Race Tapes

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Race Tapes
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Race Tapes | Sports Docuseries

Race Tapes is a long-form sports docuseries produced by Boombox that set the storytelling bar in mountain biking. Inspired by the narrative depth and character-driven structure of Drive to Survive, the series focused on episodic storytelling, editorial craft, and post-production excellence. Oh Boombox led the full post-production process, shaping raw competition footage into a cinematic sports docudrama that elevated athletes, rivalries, and stakes beyond race results. Oh, and we had puppets.
client
Red Bull
location
Europe & North America
days of production
Many
# of Puppets
4
MISSION

Breaking the Netflix Sports Doc Formula

Don’t get us wrong, we’re all about a well-told sports story. But let’s face it, many of today’s series feel like they were spat out by ChatGPT. Maybe it’s time to pump the brakes, or, better yet, throw in some puppets? So, we did.

For Race Tapes, our good friends at Red Bull Media House wanted to spotlight the grit and glory of UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill and Cross Country racing—but without the tired tropes and clichés. Challenge accepted. We dialled up:

• Long-form documentary editing
• Character & arc development
• Editorial pacing and tension building
• Music, graphics, and finishing
• Making sure episode three is where people realize they’re locked in

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186

Total SE2 Episode Mins

2

"Naked" Puppet Scenes

Unscripted Sports Stories, Built Different

No perfectly polished narratives. No manufactured drama. Red Bull asked us to do the opposite: deliver a raw, unscripted sports documentary that leaned into authenticity and humor.

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We started by dissecting the modern Netflix-style sports documentary playbook. The familiar tropes. The slow-motion anguish. The overly precious voiceover moments. Then we made some editorial decisions. Which conventions still worked for an action sports docuseries. Which ones felt tired. Which ones needed to be thrown straight out the window?

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The puppets? That began as a throwaway idea during a “no bad ideas” brainstorming session. It stuck because it worked. A self-aware storytelling device that cut tension, undercut seriousness, and reinforced what this project actually was: a character-driven sports documentary that didn’t take itself too seriously, but took the craft very seriously.

Authentic. Unfiltered. A little ridiculous by design.

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Fun facts

We offset 6,970 of Carbon generated during production of the series
During production we ate 7 consecutive lunches at "Pizzaville" Loudenville
Our puppet's voice is Australian. No real reason why. We just liked the accent

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