Director and producer Taylor Sharp ’16 of Blue Cup Productions on his founding story, following the NBA G League through creative storytelling, and upcoming works

Taylor Sharp ’16 is a director and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. The alumnus co-founded the independent production company Blue Cup Productions with Holland Randolph Gallagher, a writer and director. Taylor spoke with Catalyze at a neighborhood cafe a day after the 2023 New York City Regional Event for alumni and scholars.Hailing from a creative household in Burke County, North Carolina, Taylor recounts his upbringing alongside two older brothers, both Carolina alumni, who immersed themselves in music and imaginative projects (Taylor’s brother, Jacob, is one of the founding members of the string band Mipso). These early explorations paved the way for his career in filmmaking. As a Morehead-Cain Scholar, Taylor interned at the Zimbabwean nonprofit Hoops 4 Hope, experiences that informed his 2017 documentary, Hoops Africa: Ubuntu Matters. He also worked at a sports agency with Jim Tanner ’90, president of Tandem Sports + Entertainment, and in New York with Malcolm Turner ’93, then president of what would become the G League. On today’s episode, Taylor shares other memories from UNC–Chapel Hill, how conversations at He’s Not Here (a famous haunt on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill) led to the founding of Blue Cup Productions, his work with Shaquille O’Neal and the NBA G League, and more. Earlier this year, Taylor and John Zimmerman were inducted into the Southern Fly Fishing Hall of Fame for their humanitarian contributions within the sport. In 2012, they co-founded Casting for Hope, a nonprofit that supports women with ovarian and other gynecological cancers, which has since raised over $1,000,000 for its financial and emotional assistance, programming, and fly-fishing retreats.A natural fundraiser, Taylor is also a Morehead-Cain Class Ambassador, collaborating with peers to support the Foundation’s annual fundraising campaigns. The episode’s intro song is by scholar Scott Hallyburton ’22, guitarist of the band South of the Soul.How to listenOn your mobile device, you can listen and subscribe to Catalyze on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. For any other podcast app, you can find the show using our RSS feed.Catalyze is hosted and produced by Sarah O’Carroll for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, home of the first merit scholarship program in the United States and located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can let us know what you thought of the episode by finding us on Twitter or Instagram at @moreheadcain or you can email us at [email protected].