We Could Be King

Art — Produced by Michael O’Reilly

In 2013, after 99 years, Germantown High School closed its doors forever. Budget cuts had forced a merger between Germantown and Martin Luther King High, who until then had remained long time rivals – both in academics and athletics. The football teams were merged as well, and players who had opposed each other on the field, had to huddle together and figure out how they were going to work together to win ball games. An astute director, Judd Ehrlich and his team of filmmakers saw the potential for a documentary, and with the support of a foundation from a major chain of sporting goods stores, he and his team actually moved to Germantown for the 4 months of the MLK Cougars football season to film and edit WE COULD BE KING. What they produced is remarkable, no less for the intimate access granted to the camera crew, but also remarkable for the many firsts documented by the film. Without giving the ending away, this film documents the largest class of student athletes in all of Philadelphia that received scholarships to play football for college in 2013. WE COULD BE KING is done with a great economy, telling the stories of a number of individuals who are also interviewed in this segment, that proves the old adage that you can often do more with less.