A documentary on the departure of the Montreal Expos will be released as part of a partnership between the Montreal production company Attraction and Netflix, the streaming platform.
This currently untitled documentary will highlight the different steps that led to the final departure of the Expos in 2004 and their move to Washington where the Nationals won the World Series in 2019.
Associated with the Expos in different roles from their birth in 1969 until their departure, Rodger Brulotte was approached by Attraction to participate in a video which was presented to potential partners to finance the project.
“It’s incredible that they managed to obtain financing and reach an agreement with Netflix,” the baseball analyst told TVA Sports. I have no idea when production will begin, but I have been contacted to participate. There are few people left who have lived the story from 1969 to the present day. Well done for finding funding and gaining recognition for a documentary that will be presented in both languages.”
Interest in playing baseball
Brulotte welcomes the broadcast of a documentary on our Z’Amours. “There will certainly be negative moments with the sale,” he said, “but the most important one is not there. The most important thing is to see what the Expos have allowed with the development of local players like Russell Martin, Éric Gagné and Denis Boucher who have all reached the major leagues. “It won’t change anything about the eventual return of a team to Montreal, but I hope it will encourage more young people to play baseball.”
“A living mourning”
Will the broadcast of this documentary turn the knife in the wound for die-hard Expos fans? “The Expos are a living mourning,” he summarized. We wake up every morning and they are no longer there. It’s like Jean Coutu who sold his pharmacies to the Americans. Every morning, he sees his pharmacies, but they no longer belong to him.
Brulotte is convinced that the documentary will generate significant interest. “There is no doubt that the interest will be there,” he said. For people aged 40 and over, Expos still exist. The continuity takes place in Tampa Bay where the Rays develop young players and subsequently trade them because they can’t pay them. They participate, but they can’t win in the end. They always start over like the Expos did.”
Producer of the documentary with Marie-Christine Pouliot, the president of Attractions Richard Speer is excited by this project. “It is with great pride and enthusiasm that Attraction announces the first project resulting from our partnership with Netflix,” he said in a press release published by Netflix. The Expos were the first MLB team outside of the United States, and despite moving from Montreal, they continue to have passionate fans to this day. This film will tell the story of the team through the stories of those who lived it.”
The production was entrusted to Jean-François Poisson.