A year after departing from Meadowlark Media, prolific sports columnist and author Howard Bryant has signed a documentary development deal with All the Smoke Productions.
The partnership is a “multi-project unscripted development deal” between ATS Productions and Bryant’s production company, Hawley Road.
Bryant most recently served as an executive producer on the Sports Emmy-winning Netflix series The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox, as part of Meadowlark. Most known for covering baseball, Bryant also wrote the back page column for ESPN: The Magazine and was a regular panelist on Outside the Lines and The Sports Reporters.
Since paring down his responsibilities at ESPN, he has contributed to Meadowlark Media properties and to Bob Costas’ Back on the Record television show at ESPN earlier this decade.
“This is an incredible opportunity to do meaningful work,” Bryant said in a press release. “All The Smoke has the voice, credibility, and reach to tell the stories that aren’t being told. Brian, Matt, and I have discussed working together for years — now it’s time.”
Bryant left Meadowlark last year as part of a broader series of cutbacks that also saw cofounder John Skipper step down.
All the Smoke Productions, the production arm of the interview podcast launched by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson in 2020, is run by Brian Dailey. In 2024, Dailey left Showtime Sports to run ATS Productions, which is now expanding into unscripted documentaries after previously launching verticals focused on combat sports and baseball.
“All The Smoke is built on authentic storytelling, and we’ve always focused on projects with partners that bring a unique voice and unfiltered perspective,” said Dailey. “We’re now exploring new ways to tell those stories—reimagining how they’re created and where they live, beyond traditional models. We’re excited to partner with Howard because he brings a distinct and innovative vision to the documentary space that lines up perfectly with our ethos and trajectory.”
Should this partnership result in new projects, it would mark a rare entry into the filmmaking space by athlete-hosted content ventures.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.