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Forty Under 40

Forty Under 40: Connor Schell

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Connor Schell woke up at the Sunset Marquis hotel in Hollywood on Feb. 26 and prepared to take on a day unlike any other in ESPN’s 38-year history.

That was the day that ESPN won an Academy Award — its first — for a nearly eight-hour documentary (7 hours, 47 minutes to be exact) that would never have seen the light of day if not for Schell, who came up with the idea, brought on star director Ezra Edelman and convinced ESPN’s brass to have the confidence to take on such a big project.

Schell and his wife arrived at Dolby Theatre at 2 p.m. and waited. The event wasn’t going to start for another 3 1/2 hours, so they took in the scene.

It was the kind of patience Schell displayed during the production of “O.J.: Made in America.” Edelman initially declined the offer to produce and direct the film, which originally was commissioned as a five-hour documentary.

Through it all, Schell kept a level head and a singular focus on putting the pieces in place to make a film worthy of an Oscar.

“That project epitomizes all the things that are great about Connor,” said Aaron Cohen, a writer who has worked with Schell on several projects. “For example, don’t take for granted that he picked the right director to do it. Ezra was the perfect person to do it, but it’s not easy sometimes for people in Connor’s position to make that choice.”

The O.J. Simpson documentary was the last “30 for 30” project with which Schell was intimately involved, as Libby Geist and John Dahl take over the day-to-day running of the franchise.

Since July, Schell has been overseeing ESPN studio shows, trying to figure out how ESPN should produce programming given all the changes taking place in the media industry.

“We have to evolve,” Schell said. “This place has been evolving and moving forward for a really long time. Being part of figuring out that evolution is really interesting and complicated.”

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Schell’s career has been defined by making the right decisions and being a part of a group that went from making mediocre TV movies in 2006 to Academy Award-winning documentaries in 2016.

“We built something brick by brick that allowed for Ezra to come in,” Schell said. “To get to that level of acceptance is a really satisfying journey.”

Oscar night was the culmination of that satisfying journey.

The documentary award was early in the program — the fourth one of the night.

Schell waited until the first commercial break after the award and went to the lobby bar to celebrate with colleagues at the awards. He stayed at the theater until the end and headed over to the Governor’s Ball, which was crawling with Hollywood executives. That was where Schell bumped into Disney boss Bob Iger, who offered his congratulations.

“Bob was someone who really encouraged this film along the way quite a bit,” Schell said.

He then went to the Montage Hotel bar for a celebration with scores of people who had worked on the film but weren’t able to go to the Oscars. That’s where they watched the telecast. He then made an appearance at the Vanity Fair party before calling it a night.

“It was completely surreal and completely thrilling and a ton of fun,” Schell said. “There are people who work in the film business where that is the top of the mountain for what they do. We don’t really live in that world. To be able to peer into it for a weekend is amazing.”

— John Ourand

connor schell

espn | senior vice president and executive producer, original content
Age: 39
Where born: Washington, D.C. … grew up in Kansas City.
Education: Harvard College (AB, concentration in history); Columbia University (MBA, focus on media and entertainment)
Family: Wife, Melissa Crandall; children, Lucy (9), Clara (7), Wilson (4)

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at age 20: Focus on the work and only worry about what you can control.
Profession other than your own you’d most like to attempt: Politics.
Foundation supported: The V Foundation.

Guilty pleasure: Fox Sports 1.
Person in the industry you’d most like to meet: Michael Lewis. He consistently makes me think differently about the world after I read something he has written. (I believe that he has written enough about sports now for me to include him).
I am one of the best I know at … : Procrastinating.
The sports industry needs to do a better job of … : Reaching young people where they are.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I’ve ever done is … : Skydiving.
You’d be surprised to know that I … : Got fired from my first real job. 




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