EXCLUSIVE: BBC Films, IFB in production on documentary about champion jockey AP McCoy.

Nineteen-time champion jump jockey AP McCoy (aka Tony McCoy) is the subject of a new all-access feature documentary made in association with BBC Films and the Irish Film Board.

Currently filming at locations and racecourses across the UK and Ireland, Being AP (working title) has exclusive access to the Northern Irish jockey, his family and racing teams for the 2014-15 season.

The 40 year-old has notched up more than 4,300 wins, 700 falls, 40 broken bones and a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2010 across a near 25-year racing career.

The film is being made by Moneyglass Films, in partnership with Partizan Films and Roads Entertainment, and in association with BBC Films with support from The Irish Film Board, Northern Ireland Screen and the British Horse Racing Authority/Great British Racing.

Directed by multiple-BAFTA winner and Emmy nominee Anthony Wonke (Children on The Front Line, Crackhouse USA), the film is produced by Nick Ryle (Turtle Boy), John Woollcombe (Radiohead: In Rainbows) and Alan Maher (Dreams Of A Life). 

Executive producers are Simon Ford, Joe Oppenheimer and Christine Langan, Keith Potter and Andrew Reid.

Director Wonke said: “When producer Nick Ryle called me and said ‘They call him simply Champ in the racing world - 19 times champion AP McCoy has never lost a season and this could be his last - do you want to make a film about him?’  I was instantly hooked.”

BBC Films’ Oppenheimer said: “Anthony Wonke is one of the most exciting documentary directors around and we’re thrilled to be working with him again. We know he and the team will deliver a unique insight into the remarkable figure of AP McCoy and the colourful world of horse racing.”

Nick Ryle, producer from Moneyglass Films, added: “The chance to work with a true sporting legend while he is still performing at his peak is a rare privilege. Combine that with the rich and dramatic tapestry that racing provides and the potential is there for a stunning documentary that will mix the intimate with the epic.”

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