Manchester City’s in-house content operation has helped produce a major new Prime Video documentary, using years of access and relationships inside the Premier League club to capture everything from Pep Guardiola’s dressing room to private voice notes between its most senior executives.
City Studios has teamed up with Manchester-based Workerbee and Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald for A Beautiful Obsession, a four-part series following the final two seasons of Guardiola’s reign at Manchester City.
The series, which landed on Prime Video UK this week, demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated content operation that has been built inside one of the world’s biggest football clubs.
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City Studios’ John De Caux directs alongside Touching the Void director Macdonald, while Gavin Johnson and Ged Doherty produce for City Studios. Macdonald also produces for Plan B/KM Films, with Banijay UK-owned Workerbee involved in the production.
Crucially, City’s own production team was also able to use its position inside the club to secure a level of access that would be difficult for a conventional outside production company to replicate.
That included access to private voice note conversations between City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano, featuring candid discussions about the future of Kevin De Bruyne and transfer dealings involving players including Rayan Cherki.
Macdonald admitted he initially thought there was little chance the executives would allow the recordings to be used.
“The voice notes, I think that was [director of photography] John [De Caux] who convinced me to see what Ferran and Khaldoon said about it,” Macdonald said. “And I was thinking ‘that’s never going to happen’. And lo-and-behold, after a number of weeks, they said: ‘Let’s do it.’”
The recordings also gave the production another way of capturing events which would ordinarily happen beyond the reach of documentary cameras.
“In episode two, you are living that moment,” Macdonald said. “You’re hearing [material from] the biggest stories, genuine behind-the-scenes stuff… you can’t be in every single room and conversation, but we’ve got this amazing access [through voice notes] to help with the story and feeling of access.”
For De Caux, who runs Manchester City’s content team, that access was built on relationships developed inside the club over several years.
“I certainly didn’t steal their phones,” he joked. “Being able to build those personal relationships, meant they were able to buy into the story. Kevin [Mcdonald] was also able to convince them, and when it came to a stylistic choice, it was something they were happy to look into.
“I was just amazed to know that these [high-powered execs] talk to each other with voice notes, like we all do. You get a lot of emotion. It adds to the authenticity.”
The production was also granted extensive access to Guardiola and his players.
Macdonald said there remained some areas the football operation was reluctant to reveal, but suggested the club was remarkably comfortable with cameras capturing the rawer moments behind the scenes.
“The stuff they hate us showing is the tactics – most other things, the raw environments, they’re cool with it and trust us.”
That trust was tested during the production. Macdonald and Johnson said the team pushed its access to the limits and had to coax contributors over some particularly emotional material.
Macdonald added: “There’s a moment where there’s a lot of anger at Pep, and I’m amazed they let us use it to be honest.”
The approach also caught the attention of Prime Video.
Harjeet Chhokar, senior unscripted creative executive at Amazon MGM Studios, whose sports slate includes Sven, Four Kings, All or Nothing: Arsenal and Doubters to Believers Liverpool FC: Klopp’s Era, said he had not previously encountered a sports documentary which incorporated voice notes in this way.
He said he would encourage other documentary teams to use them “if it’s on the table”.
Chhokar said the opportunity for sports documentaries went beyond simply giving fans greater access to clubs and athletes.
“The world of sport is rich with stories and people that you want to know more about, but ultimately it has to strike a chord with you,” he said. “This isn’t just a doc about a great manager’s last two seasons, it’s about vulnerability, emotion and understanding who you are.
“There’s so much still to explore in sport, inherent in there is drama, human interest and stories.”
A Beautiful Obsession is produced by City Studios, Manchester-based Workerbee and Macdonald for Plan B/KM Films, with the four-part series now streaming on Prime Video UK.
