Director Matthew Hamachek Talks Patriots Miniseries, Interviewing Bill Belichick

For 20 long years, the New England Patriots wreaked havoc on the NFL. The foundation of that incredible dynasty consisted of three individuals: Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the team's head coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady, all of whom instrumental in six Super Bowl titles and a laundry list of NFL records.

Now, on Apple TV+, a new miniseries is allowing Patriots and NFL fans alike to go deeper into the story of how, from 2001 to 2019, the Patriots were an ostensibly unstoppable force that might never, ever be replicated. It's called The Dynasty: New England Patriots, and director/executive producer Matthew Hamachek was kind enough to join me to talk about the new series.

Hamachek spoke with over 70 former players and executives, including Kraft, Belichick, and Brady, to make this docuseries possible. He and his team combed through thousands of hours of mostly never-before-seen locker-room and meeting footage that is sprinkled over the course of ten episodes.

Hamachek stated that one of the aspects that made such a seemingly insurmountable project a bit easier was that he, himself, didn't grow up a Patriots fan. Going into production, most of knowledge was general:

[....]I didn't really know all that much about the Patriots other than kind of the headlines we would all see throughout the years. And so, I was able to sit across the room from the 70 players, coaches, front office executives, league officials, and rivals that we interviewed, and it really sort of afforded me the ability to listen to them and say, 'I want you guys to tell me your story. I'm not coming in with some preconceived notion about a game that I watched when I was 15-years-old that had some meaning to me. I want you guys to tell your story because you guys were the ones that were in the room when the decisions were being made that led to these incredible success....' - Matthew Hamachek

Hamachek spoke about how he approached interviewing Bill Belichick, who we all know from his press conferences can be an intimidating force, and several points in the docuseries that could elicit emotions from viewers, most notably Patriots fans.

Not only does The Dynasty explore the highest of highs in the form of the Patriots' six Super Bowl titles, its final episodes are also set to explore the dissolution of the dynasty that came when Tom Brady left the Patriots and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady would go on to win a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, giving him seven championship rings, more than any quarterback in league history.

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Take a listen to my interview with Matthew Hamachek below, and catch The Dynasty: New England Patriots on Apple TV+: