Page 17 of Broken As Puck

Stella’s phone pinged and she checked the screen. “The documentary team has arrived. I’ll escort them up. Can you prepare the meeting room?”

“Sure.”

I grabbed my laptop, along with a notebook and a pen, and carried them across the small open-plan area to the meeting rooms along the far wall. The dividers between the meeting rooms and the office space were glass, so anyone here could see what was going on, but they’d been soundproofed reasonably well.

I went to the largest one and double-checked to make sure there were enough chairs around the conference table. It was only a small team of people we’d be dealing with regularly: a producer, a videographer, and a director, from my understanding. There would be others involved, but only on an as-needed basis.

I set my laptop and notebook on the far side of the table and headed to the kitchenette to brew a pot of coffee. They may not want any, but it was my experience that it was always best to offer. Some people ran on caffeine and couldn’t function without it.

While the coffee brewed, I carried a tray of mugs to the meeting room and placed it in the center of the table. I’d just returned with the carafe when Stella arrived with three others in tow.

I remained standing to greet them and offered each a smile. “Hi, I’m Chelsey, the team’s publicist.”

The man nearest had a head of tight, steel gray curls, round spectacles, and a weathered face that suggested he spent a lot of time in the sun. He grinned back and shook my hand. “Hi, Chelsey. I’m Max Prescott, the videographer. It’s nice to meet you.”

He moved around the table and took a seat. The woman behind him was a petite brunette with a sleek, high ponytail and dark, slim-fitting slacks.

“Kim Johns,” she said, squeezing my hand briefly. “I’m the one you’ve been corresponding with.”

I recognized her voice. While we’d mostly emailed, we’d shared a few phone calls too. “It’s good to meet you in person.”

“Likewise.” She rounded the table, joined Max, and immediately poured herself a cup of coffee.

That left just a tall, broad-shouldered man with the body of a former athlete—muscular but with soft padding in places.

“I’m Patrick,” he told me. “The director.”

I murmured a greeting in return. Stella waited for Patrick to sit and then closed the door behind them.

“Great, that’s all the introductions made,” she said, claiming the seat beside me. “I know this is mandatory, but it’s still an opportunity and we want to make the most of it, so let’s talk details. I understand from Chelsey that you’d like to film a miniseries of four to eight episodes, depending on how the season progresses and the quality of the footage recorded. Is that correct?”

“It is,” Kim confirmed. “We have a handshake agreement to release the miniseries exclusively with Sport TV first and we could later release it more widely. If you—and the commissioner—are agreeable, we can get that down on paper.”

Stella nodded. “As long as the contract doesn’t restrict our ability to post video content generated by the in-house team during the season, I see no reason for that to be a problem.”

“Provided the content doesn’t duplicate our own—with the exception of game footage—that should be fine,” Kim replied.

I jotted down the date at the top of the page in my notebook. “So, what kind of content are you interested in?”

Hopefully, this wasn’t an underhanded attempt at an exposé. From what Kim had said during our emails, it didn’t seem that way, but it paid to be cautious.

Patrick leaned forward, his forearms resting on the table. “Ideally, we’d start with player interviews and footage of them during training. We’d like to record footage during at least one preseason game and two games during the season—one at home and one away, to capture the full experience. If you make it to the playoffs or the championship, we’d want additional footage from those too.”

“How much access to the players will you need?” I asked as I made a note of what he’d said.

“We’d like to interview them early on and then we’d ideally like to speak to at least two or three of them following each game we attend, to get comments on the game and a consistent narrative. We’d also like to interview the coaching staff.”

Stella tapped her pen against her chin. “The coaches have already agreed to participate in whatever way we see fit. Who chooses the players who will be the focus? You or us?”

“We can talk it over.” Patrick pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through it for a moment. “If it sets your minds at ease, I don’t see any reason for us to shadow players outside of the games or the training facility unless there’s a significant team-related event.”

“That’s good to know,” Stella said. “The team could use whatever positive publicity it can get right now, but we’d rather not intrude on anyone’s privacy.”

We hammered out a few more details and exchanged phone numbers so we could each get in contact with each other if needed.

“Is that everything?” Stella asked as I closed my notebook and laptop.

“I believe so,” Kim replied.