This is not hyperbole: ESPN’s exhaustive documentary on O.J. Simpson—O.J.: Made In America—is the best content the company has ever produced. The film was thrilling and uncompromising filmmaking—clocking in at seven hours and 43 minutes—and it made you look at the most famous murder case in United States history with fresh eyes and under a larger prism. Last Sunday, in a decision not involving Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway or mistaken envelopes, the film (directed by Ezra Edelman and produced by Caroline Waterlow) won the Academy Award for best documentary feature.
The honor is the culmination of a 10-year-run that started in 2007 when former ESPN-er Bill Simmons and ESPN executive Connor Schell kicked around the idea of doing a series of 30 one-hour films by 30 filmmakers covering the biggest sports stories over ESPN’s first 30 years.