BAFTA-winning Producer and Director, Grant Best, joins Footballco to Spearhead Push into long-form premium Video

Footballco have recruited BATFA and Emmy-winning producer and director, Grant Best, to lead the growth of the company’s premium long-form video output and talent-led shows across the company’s global brands.

In recent years, Footballco has experienced significant growth through the acquisition of new football media brands and the development of its own brands with a focus on video. Across its platforms, Footballco video content is viewed more than one billion times each month.

This growth has included the creation of fan-focused brands, such as Front Three and Fanzone in the UK, as well as similar IP in international markets, including Italy (1vs1) and the Middle East (Yalla GOAL).

At Footballco, Best will focus on developing new premium long-form video projects and talent-led productions as executive producer and report to Footballco’s EVP of content and operations, James Lamon.

Best has received multiple awards, including a BAFTA for his work on Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum & Dad (BBC1) and a Sports Emmy for his work on ESPN/Disney/ABC’s World Cup coverage.

His other credits include: the drama Floodlights (BBC 1), Ronaldo Nazário’s World Cup story: O Fenômeno (DAZN/Globo/BBC), Sylvester Stallone’s One Night (DAZN), and Eva Longoria’s La Guerra Civil, which premiered at Sundance.

James Lamon, EVP of content and operations at Footballco, said: “As we’ve seen with the success of projects like Drive to Survive and Welcome to Wrexham, sports fans old and new are being drawn to long-form sports storytelling like never before. The best of these projects grow the fandom itself by introducing new audiences to sport.

“With over 30 years of global broadcasting and content creation experience across all media, Grant’s expertise will be invaluable in growing Footballco’s premium video output across our brands and taking our storytelling to another level.”

Best said: “Footballco excels when it comes to engaging fans across football editorial, entertainment and storytelling. I’m eager to work with the team to take this to the next level on video and grip fans with the stories that football serves so well.”