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The Sun has produced a unique mini-documentary of Carl Froch, the British super middleweight fighter, ahead of his unifying title fight against Mikkel Kessler.
‘Frochy’, a seven-minute behind the scenes portrait of the boxer, was devised by the Sun sport team and sold to Sky as a novel way of promoting the May 25 fight at the O2.
The combined print and digital sponsorship deal included in-paper promotion of the Sky box office hotline with cross references to the documentary on the Sun's digital platforms.
The film, which Mike Dunn, the Sun sports editor commissioned from independent producer Archer's Mark, is a sensitive portrait of the boxer talking about his hopes, values and ambitions.
Froch, the current IBF super-middleweight champion began boxing at the age of nine and later joined the Phoenix ABC club in Nottingham. He was voted World Boxing News fighter of the year in 2012.
In the film Froch, 35, speaks touchingly about his family: "Stick me in the Roman days with eight women and a gold-plated mansion and you’d think to yourself ‘I’ve arrived’, but it’s not about that. Kids are excited by material things because they don't know what the world's about. It's about one woman who loves you, about your mum, two brothers.
"You can take away all my material things. You can put me in a mid-terrace house with Rachel and my little boy and I'll be happy. That makes you richer than riches. It's not about material things, it's about being content with what you've got."
This is the second recent film deal secured by the Sun editorial team. A previous mini-documentary, sponsored by the British Racing Authority, featured top young jockey Aidan Coleman, 24, giving a personal insight into the thrill and danger of riding at the Cheltenham Festival.
Richard Caseby, the Sun managing editor, said: "There is a great appetite for intimate behind the scenes films of sportsmen and women performing at the highest level.
"The Carl Froch film is a touching portrait of a sensitive man who faces the fight of his life. Frochy is only seven-minutes long but it's way better than Rocky because it's a gritty, true story of a sportsman handling huge pressure.
"We devise and commission the films and then go out and sell them. Gone are the days of playing with a handycam - these films are broadcast quality and have the highest production values. We've a clear strategy that print and multi-media should complement each other rather than compete.
"The Sun is carving a new digital business which satisfies the joint interests of readers and commercial partners. It simply works for everyone."
The Sun is also working with Channel Flip, Youtube's top European partner, on creating unique programming to complement its football coverage.
Links to both documentaries below:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/video/sun-exclusive/4930594/SUNSPORT-PRESENTS-Carl-Froch-exclusive-documentary.html
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/4833750/Aidan-Coleman-exclusive-Cheltenham-video.html