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‘Air’ Screenwriter Alex Convery on the Stress of Awaiting Michael Jordan’s Blessing and How Viola Davis Became the Protagonist

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variety.com

J. Kim Murphy Before “Air” could get the greenlight, director Ben Affleck needed one last seal of approval. With months of development already complete, the director flew out to meet with Michael Jordan, seeking his blessing for the film, which explores the NBA star’s landmark 1984 sponsorship deal with Nike and the origin of the Air Jordan line.

For screenwriter Alex Convery, this was the most stressful 24 hours of his career. “Either this was going to get made and it would be my first produced movie, or it’s all going to fall apart.

Back to square one,” Convery recalls in a conversation with Variety. “To really do this responsibly, you need Michael to say yes.

Ben said it in the first meeting, ‘We will not do the movie if Michael doesn’t want to do it.’” Déjà vu. Waiting for a call that could change his life, Convery found himself in a situation that he had practically written into his own screenplay. “Air” culminates with a Hail Mary meeting between the Jordan family and Nike executives, led by scrappy Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), who takes the wheel during the pitch by looking the then-incoming rookie Jordan in the eyes and expounding about his generational talent, predicting a future of how it will come to elevate the sport itself.

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