Boys in Blue is a docu-series that focuses on a Minneapolis-coached football program at Minneapolis North High School. The series takes a deep look into the lives of the teenagers within this team and also invites viewers into the life of a community who has been greatly impacted by the murder of George Floyd.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director Peter Berg (Lone Survivor), who spent his college years at St. Paul and Minneapolis’s Twin Cities, was “horrified” when he, like the rest of the country, was shocked by the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis police department. Though he says that his experience back then was “just one of happiness and real joy, and it felt extremely diverse and inclusive,” he wanted to return back after all these years to see how this community has changed.
Berg’s mission to document the relationship between the Minneapolis police force and the youth within the football team that they coach tells the story of the community and its law enforcement’s relationship. The docu-series also highlights how these coaches want and try their best to give these talented young athletes better futures through their coaching. Unfortunately, just three days before the shoot wrapped up, the star quarterback, Deshaun Hill, was murdered. “Just one of the most beautiful, gifted young men I’ve ever encountered,” stated Berg. Being shaken by this terrible tragedy, Berg consulted Hill’s family, especially his mother, who told Berg that, “her biggest fear, that her son is going to be killed leaving school, going to the bus stop (…) Well, her son was killed walking to the bus. After that happened, my understanding of how dangerous life is for young men in so many parts of this country hit me much, much harder.”
With the blessing of the community, Berg’s Boys in Blue was completed through a newfound passion for telling stories like Deshaun Hill’s and how dangerous their lives as black men in America are, and also sheds light on the police force, distinguishing between what makes a good cop and a bad one.