Nearly one year ago, a shooting occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people. Among the 17 who lost their lives was assistant football coach and school security guard Aaron Feis. E:60 followed the football team during its first season without Coach Feis to see how the game of football helped through this difficult time. This story is part of a new season of originals debuting in Sunday’s E:60 (ESPN, 9 a.m. ET).
Unfortunately for senior producer Martin Khodabakhshian, this is not his first time he’s told this type of story. Khodabakhshian produced “Sunshine,” a story involving victims of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting and “Autumn” about survivors from the Las Vegas shooting. His approach is always the same.
“The first thing I do is explain to them that I’ve never been through what they’ve been through and I want them to be comfortable sharing what they want to share,” said Khodabakhshian, who worked with reporter Jeremy Schaap. “We’re not doing this to be exploitive; we’re trying to put the viewers who haven’t experienced what they’ve experienced in the moment, in the best possible way, without being insensitive to them.”
Khodabakhshian says the biggest challenge when spending time in communities who are experiencing so much pain is trying to separate being a human being from being a journalist.
“Some colleagues and people in this industry keep a line and don’t cross it, but I feel like I get more from my subjects by building a relationship and showing authenticity. I talk with them and their families whether they are being interviewed for the story or not. But when I get close to these people it’s hard emotionally,” Khodabakhshian said.
Khodabakhshian says he feels an added pressure in telling these types of stories.
“They are telling me the worst things that they’ve been through in their life and it’s hard to shut that off and not feel the pressure to deliver something that makes them feel good about their decision to do this story,” said Khodabakhshian, a multiple-Emmy winner. “Not just with me but with E:60 and ESPN. I represent us and I want them to see that I’m not just a ‘call letter,’ I’m a person who feels. And the hardest part is to let those emotions subside during and after the process.”
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— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) February 8, 2019
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