Red Bull Studios announces its new high-end documentary “Born to Fly”

Red Bull Studios (RBS) announced the next in its line of high-end documentaries for television: “Born to Fly” (1x94’). The feature-length English-language film tells the intimate story of the meteoric rise of the world’s greatest pole-vaulter of all time, the now 23-year-old US-born, Swedish-American Armand Duplantis.

SVT Sweden has boarded the project as broadcast partner and is set to offer the world television premiere of “Born to Fly” on January 1 via streamer SVT Play and on January 3 on broadcaster SVT1. The documentary, which had its theatrical release across 15 Swedish cities in October, has grabbed the attention of global streaming platforms and broadcasters alike since achieving wide critical acclaim at the recent Tallinn Film Festival.

Directed by first-time US filmmaker Brennan Robideaux, who spent six years following his fellow Lafyette, Louisiana, native Duplantis in his rise to fame from child prodigy, is co-producing the film with Red Bull Studios via his production company, Robi Creative. William Ramsey, Robideaux and RBS’ Philipp Manderla are the producers.

“I captured lightning in a bottle. What started out as a truly indie film – a passion project at best – has grown into the major documentary that it is. I am extremely grateful to be working alongside Red Bull Studios, which has proven its commitment to director-driven stories and has been instrumental in bringing my vision to life,”  Robideaux said.

Philipp Manderla, Global Head of Feature Films at Red Bull Studios, added: “Having worked with Brennan on his very first feature length film, I cannot say enough about his mastery of the subject. The incredibly high level of access and the intimate relationship he was able to forge with the best pole-vaulter to ever live – over the course of five years and starting long before he was an Olympic champion, makes this film a truly unique and captivating coming of age story that goes far beyond your average sport documentary. This and the obvious undeniable international appeal are what drew us to the project from the beginning, and we are very happy we could be instrumental in bringing Brennan’s vision to life.”