A new documentary from Sunn Stream Productions is set to highlight ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen and his vision that built the network into the sports media behemoth it is today.
The documentary, announced Tuesday and estimated to release late next year, will tell Rasmussen’s entrepreneurial journey from ESPN’s earliest days. And to help tell that story, ESPN has (sort of) rehired a former executive that found himself part of extensive layoffs at the company last year.
43-year ESPN veteran and longtime PR executive Mike Soltys has returned to the network in a part-time role and is dawning a new title: ESPN Historian. While the film is being produced independent of ESPN, Soltys will serve as a liaison for the network and earn himself a producer credit on the upcoming documentary.
Soltys knows ESPN, and Rasmussen, about as intimately as anyone possibly could. He was hired as Rasmussen’s first intern in 1980, and didn’t leave the network until his layoff last spring. There’s perhaps no one better suited to the role of ESPN Historian as Soltys.
The longtime ESPN executive reflected on the circumstances surrounding his layoff to Awful Announcing last year saying, “I’m a firm believer that you want to be positive in life and you want to be optimistic. And you’re going to be a happier person if you hang onto that positivity. I look back, I had 43 great years at an amazing place, had wonderful friends, had experiences every year that some people don’t get in a lifetime.” Now, many of those experiences will be shared through this documentary.
Notably, Soltys’ new position won’t just be limited to the film. He will also work on other “historical projects” for ESPN before his role ends next June.
Distribution for the upcoming documentary hasn’t been revealed, that will be up to Sunn Stream. But it’s possible that one day, the film could end up on an ESPN platform. By hiring Soltys to this role, the network is seemingly giving the filmmakers its blessing. Rasmussen is certainly and under-covered figure in the history of sports television, and it will be interesting to see Soltys’ firsthand knowledge come through once the documentary is released.