Inside ESPN’s ‘Berlusconi: Condemned to Win’: Producer Paul Martin Brings Berlusconi’s Milan Story to Life

Paul Martin on producing Berlusconi: Condemned to Win

When discussing his approach to this project, Paul Martin describes the desire to explore Silvio Berlusconi's impact on AC Milan, as the former club owner was seen as very pivotal to the Milan faithful.

Martin was a fan of legendary AC Milan players who were pivotal when Berlusconi was the club owner, which started in the late 80s.

Paul Martin: "As a kid growing up, I was fascinated by those AC Milan teams. You know the Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard era. Baresi and Maldini were two of my favorite players of all time. We started this film a long time ago; the idea for it we had a long time ago. Wanting to make something about that was really grounded in that era where Milan were undoubtedly the biggest and best team in the world, and Berlusconi's role in that. We were just fascinated by all those kinds of strands of some of the greatest football and footballers that you’ll ever see together with one of the most controversial, charismatic team owners who obviously segwayed into politics and all that stuff. So it was an irresistible combination."

Martin mentions how AC Milan was very helpful in the process of making this documentary and how working on the project led to interviews with important people who were part of the club, like Adriano Galliani and Carlo Ancelotti.

Both Adriano Galliani and Carlo Ancelotti featured in the Berlusconi documentary.

Martin also reveals that his team was close, on a couple of occasions, to getting an interview with Silvio Berlusconi himself, but unfortunate circumstances led to it not happening.

Paul Martin: "There’s a lot of conversation with AC Milan as an organization. They were super receptive and super helpful throughout the process. Berlusconi, at the time we started to make it, was not involved with Milan anymore, so that became another conversation, and I think we did a pretty good job. We didn't get Silvio [Berlusconi], we didn't get to manage Silvio an interview. His health wasn't particularly great. There was a couple of times I thought we were gonna get him, and there were definitely conversations going on, and I think ultimately the timing wasn’t quite right with his health and other stuff. We got the likes of Galliani, he’s number two, and we got everyone to kind of speak, and it was great. We got Carlo Ancelotti. Obviously, he was the coach of Real Madrid at that point. To do these things properly are always a challenge. I think we were really happy with how we managed to navigate it."

The documentary showcases how powerful and popular Silvio Berlusconi became when he took over AC Milan with the use of the media. This led to Berlusconi becoming the Prime Minister of Italy for the first time in 1994.

Berlusconi's first term lasted less than eight months. Berlusconi became Prime Minister of Italy in two other terms: 2001–2006 and 2008-2011.

When asked how Berlusconi would do in the modern era with social media and other tools, Paul Martin believes that the former Prime Minister of Italy would flourish in this era.

Martin details Berlusconi's charismatic nature as a key way for him to flourish, using modern technology, whether to push his political views or grow AC Milan as the biggest club in the world.

Paul Martin: "Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, I think at the heart of it was an incredibly charismatic man who was able to use every tool to help. I think he would have been more popular in this era. The utilization of social media and AI, and all that kind of stuff. I think what became clear, kind of doing this, was how ahead of his time he was in terms of how he approached media, and how he approached the use of media and the power of sound bites and the power of all that stuff. So yeah, I think he probably would have flourished in this current era."

Berlusconi's ownership of AC Milan helped him to get involved in politics, which was seen as very surprising at the time.

Paul Martin expressed that it is possible that another football club owner could choose to follow a similar path, as many different owners have many reasons for investing in football nowadays.

Paul Martin: "The ownership of soccer attracts that kind of class, and it's becoming more and more the privilege of kind of billionaires to take charge of football clubs. And in some ways Berlusconi [was] certainly the first of those owners that realized that he could leverage the success of AC Milan into kind of politics and into his other businesses. I think people, you know, I think people come into soccer for all sorts of different reasons. So I wouldn't, I don't think that it's beyond the realms of possibility in any country, you know."

Martin reveals that the goal for this project was to showcase how good Italian football was during the 90s, which is referred to as the golden era of the Italian league.

It quickly turned into diving into how Berlusconi became such a dominant figure in Italian football, which eventually led to him becoming a very powerful man in Italy and among the most powerful men in the world.

When asked what he hopes viewers gain from watching Berlusconi:Condemned to Win, Martin describes how the documentary showcases the football and how a man became such an important figure.

Paul Martin: "I hope they have an appreciation for [football in the 90s]. When we were making it, it was like how good the football was. When Milan were at their peak, some of the best players the world's ever seen. Certainly one of the best club sides, you know, the world's ever seen, and I think it's our appreciation of how good the football was. How they feel about Berlusconi is, I think it's hard to look beyond the kind of politics. And like I say, you will, you know, you're either a fan of his politics or you weren't a fan of his politics and I don't think I don't think our series will necessarily change that, but I think you will see some someone who is incredibly effective at using every tool in his arsenal to become, you know, such a dominant figure in kind of, you know, Italian and European politic and world politics."

ESPN's latest 30 for 30, 'Berlusconi: Condemned to Win', is available to watch now on the new ESPN app and on the ESPN watch website. Click under the Films & Shows tab and then click the 30 for 30 button to get access to this and many other documentaries.

ESPN: "Explore how Silvio Berlusconi rose from media mogul and AC Milan owner to become one of Italy's most powerful - and polarizing - political figures."