It was Bill Shankley who, when asked how important football was, famously replied that it was not a matter of life and death, it was much more important than that. For many people sport is literally the most important thing in their life, a constant source of lessons, challenges, triumphs and disappointments. The calendar is dominated by the matches, tournaments or competitions of their favourite sport, whether it be Wimbledon, Formula One, the FA Cup, curling, or the Badminton horse trials. These events assume a huge importance in their lives.

Game Theory shows us that it is no accident that kicking a ball around a field and scoring a goal can so very important for a human being. There is something uniquely human about playing a game, abiding by the rules, competing with your fellow creatures, winning and losing, knowing the parameters that govern the sport and that define the difference between success and failure. We are all sportsmen and women and we are all passionate about the games we play. Because ultimately the game we are playing is life.

The most important documentary films about sports realise that sport is not just one of attaining a certain level of skill, or achieving certain results, but is also about passion, self belief, pain and sometimes brutal warfare, of the forging of individuals and of nations on the field of play. A documentary like "When we were Kings" about Mohammed Ali and the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" is much more than a story about a specific sporting event. It is a powerful account of a magnificent human being and his will to succeed, his determination to be not just a fighter but a thinker, and about a struggle of almost cosmic proportions played out on a televised stage in the dark heart of an African state built on torture and terror. It is a film which shows how sport and sportsmen and women can speak to all of us.

The Company of Adventurers has strong sporting connections and some of the individuals working with it are distinguished sports men and women in their own right at an amateur or professional level. The Company has contacts at sporting bodies including the Lawn Tennis Association and the Rugby League Association and intends to use these connections to make original and important films about sporting subject matter.