SportsCenter Studio - Bristol
posted by Rachel Margolis on April 8, 2013 12:40 PM
NEW ORLEANS — It’s NCAA Women’s Final Four time and that means Creative Content Unit Associate Producer Tara Baker is making magic in the edit room producing a variety of “teases,” “bump(er)s” and “opens” for the 2013 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game telecasts.
Last season, she showcased the personalities of the teams in photo-booth inspired teases that aired throughout the tournament. This year, the team’s personalities are framed within the energy of a music video. continue reading…
posted by Ariel Bond on February 24, 2013 10:00 AM
ESPN employees love the movies.
Sometimes, they’re producing them: College football analyst Ed Cunningham won at the 2012 Oscars for underwriting the Best Documentary, Undefeated.
Sometimes, they’re watching and then critiquing them: On Friday, SportsCenter anchor and movie maven Adnan Virk shared his 2013 Academy Award picks with Front Row.
Sometimes, they’re appearing in them: ESPN NFL analyst and ESPN Radio co-host Mark Schlereth (Red Dawn) and SportsCenter anchor Stan Verrett (Playing For Keeps) made 2012 cameos in major films.
Tonight, even the sports world turns to Hollywood for winners and losers, watching the 85th Oscars on ABC (7 p.m. ET). To celebrate the annual night of gowns and tuxedos, Front Row strolled the halls of ESPN and asked employees to share their Oscar insights. . . and sample their acceptance speeches.
The results are rivetting performances from SportsCenter co-anchors Hannah Storm and Kevin Negandhi, among others. Cameos include ESPN makeup artist Tiffany Hall-Scarmana (on the cosmetic magic of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey); E:60 feature producer John Minton III (on storytelling in Zero Dark 30); and E:60′s Andy Tennant (on Argo).
Schlereth, an actor of some repute, portrayed a high school football coach in Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 cult classic.
Somehow, neither Verrett nor Schlereth were among the Best Supporting Actor nominees and Schlereth calmly shared his views on the obvious “snub” below.
Top video produced by Ariel Bond
Bottom video produced by Dave Williams
posted by Kristen Hudak on February 1, 2013 8:00 AM
Fans of ESPN’s NBA programming, including Coast to Coast and NBA Tonight, might have noticed some unique twists on the standard theme music throughout the season. Those versions were developed for ESPN by popular recording artists across a variety of different music genres.
Among them are three Grammy-winning artists: Ozomatli, a Latin rock band that fuses many different music genres; Humble Monsta/Mr. Bink, a Jay-Z producer; and the blues-inspired Robert Cray Band. Other participants include the California indie rock band The Mowgli’s, jazz artist John Pizzarelli and The Sweet Tea Project, a group led by Ed Roland of Collective Soul. Two British artists — electro-pop sensation Jacob Plant and rock band The Heavy — also joined the diverse lineup.
Beginning today and continuing through Friday, Feb. 8, fans can vote for their favorite version on the SportsNation section of ESPN.com. The winning version will be featured on ESPN’s telecast of the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday, Feb. 15.
Front Row caught up with ESPN music director Kevin Wilson to learn a little more about the contest.
How did you select the artists?
Basically, we decided the types of genres that we wanted to feature and then we just started identifying artists that fit into those genres. We came up with a list of really talented, unique artists and started to make our requests.
Why is it important to bring fans into the creative process? continue reading…
posted by Mac Nwulu on November 16, 2012 1:55 PM
When ESPN’s Bryan Rourke watched The Chevin, a Yorkshire, England, rock band, perform their hit song “Champion” on the Late Show with David Letterman in late August, the associate producer knew he was hearing the music that would eventually anchor the opening sequence for ESPN’s presentation of the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs.
At the time, Rourke, a member of ESPN Event Productions’ creative content unit led by coordinating producer Julie McGlone, was mulling ideas on par with ESPN’s past critically acclaimed “opens” for 2010 FIFA World Cup, the NBA Finals on ABC and the UEFA EURO 2012.
“The song had a strong presence and intrigued me to learn more about the band and their music,” said Rourke.
A brief online and YouTube search informed Rourke that “an overwhelming amount of soccer fans were commenting on chat boards about the song’s use on ‘FIFA 13.’”
Armed with that knowledge, Rourke turned to ESPN music director Kevin Wilson who negotiated the music rights and the band’s appearance in the shoot. continue reading…
posted by Ben Cafardo on October 9, 2011 10:00 AM
CLICK HERE TO CAST YOUR VOTE FOR FAVORITE BBTN THEME
Throughout the 2011 MLB regular season, Baseball Tonight and ESPN Music asked several popular recording artists to provide their interpretation of ESPN’s iconic MLB theme music.
Artists ranging from rockers Tom Morello and Seether to hip-hop’s newest billboard giant J. Cole provided their renditions.
A new rendition was revealed every week on Baseball Tonight with a 30-second clip that was accompanied by a video of the artist recording their song.
For the past 10 weeks, ESPN’s music site has asked fans to vote for their favorite track in a tournament-style competition.
The voting process started with two artists, with the winner advancing to face the next artist on the schedule.
And now we’re reached the finals. Welcome to “Championship Week.”
It’s Zakk Wylde (of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society fame) versus Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. Let’s get ready to rock.
The project has captured the imagination of baseball fans and music fans alike.
According to ESPN Coordinating Producer Nick Davis, it was important to find artists that would do the theme justice. continue reading…
posted by Mac Nwulu on September 16, 2011 12:15 PM
When creative director Paul Brown, art director Lucas Nickerson and editor Jeremy Anderson met to discuss the best music that would accompany video for the new ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown “open” they were creating, they knew what they were looking for.
“We wanted something hip, funky, energetic, contemporary, that appeals to a young audience,” said Brown. “But it still had to maintain a classic rock feel that wouldn’t turn off an older NFL audience.”
As the creative team travelled to shoot the specialty video storyboards with the Countdown personalities — historian Chris Berman in a library, Cris Carter working out, a dapper Keyshawn Johnson being measured for a hand-tailored suit, et al, — Brown pored through catalogs of music.
Brown and his team eventually settled on Funk #48, the popular and durable music by guitar legend and songwriter Joe Walsh. continue reading…
posted by Sheldon Spencer on May 19, 2011 8:30 AM
Editor’s note: How did you join ESPN? Front Row provides interesting answers with “How I Got Here” profiles. Music Director Kevin Wilson is our first subject.
Do you enjoy hearing — and seeing — some of your favorite bands perform their interpretations of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight theme?
Every Thursday through the first half of the baseball season, a different artist’s version of the song will be revealed and highlighted throughout related programming. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ version has been featured the past week (see video after the jump).
Da Zoo’s version will be unveiled later this Thursday, another of the 11 major acts who want to merge sports and music with the network in this way.
Working with those artists is just part of ESPN Music Director Kevin Wilson’s job.
It’s a great gig the Bristol, Conn. native might never have landed if he had not been delivering pizzas for Vita’s Deli to Building 1 in 1993. continue reading…
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