A love letter to their hometown, basketball and big dreams, Something’s Cooking In The Capital follows four Canberrans on their journey to the NBA. Spearheaded by a team of Canberra filmmakers, the documentary sparks hope of a professional pathway for local basketballers.

It was created as part of the NBA Films for Fans initiative, an outreach program that invited filmmakers from 11 countries to develop a short documentary on their cultural perspective of basketball. Of the 24 films, seven were chosen to premiere at the NBA All-Star 2023 event in Salt Lake City, Utah back in February – one of which was Something’s Cooking In The Capital.

“Sometimes there are certain stories where you feel like you’re born to make them. Lachlan and I being Canberrans, being through the basketball pathway, we were prepared to just do anything to make this happen,” says the film’s producer, Dylan Simpson.

Wanting to challenge the perception that Canberra is the whipping boy of the rest of the country, the filmmakers focused on the pathway of ACT players making it into the NBA and those who are on the journey.

“There’s this whole new wave of players coming through that are doing incredible things on the world stage … and I felt people weren’t necessarily talking about it as much as they should have been,” says director, Lachlan Ross.

The filmmakers say that if there was one message they want the audience to take from the film it is that anything is possible. Simpson says nobody embodies that more than Chima Moneke, with whom he grew up playing in the same teams.

“I still remember us being 15, 16 years old and him singing to the rafters and telling everybody that he is going to make the NBA. I remember laughing at him, rolling my eyes; there is almost this tall poppy syndrome in Australia, to dream too big almost seems too silly. He’s a guy that dreamt big and saw it through,” says Simpson.

The producer says seeing Moneke at the NBA facility in Sacramento was a reminder to continue to dream big. In true Canberra fashion, the filmmakers also had connections to the other players featured in the film. They knew Bul Kuol, who is now playing for the Cairns Taipans in the NBL through the Canberra Gunners team. For the two young up-and-coming players, Alex Toohey’s older brother plays in the Gunners, while Bowyn Beatty’s mum is one of the UC Capitals’ players.

One of their favourite parts of the story is the many different ways the players came to Canberra: Moneke’s parents were diplomats and he spent a large chunk of his youth here; Kuol came to the Territory as a Sudanese refugee as a child; Bowyn came from Adelaide when his mum signed on to the Capitals; while Toohey was born here. Through the film, they get to showcase the enormous talent coming from this small multicultural city.

“Being in NBA All-Star Weekend, which is a place as a kid you see on TV, as an adult you see on TV and you dream of being there as a fan and then to actually get to be there to show a film showing off Canberra was a very surreal moment for us,” says Ross.

Although he now lives in Canada making films for the NBA, Ross is a Canberra boy at heart. He started playing basketball with ACT teams when he was around seven. Studying in Canada, Ross played college basketball at Camosun College in Victoria, Canada before returning to Canberra. As an aspiring sports journalist, he started working for sports media start-ups before moving on to Basketball ACT. Then in 2018, he launched his own video production company, LGR Productions.

Later that year, when the NBA Academy Australia was still quite new, Ross says he pestered the manager for six months about how he thought they needed video content. After being connected to the right people, Ross was making short one-to-two-minute flicks for the association, then he was flying around the world to make long-form documentaries with the NBA.

An up-and-coming producer in the industry, Simpson was born and raised in Canberra. Though he has now moved to Sydney, he spent his formative years playing the local basketball circuit and, according to Ross, was somewhat of a prodigy. Simpson also played college basketball; however, he was bound for the United States on an NCAA scholarship to Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. After two years of college ball, Simpson returned home and continued playing for the Canberra Gunners.

“Then has that career shift which was like ‘alright, got to start to do something which might make you some money now and you can commit to’,” he smiles.

Diving headfirst into ad agency’s sports marketing, Simpson also started producing video content for CBR Brave and the UC Capitals. Soon a love of producing was sparked and Ross, who was working on Capitals’ content as well, suggested they work on a documentary together. The pair knew each other through the basketball community and a three-on-three circuit they played together.  

“I would definitely not call us pro players; we just got in at the right time, got some way cooler opportunities than we probably deserved,” says Ross.

In 2020, they followed the UC Capitals during the team’s Covid pandemic season. Now, nearly three years later, the labour of love is almost ready to be released.

According to Simpson, one of the biggest issues facing Canberra basketballers is court availability due to limited infrastructure. Another is the lack of a pathway; as there is no NBL team for the ACT and no professional team, Simpson says there is no perfect pathway a junior can take.

“The main thing is there is local talent here and there’s local appetite,” says Simpson.

The pair hope that the documentary will draw attention to the talent and need for better facilities and training in Canberra. Though both have left their hometown, a shared love of Canberra and basketball still steer their paths in life.

“My favourite noise in the entire world is hearing the ball go through the net and not hitting the net – a swish is the greatest thing in the world and it’s cheaper than therapy,” smiles Simpson.

“We’re not both based in Canberra still physically, it’s still home. We’re still super passionate about Canberra and promoting it to the world,” says Ross.

Learn more about Canberrans making their mark on the NBA in Something’s Cooking In The Capital; available via nba.com

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