Words by Community member @rob_illi
‘AIR’ tells Nike’s biggest story from a fresh business focused perspective, giving the audience a sense of what it took to immortalise the Air Jordan in the history books.
Back in March I was lucky enough to be invited to an early screening of ‘AIR’, a sneaker friend of mine who works in the theatrical sector reached out to a variety of sneaker communities to get involved and I got to tag along. From the moment I stepped into the venue to the moment I walked out, it felt like there was something special in the ‘AIR’.
As we queued to enter, eyes were drawn down as fellow attendees were busy assessing the heat on feet, with mutters and nods of recognition taking place whilst we waited to get in. When we finally made it in, the air shifted and it felt as if you were walking into an NBA game with courtside tickets waiting for the tip-off, the atmosphere was electric.
There was a basketball hoop to test your dunking skills and have a photo op as well as confectionary stands everywhere. But what was most noticeable in the room was the shared intoxicating feeling that everyone was here because in one way or another, the story of a sneaker and the brand that created it had led us here, there is no easy way to describe it.
The seats were set up over a makeshift basketball court and around the edge your choice of pre-game snacks: pizza, nachos, hotdogs. Tying back into the basketball theme. Once we had spent time eating, drinking, and spotting friends through the crowd, we were told the film was about to start and to find our seats. The lights went out, the opening sequence began to roll, and the air shifted once again, this time from excited anticipation to muffled silence.
The film itself took us on a journey, one that makes you understand that nothing worth doing comes easy, life is a series of ups and downs but when the stars align history can be made and its those once in a lifetime individual that show us how.
The whole film is brought to life by an incredible cast, strong writing and a toe-tapping soundtrack transporting you back to the 80’s with the likes of Chaka Khan, Bruce Springsteen and Run DMC.
Going into the film I didn’t appreciate the different risks Nike took which led to the creation of the Air Jordan brand and how easily things could have ended up differently. Converse and Adidas were the powerhouses with huge market share in basketball and it took Sonny Vaccaro’s (portrayed by Matt Damon) expertise and gut instinct to negotiate sinking all of Nike’s basketball budget into one rookie, one rookie that could have been injured in his first season but instead changed the game for good.
The idea was to build the whole shoe around Jordan, something which had never been done for a basketball player before. This is when we get our introduction to the artist/scientist/nutty professor behind the Air Jordan manifestation, Peter Moore. Peter is portrayed by Matthew Maher, who brilliantly depicts how Peter’s whole world was shoe design, as he is immediately driven to fulfil the brief from Sonny: to create (over a weekend) what would come to be the first prototype of the Air Jordan.
There was a problem though, at the time 51% of the shoe had to be white otherwise this would break NBA uniform rules and Jordan would incur a fine of $5k per game for wearing them. This is where we see Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman) who had been Sonny’s counterpart throughout this venture get on side with Peter and Sonny, saying: “What about more red? A lot more red. And what about if we just pay the fines?” leaving us with the infamous colour panelling.
The most compelling scenes of the film usually involved Sonny Vaccaro and Deloris Jordan (played by the incredible Viola Davis). Deloris was made out to be the lioness of the Jordan household, demanding that her son be given the respect and accolades that she knew he deserved. It was only because Sonny saw this too with such unwavering belief, that he was eventually able to convince Deloris and the shoe dog himself Phil Knight (played by Ben Affleck) to finally agree to staking it all on Jordan.
The film provoked a lot of passionate audience engagement, but the biggest cheer from the audience was when Deloris says to Sonny “A shoe is just a shoe until my son steps into it” as they settle the final terms of the contract.
This is also the same negotiation that Deloris secures a history defining deal with Nike, demanding a financial cut of every shoe with her son’s name on it going straight in Jordans pocket.
“Heart is what separates the good from the great.”
Michael Jordan
The Air Premiere was an incredible evening and an inspiring film which left the audience, myself included, thinking if you have a business idea, or something you’re passionate about in life which you want to take further JUST DO IT, put your heart and soul into it, because no one is going to do it for you.
Check out more from Robert on Instagram @rob_illi
