doc in three years)