Older fans of the Washington Redskins remember the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, which featured perennial winning and plenty of franchise pride.
Then after a Super Bowl championship season in 1991, and the winning run ground to a halt. And in 1999, the franchise was sold to current owner Dan Snyder. For some, that transaction has become a waking nightmare for the Washington team.
Not only has the team failed to return to its winning ways, but its owner has turned the franchise into a league laughingstock. Most notably there has been his refusal to consider an alternative mascot to the offensive 'Redskins' while using his position of power and wealth to wage personal vendettas and bully those who cross his path.
At least, that's the premise to be explored in a proposed documentary, "Under Our Skins." The project, which is currently fundraising through IndieGoGo, tells the story of Snyder's tenure as owner through his lengthy legal battle with local sportswriter Dave McKenna.
McKenna, a former writer for the Washington City Paper and a long-time chronicler of Snyder -- he's written more than 500 articles on the owner over the years. He was named by Snyder in a lawsuit after the City Paper ran a scathing piece using Snyder as an example of how to poorly run a professional sports franchise.
The two creators behind the documentary, Mark Farkas and Judy Plavnick, first got the idea during the legal battle in 2011. Farkas and Plavnick aren't just interested citizens, either: Farkas is a Peabody Award-winning producer at C-SPAN, while Plavnick has won five Emmys for her work with PBS, ESPN, NFL Films and other outlets.
Here's a preview clip:
"I just thought it was a very good story to tell," Plavnick tells The Washington Post. "And as a producer, you want to tell good stories. Dan Snyder and the Skins: it’s a good story, and I think it’s one worth telling, and one I hope people would find worth watching."
The duo is seeking up to $99,000 in funding for the project, with hopes of finishing the documentary before the 2015 season. The pair also plans to approach the project objectively, and they are hopeful Snyder himself will want to go on record and defend himself.
