SAN ANTONIO – Scott Duncan, filmmaker and brother of Spurs legend Tim Duncan, sat down with KSAT to discuss his upcoming documentary film about the NBA star.
“The Boy From St. Croix” will have its world premiere on Tuesday at the 32nd annual Austin Film Festival.
It serves as the most intimate look yet at Duncan’s personal life, career and connection to his home of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
The film is told in Tim Duncan’s own words with insight from past coaches, players, and neighbors from St. Croix.
The brothers grew up on the island before Tim moved to Wake Forest University and then to San Antonio. Scott followed his younger brother, working in media production for the NBA and the Spurs.
According to Scott’s production website, he has earned 21 Emmy Awards and 38 nominations across his career in television, advertising and documentary work.
“The Boy From St. Croix” is one of seven world premieres at this year’s festival.
View the full interview in the video player above. Read below for excerpts of the interview that have been edited for clarity and brevity.
KSAT: Where did the idea for this documentary first begin?
SCOTT: I think it began when I was born, and then when Timmy was born, and then when our family was born [laughs].
I think I’m a visual documentarian of everything I do, besides just the family, and it was never like ‘Oh, I’m going to do this for sure,’ but it was like, after Timmy retired and just slowly, I saw him grow more.
That’s kind of when it was like, I think let’s start some conversations about this journey.
You will be the MC of our journey, Timmy. That’s what the main focus was.
KSAT: Do you think this film showcases a different side of Tim that we haven’t seen before?
SCOTT: Press conferences (are) one thing, and I wanted Timmy, in his own words, to tell his story. Fear, failure, success, family — it was like Timmy philosophy topics in a way.
Why is Timmy the way he is? Well, this is where he’s from. This is life in St. Croix. This is life in (the) Virgin Islands.
KSAT: How did you approach this project, knowing that the audience may not be familiar with St. Croix?
SCOTT: I wanted to share the island visuals, what the pace of the island was. I just wanted to share what island life was like, and this is the way Timmy is because of island life.
(It) was a good fit for him in San Antonio when he came here. It’s a small town, small big town, but it’s very humble, and he loved that and the fans.
KSAT: The film is a multimedia piece of sorts. You’re pulling from old home video footage, game footage, newscasts. Can you talk a bit about the many kinds of formats that you were working with?
SCOTT: I wanted the film to be a poem, a bit about Timmy’s life. The opening scene of Timmy in the ocean, swimming into the abyss, I always had that in my mind.
I need to show him in all this beautiful negative space of nothing. There’s no chatter, there’s no noise, but it’s him and his quiet element.
And then, from the verité scenes of just random family moments or random family times to the old stock footage from high school.
I love that style of filmmaking, taking different pieces of a puzzle and using them as the anchor puzzle pieces to the story. I shot with many different formats in the film just to show that variety.
KSAT: How many hours of home video footage did you have to go through, or how was that process?
SCOTT: I don’t know the exact quantity, but the crazy thing in St. Croix or the Virgin Islands with hurricanes, you don’t have a lot that gets saved when there are those big hurricanes.
Some of these videotapes, a coach had up in Florida. Photographs, our sisters just had a few. But then, some things I had hundreds of hours (of).
KSAT: How important was music in approaching this film, from both the licensed songs to the original score that was used?
SCOTT: It (the music) was always up there at the top. I scored maybe a third of the film, and then I got rid of it all, and then I re-scored it.
Tippy from back home in St. Croix, he’s an amazing dub kind of DJ and creative composer. Then I had Live in New York, these two guys (added) more strings, and we worked together for literally months finding the right sound. Even from the trailer, I think I did five, six versions of the trailer music.
KSAT: Do you have plans for other festival screenings, or what does distribution for this film look like as of right now?
SCOTT: We’re talking with many places about distribution.
I want to show the film back home in the Virgin Islands, of course, and share it with everyone there who can’t make it to Austin for the screening, but definitely looking for more festival screening possibilities prior to that.
It’s not a five-part docu-series or something; this is a film.
I think seeing it in a theater setting is a great way to enjoy it.
KSAT: There’s a part in the film where Tim jokes about being somewhat embarrassed about watching this film. Has he seen the documentary yet?
SCOTT: Of course not [laughs]. He trusts me.
He knows my style, he knows other projects and films and things I work on and do, so he knows what to expect.
He knows it’s going to be a great journey for himself to see a lot that maybe he doesn’t remember also.
All of our kids have seen it and love it. It’s a great reminder to what our life has been.
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