Taking a photo doesn’t just entail clicking a button on a camera; it also requires having the foresight to capture and create an image with a technically and visually pleasing aesthetic that it resonates with viewers of all backgrounds for generations. The career of photographer Co Rentmeester, the man who envisioned and took the iconic image of Michael Jordan jumping in a ballet pose that has been used by Nike for the past four decades, is chronicled in the new biographical documentary short, ‘Jumpman.’
The film was written, directed and produced by the photographer’s son-in-law, Tom Dey. The movie was shot by cinematographer Meena Singh and edited by Federico Conforti.
‘Jumpman’ recounts Rentmeester’s fateful 1984 photo shoot with Jordan, which took place on a hillside on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. Since the photographer still has all the alternate takes with the six-time NBA champion, as well as thte test images he shot with an assistant playing the role of the basketball star, the documentary is able to demonstrate the aesthetic and technical reasons behind Rentmeester’s history-making request to Jordan.
The photographer asked the former Chicago Bulls star to do a ballet leap, going straight up into the air with his legs split, rather than a conventional basketball jump that creates momentum toward the hoop. Rentmeester’s unusual request resulted in a signature image for a man who would go on to become the most famous athlete on the planet in the 1990s.
Soon after that shoot, Jordan began his NBA journey as a player and also as a spokesperson for Nike. As the film shows, making use of original documents from back then, Rentmeester received a request from Nike for two slides from that hillside shoot, to use for presentations only, not reproduction. Nike paid Rentmeester $150 for sending the images out on loan.
Then, about a month later, Rentmeester traveled to Chicago. While there, he was stunned to see an image of Jordan on a billboard, replicating the ballet jump, except in red-and-black Nike gear.
Rentmeester protested to Nike. They responded by offering him $15,000 to use the image for two years, plus the promise to employ him on future advertising shoots. He took the deal, as he was working as a freelancer, had young children and was not positioned for a long legal battle with a large corporation. However, he promised work never materialized.
Rentmeester eventually headed to court in 2014, when he found a lawyer who took on the case pro bono. But a district court ruled against him, stating that a pose only received thin protection, and that small differences such as the turn of Jordan’s hand or the angle of his foot were enough to make Nike’s image distinct from the original.
Rentmeester sued Nike in 2018 in a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The courts ultimately sided with Nike.
‘Jumpman’ is set to have its World Premiere in the Shorts section at the Tribeca Festival in New York City this Friday, June 7 at 5:30pm ET. In honor of the movie’s premiere, Dey generously took the time yesterday to talk about penning, helming and producing the project during an exclusive interview over Zoom. Watch the video interview above, and find more information on the film’s page on the Tribeca Festival‘s official website.
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