‘Air’ Screenwriter Alex Convery on the Stress of Awaiting Michael Jordan’s Blessing and How Viola Davis Became the Protagonist

Before Air could get the greenlight, director Ben Affleck needed one last seal of approval. With months of development already complete, the director flew out to meet with Michael Jordan, seeking his blessing for the film, which explores the NBA stars landmark 1984 sponsorship deal with Nike and the origin of the Air Jordan line.

For screenwriter Alex Convery, this was the most stressful 24 hours of his career.

Either this was going to get made and it would be my first produced movie, or its all going to fall apart. Back to square one, Convery recalls in a conversation with Variety. To really do this responsibly, you need Michael to say yes. Ben said it in the first meeting, We will not do the movie if Michael doesnt want to do it.

Dj vu. Waiting for a call that could change his life, Convery found himself in a situation that he had practically written into his own screenplay. Air culminates with a Hail Mary meeting between the Jordan family and Nike executives, led by scrappy Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon), who takes the wheel during the pitch by looking the then-incoming rookie Jordan in the eyes and expounding about his generational talent, predicting a future of how it will come to elevate the sport itself.

Vaccaros soliloquized idealism fades over the following days, waiting by the phone to learn if Jordan bought his argument.

Looking back, so much of what Sonny is saying is exactly how I was feeling as a stuck screenwriter, Convery laughs. Him saying, I have a feeling! I know this can be something! Im the only one who could probably see it, but I do laugh. It is way too obvious.

To get Jordan to visit Nike headquarters, Vacarro goes behind a bunch of executives warning him to steer clear of the rising star, whose reputation is seen as too outsized for the Nike basketball divisions slim budget. Like his protagonist, Convery reveals that he went rogue in writing the screenplay for Air, chipping away at it between paid writing gigs. Even once he began sharing a finished draft, producers warned him that the project was unlikely to be approved by the necessary parties.

I didnt tell my agent or managers I was doing it because I knew they would say Dont write it. Smartly! Convery says. Dont spec something you dont control the rights to.

Convery had already learned this lesson the hard way. After penning a script about the rise of Marvel Comics and its rivalrous leaders Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the screenwriter says his heart was put in a blender when the project couldnt find a way off the ground.

Nonetheless, Convery couldnt help himself. The writer grew up in the suburbs of Chicago during the 90s, witnessing up close the unmatched fervor for Jordan and his six-championship franchise dynasty. Reliving the Bulls glory days with the hit ESPN doc The Last Dance in 2020, Convery found his creativity activated by an anecdote in the series that detailed Nikes unlikely deal with Jordan.

Alex Convery Courtesy My version of write what you know is What are you most passionate about? Convery says. I just saw the movie, which so rarely happens. I never have good ideas. But it was just all there I didnt want to write it, but I had to because no one else knows theres something here.

Convery understood early on that Jordan couldnt be an explicit character in the screenplay. The NBA star is a spectral presence in Air, sometimes comically so; the 21-year-old rookie can be seen walking into business meetings, but always facing away from the camera or with his head just out of frame. Jordan speaks only once in the film and its one word on the other end of a phone call. In previous interviews, Convery has compared Jordans narrative function to the sharks in Jaws a looming force of nature that goes unseen.

The less you show of him, the more powerful the idea of him is, Convery says. The original spec detailed a climactic cut to Jordans face during Vaccaros speech to him, but the idea was promptly scrapped. To Bens credit, from the first time we sat down, he was like, You have to pick one or the other. The minute the headline comes out of which actor is going to be playing Michael Jordan, that will be the only story of the movie.

Instead, Air finds its conduit for the Jordan family in Viola Davis, who portrays the stars mother, Deloris a woman carefully navigating an onslaught of businessmen, judging which parties will actually pay for the value they see in her son.

In the films climax, Deloris calls Vaccaro to agree to his deal, provided that Jordan receives a fraction of the revenue for all Nike products featuring his name and image. Vaccaro deflates at first. Its not even that he disagrees with the principle; its that sponsorship deals simply have not worked like that before.

Knowing the Jordan family gets their due at the end, I just always felt that would shine through more than the idea of white executives at Nike. Its the Jordan family that has the final victory, Convery says. The way Ben puts it is Dolores suddenly becomes the protagonist. The guy you thought you were rooting for the entire movie suddenly becomes the guy youre rooting against.

For Convery, there are mixed emotions to his first produced screenplay coming to fruition as the Writers Guild of America prepares for a potential strike, which the screenwriter calls long overdue. The ultimate triumph of Air is watching an athlete receive rightful compensation for a product with his name on it. As negotiations continue between the WGA and major studios, Converys sentiment is that writers are only seeking the same.

The business has been changing under our feet for a long time. The way writers are compensated is not reflected in that change, Convery says. There are writers that are going to be affected by this more and less than others. Thats the painful part of going into any battle not everyone is going to be affected equally. But all of these places are profit-driven; if they could cut us out, they would. Its the power of the guild that weve gotten as far as we are now.

As Dolores looked out for her son while negotiating with Nike, Convery sees this labor rally among WGA members as a necessary, deserved investment in the future.

William Goldman didnt have health care! Its crazy! Paddy Chayefsky didnt have health care. I wouldnt either if people before me, who didnt know me and probably never will, didnt go on strike, Convery says. Here we are again and were ready.

Air is in theaters now.