Publications
Partners
Cape Town – Kobe Bryant was charting a new career in the entertainment industry.
In 2013 the basketball played launched a production company that grew into Granity Studios.
The studio produced the animated short Dear Basketball for which he won an Academy Award for in 2018.
According to Variety, the production company has been developing sports-themed content which includes live-action and animated movies, TV series, books and podcasts.
The company aims to create stories that entertain, educate and inspire with award-winning writers, producers and illustrators to stimulate the imagination of young athletes, while fostering emotional and mental development to help them reach their full potential, reads a description on the website.
In a post-screening Q&A of his short film at the Tribeca film festival in 2017, Kobe reflected on the importance of telling stories to inspire future generations.
"The best way to inspire the next generation of athletes is through stories. You can sit here and say things, say 'You need to be devoted and work hard', but if you do it through stories, then it tends to sink in more," reports Vanity Fair.
At the time of his death, Kobe was working on a children's book with author Paulo Coelho.
The Brazilian author wrote on Twitter that he deleted the draft because the book has lost its reason.
You were more than a great player, dear Kobe Bryant. I learned a lot by interacting with you. Will delete the draft right now, this book has lost its reason pic.twitter.com/pZWyT8xObw
— Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) January 26, 2020
READ MORE: Watch Kobe Bryant's Oscar-winning short film
Compiled by Leandra Engelbrecht (Sources: Variety, Vanity Fair, Twitter, Granity Studios)
