Philadelphia is known for its grit, heart, and underdog spirit, and now a local high school cheer squad is bringing that same energy to the national stage in "Spirit," a brand new docuseries on Xfinity.
Comcast’s Black Experience on Xfinity teamed up with basketball superstar Steph Curry and his multimedia company, Unanimous Media, award-winning The WorkShop Content Studios, and FreshFly to create the show.
The four-part inspiring series follows "G-Dub," a co-ed cheer team from George Washington High School, as they compete at the district, state, and national levels and make history as the first cheer squad from the School District of Philadelphia to make it to the National Cheerleaders Association High School Nationals, the largest cheerleading competition in the world.
“Spirit is a coming-of-age story about a group of young athletes beating the odds and showing how a sport can transform an individual, a team and a school,” Curry and Erick Peyton -- Co-CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Unanimous Media -- said in a news release. “Throughout the series, we follow their journey as we see how competitive cheerleading gives these kids a sense of purpose and possibility. Spirit is the ultimate underdog story, and we’re excited for audiences to see the team do what they do best: prove people wrong.”
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Director Matt Howley -- a Philadelphia native -- refers to the series as the "Rocky of cheerleading."
Howley states, “growing up in Philadelphia, I was raised on heroic stories of the underdog. It’s part of our fabric to identify with the underdog: to always believe that with some ability, hard work, ingenuity, and luck, you can pull off the improbable, if not the impossible. It is an honor to tell the story of how hard these students worked to, in the words of the team itself, ‘prove that there is a positive story coming out of these Philly neighborhoods."
The Scene
"Spirit" will be available starting Thursday, Feb. 27, only on Comcast’s Black Experience.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Stephen Curry and Unanimous Media to illuminate the extraordinary journey of these high school athletes. Their perseverance to pursue their dreams no matter what serves as a powerful reminder of what’s possible with the heart and grit that Philadelphia is known for,” said Loren Hudson, SVP and Chief Diversity Officer, Connectivity and Platforms for Comcast. “When we launched Black Experience on Xfinity, our goal was to share films and docuseries like this one that will inspire and empower the next generation of superstars.”
Black Experience is available across Xfinity’s entertainment devices, including X1, Flex and Xumo Stream Box, as well as on Xumo Play.
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