Beyond the Baseline Podcast: Serena documentary director Ryan White

On this week's episode, Sports Illustrated executive editor and host Jon Wertheim talks with Ryan White, director of the documentary Serena on Serena Williams.

On this week's episode of the SI Tennis Beyond the Baseline Podcast, Sports Illustrated executive editor and host Jon Wertheim talks with Ryan White. 

White is the director of the new documentary Serena​, which is described as an "intimate portrait" of 21-time Grand Slam champion and sports icon Serena Williams. Ahead of the premiere of the documentary on EPIX on Wednesday, June 22 at 8 p.m. ET, White joins the podcast to discuss his process for producing the film, which goes inside Serena's world, including day-in-the-life interactions with family and friends and her quest to achieve four Grand Slams in a row during the 2015 season. White—who had not met Serena prior to wanting to do the film—talks about where the idea came from, how he was able to get Serena to give him such 24/7, intimate access and how the film was produced. He also recalls all of the time spent with Serena to discuss his opinion of her relationship with tennis, what he learned about Serena and what he learned about the sport of tennis.

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Also on the podcast, White talks about the challenges of shooting Serena, what it was like to spend all of this time for her and what's next for him in his own career. 

Listen below and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on Stitcher.

Check back on SI.com next week for another episode of Beyond the Baseline.