Making Creator Headlines · Page 4
NBA Travel Series Packs a Player, a Creator and a Sponsor Into One Itinerary
· New York time
NBAT2, a joint venture between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive, has launched Foreign Exchange, a six-episode travel series sponsored by Booking.com. Phoenix Suns center Khaman Maluach and filmmaker and creator Aria Inthavong travel through five US cities. The first episode premiered November 5. The project puts a basketball player and a creator together in a format built around places rather than a game. For the NBA venture, it is a way to feature an athlete outside the arena. For the sponsor, the journey supplies a setting in which travel is not merely a commercial break but the subject of the program. Maluach is the highest-drafted player from the Basketball Africa League, adding another point of interest to a series about seeing US cities. Inthavong brings a creator's presence to a production that also has the backing of a major sports property and a travel company. The arrangement is a neat piece of modern entertainment arithmetic. Start with a player fans recognize, add a filmmaker who knows how to make a journey watchable, and invite a booking company to help pay for the trip. By the time the suitcase is packed, even the itinerary has learned to multitask.
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