New queer women’s basketball rom-com Courtside to star WNBA players
Syd Colson, Theresa Plaisance, and Gabby Williams to star in Courtside. (Steph Chambers/Ezra Shaw/Getty)
With queer sports romances all the rage, basketball is the next frontier! Courtside is a modern sports romantic comedy set in the world of professional women’s basketball.
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) stars Syd Colson, Theresa Plaisance, and Gabby Williams are attached to the project.
The film is set in the world of the WNBA, where there are many out players and lesbian couples. The movie will tell the story of “an injury-plagued women’s hoops superstar whose championship ambitions are upended when she falls for her teammate.”
Sports stars in close proximity, heated games and burning competitiveness – Courtside promises an adrenaline-fuelled rom-com.
The film arrives during hyped for the Cleat Cute, a sapphic soccer romance in development for TV. A new wave of LGBTQ+ sports romances is following the global success of Heated Rivalry. Though there have been many beloved queer shows, such as A League of Their Own.
Courtside is written by Abbott Elementary’s Brittani Nichols and directed by Suicide Kale’s Carly Usdin.
‘I’m elated to see a new generation of women’s sports films’
“It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this kind of excitement to surround women’s basketball, and I’m excited to blend my love of sports, lesbian tension, and comedy into one project,” Nichols told Deadline.
Colson, a lesbian player for Indiana Fever, also shared she’s never “said yes to an opportunity faster”.
“I respect Carly and Brittani’s sense of humour so much and being involved with this in any capacity sounded amazing!
“I’m elated to see a new generation of women’s sports films. I can already feel how transformative this movie will be in terms of representation on screen for minorities, queer people, and women’s basketball players and fans alike.”
Colson will be joined by fellow players Plaisance and Williams. Plaisance last played for the Seattle Storm team.
Colson and Plaisance are off-court besties who starred in The Syd + TP Show together. The buddy comedy series follows Syd and TP on their quest to become the most famous basketball players on earth. Furthermore, the show saw them engage in a mix of stunts, interviews, hijinks, and a complete lack of shame.
Williams, of the Golden State Valkyries, is said to be in a relationship with French basketball player Marine Johannès of the New York Liberty.
“This is exactly the kind of story we want to be telling at Run-A-Muck,” Run-A-Muck co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Ilene Chaiken noted.
“Women’s sports are driving culture in a way that feels undeniable, and there’s a real appetite for character-driven queer stories that reflect that world authentically.”
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