On August 29, 2021, a nationally televised high school football game between top-ranked IMG Academy and unknown Bishop Sycamore High School ended with multiple injuries on the field and a 58-0 blowout win for IMG Academy. The fiasco ignited a media circus as fans and audiences questioned the legitimacy of the Bishop Sycamore program and its head coach, Roy Johnson. Revealing one of the most intriguing sagas in the world of high school sports in years, BS HIGH explores the lucrative and cut-throat world of football prep programs, where careers and reputations can be made, and the dreams and well-being of young athletes hang in the balance.
With unparalleled access to Johnson, BS HIGH tracks the origins of a fabricated high school that grew from the determined imagination of a self-described “honest liar,” a man with an inimitable storytelling style but with a lack of academic credentials and seemingly no football coaching experience. At turns charmingly avuncular and menacingly unrepentant, Johnson’s pursuit of the spotlight stands in contrast to the stories of the many lives he impacted, as he dashed the hopes of his teenage wards, left their reputations in ruins, and swindled their families. BS HIGH shines a light on the intense competition for football glory, the lack of accountability for wide scale fraud, and the devastation that one man’s pathology can leave in its wake.
HBO Original documentary film BS HIGH, directed by Academy Award(R)-winning filmmakers Travon Free (HBO’s “38 at the Garden,” “Two Distant Strangers”) and Martin Desmond Roe (“Two Distant Strangers”), debuts Wednesday, August 23 (9:00-10:40 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max, the documentary had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
