Maria Shriver to Produce ESPN '30 for 30' Film on Mom Eunice Kennedy Shriver; Arnold Schwarzenegger's Ex Speaks at espnW: Women + Sports Summit [VIDEO]

Maria Shriver announced on Thursday at the espnW: Women + Sports Summit that she is teaming up with ESPN to executive produce a 30 for 30 film about her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics in 1968.

On Friday, Maria participated in an interview with SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi on a summit panel called "Architects of Change" and explained how she came up with the idea to honor her mother with the film.

"The 30 for 30 idea came from the realization that my boys don't watch anything but ESPN. When I talk about women's issues and women's empowerment, they're like, 'Yeah...' and they're focused on a lot of the stories that come out of ESPN," Shriver explained of her sons with ex-husband Arnold Schwarzenegger. "And when I was watching The Book of Manning on ESPN, I thought, you know what, there should be a Book of Eunice on ESPN."

According to Shriver, Eunice was inspired by her daughter - Maria's sister - who had an intellectual disability. The Shriver matriarch originally created the Special Olympics as a sports camp in her back yard.

"My mother, 50 years ago, looked at people with intellectual disabilities and didn't try to start an education program, she didn't go up to The Hill and say, 'I want to do a political thing,' Shriver said. "She said, 'I want to go to sports, because if I can prove that people with intellectual disabilities can be competitors on the playing field, I will prove visually to the world that they should be in the same schools as my kids, that they should get healthcare like my kids.'"

The Special Olympics have grown exponentially since their backyard beginnings. Next year's games will be televised live from Los Angeles on ESPN in July.