‘You See L.A.’ Creators, Coach On Capturing UCLA Women’s Hoops Season

When allowing cameras for the Fox Sports documentary You See L.A. into the lives of her players, UCLA women’s basketball head coach Cori Close, who just led the Bruins to a national championship, tried to stick to the wisdom of one of the school’s guiding sports lights.

“I had the incredible privilege of being mentored by John Wooden,” Close said during a panel at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary event, “and one of the things he taught me is, one, you’re coaching people’s hearts, but two, he used to say, ‘If it’s not about teaching, mentoring, equipping for the next 40 years of their lives, it really doesn’t mean a whole lot.’ And so that’s the kind of program that we want to have.”

“I think what this documentary allows us to do is to show people that you can be courageously vulnerable,” she added. “You can care about people’s hearts and you can compete to master your craft.”

Executive producers Kelsey Trainor and Jeff Luini, who previously collaborated on Welcome to Wrexham, envisioned the project as “a great example of how storytelling, especially around women and women’s sports, could be done in a way that was comparable to any kind of men’s sports story that you would see,” Trainor said. “It’s not necessarily, I think we say women’s sports wants in this documentary. That’s not the point. It’s a sports story … and to Corey and the team’s credit, we were there. We were in the locker room. We were in hard conversations.”

“It’s a human story,” said Luini.” Sports stories are great. The stakes are there. You win, you lose. But who are the people behind the scenes? Who are the players and their support system? And we talked to Cori about that, and I think that is who she is as a person. It’s like, what is the heart of the person? And that’s what we aimed to get.

“And these are young athletes. These are young people who are put on the biggest stage,” Lunini added. “These are 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-year-olds who are maybe exposing themselves and making mistakes in front of the largest platform. And let’s remember that they’re the youth and give them a chance. And I think that’s what’s special. We’ve seen it in professional leagues, but to see it on this level and for them to be … We go back and these are authentically people who are themselves. And for them to share their true selves with us, I think that’s what’s unique about this.”

“I remember when Kelsey and Jeff came before our team and told them about the project and they said, ‘We’re not here to have gotcha moments.’ And I could see their shoulders go [relaxed], okay?’ Close agreed. “And just over time, there just really was a trust that their desire was to tell their stories in an honoring, but real and authentic way. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Trainor said that transparency meant seeing the team through both highs and lows. “We hoped there would be a national championship – that was the goal,” she said, “but it was really just ‘Rocky doesn’t win in the first movie,’ So we knew that you could tell a story no matter the result, if you’re caring about the human part of it.”

“Women’s basketball is the most diverse sport in all of college athletics and has been for over a decade,” said Close, “and so we have a phrase in our program, “All of you is welcome here.” Despite your political background, despite where you’re from, what your religion is, whatever it is, all of you is welcome here. And I have so much to learn from you, even if we’re really different. And what a privilege to be able to be a part of that and to tell that kind of story. And we’ve had so much feedback that I needed that. They didn’t need our wins or losses. They needed joy. They needed hope. They needed connection and building.”

Close added that she didn’t have a prediction for the team’s next iteration, which is also going to be films, but promised “We have no interest in rebuilding. We only have interest in reloading. So I have great expectations moving forward.”

Check back Monday for the panel video.