James gay rees

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“The award is a great recognition for that. Then you apply really conservative estimates to your film, say half of what these other titles did.

Once you have those kinds of figures, then you can go to sales agents and estimate what minimum guarantee costs you could charge, and how much business you would have to do to recoup the money invested.

You have to start by looking at a bunch of similar titles, and you see how much money they made in each territory. So I suggested we take it to Cannes, pitch the idea there and get a really good sales agent. You forget the agony you go through and the moments of crisis and humiliation.”

The documentary series hasn’t come without its critics, but for Gay-Rees, the creative process of bringing a sports documentary to life is nothing short of “alchemy.”

“Some people see an episode and question why something wasn’t included – they’ll never understand how many choices you have to make and how abstract the process is in order to funnel thousands of hours of data into a 35-minute episode.

“We’re obviously trying to tell stories which are reflective of what’s going on in the paddock.

It’s really good for the wider team – people work incredibly hard on that show. “You can’t attribute it all to the series but it’s been a big factor in the sport playing up over the last six, seven years.”

The latest series of the show recently won the ‘Outstanding Sports Documentary Series’ category at the 2025 Sports Emmys.

“We were all chuffed to get that Emmy because it was the second Emmy that Drive to Survive won.

It could carry on indefinitely, or this could be the last season. Most people can make a bad film, but making a good film is really difficult. You have to have a movie that will travel, so you need somebody with appeal in foreign territories. It’s partly luck and timing; timing is very important. Passion does tend to win through at the end of the day.

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Engineering a sports documentary is a gruelling process, something very relevant to Drive to Survive.

“It’s brutal putting together the edit and it never really stops.

The audience is massive so it’s a bit of a cultural institution and the biggest show we’ve ever made.”

Reflecting on his journey, Gay-Rees offers a reminder of the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed in sports media.

“I remember reading a stat years ago – something like nine out of 10 film producers only ever make one film because it’s so hard to make one.

“Just getting anything made is a miracle.

But they’re all human beings. This is a bit of a flawed model, though.

How different was the experience of raising money for Amy to most of the other projects you’ve worked on in the past?
Well, we were asked to make this movie by the record company, because I know the guy who runs it; and even though I didn’t know much about the story, I thought there had to be something in that.

I even watch something like Senna and think, ‘That’s a really well put together film’. Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

James Gay Rees

James Gay-Rees is a British film producer. “You just don’t understand what the pressures that these athletes are living with.”

Having won an Oscar, BAFTAs, Emmys and Grammys for his work, Gay-Rees and his team have transformed the sports documentary landscape – spotlighting the untold stories behind athletes’ performances.

“Giving it context and understanding, making those athletes rounded human beings, that’s what people have responded to – the insight into the reality of elite athletes.”

For Gay-Rees, the challenge is getting past the heavy media training of athletes and getting them to show their struggles and the emotional tolls of competition.

“It’s rare people get to experience athletes as they truly are because most modern athletes are so PR-d these days.

That said, we’ve also made films like Palio, which is about the horse race in Siena, a beautiful little film we made which nobody knows about. They underwrote the film, and came to us asking how we could do it?

I mean I’ve just been to Los Angeles to talk to all the new platforms, and Netflix are set to spend ten billion Dollars in the next five years, so that really will blow the studio model out of the water.