First off, how did you get involved in film production – and now with Lions Tale Media?
I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to school at Penn State. I always had a passion for sports and a like and knack for writing. When I graduated, I had no idea what to do. I wrote a letter to Steve Sabol at NFL Films and he called me in for an interview. They hired me as a production assistant then – in 2006.
Halfway through that year they hired me as a full-time producer. I was with NFL Films for five years and learned all I know over that incubation period.
In 2011 the Penguins finished the show about the Winter Classic game versus the Capitals. That was extremely successful – so David Morehouse, the president and CEO at the time of the Penguins, wanted to create a show like that focusing on the Penguins – year-round. I had wanted to move back to Pittsburgh – I had worked on Hard Knocks which was a lot like what the Penguins wanted to do with their show. So they hired me and I was given behind-the-scenes, all-access for the show. I did that for 12 years and worked for them for 13 years.
After that I decided to go out on my own leveraging the relationships I formed over the years and have been doing that for a year-and-a-half now.
How has the city influenced you personally?
It shaped my life in ways that aren’t measurable. It created my passion for sports. I lived in Miami until I was six years-old. I think if I stayed in Miami I wouldn’t have developed this passion for sports. I got that growing up in this city. It formed the foundation that grew into a career and helped make me who I am today.
You worked with NFL Films first – what were some of the stories you worked on there for Hard Knocks and America’s Game?
I was relatively young and learned so much – it was amazing being able to interview Terrell Owens and eat lunch with Steve Sabol. It was eye-opening – it turned it from being fun to me being a professional.
When I went to the Penguins, as we became more successful I got more buy-in from the organization and they let me hire more people and make it better and better. 2015 was a break0through – that was the first year Sidney Crosby did his hockey school for his foundation and they invited us to the camp to cover that inaugural camp. He got to know us there – and we got to know him. So the next season Sid would come up to talk to us – that opened up other players to come talk to us too. If Sid did….
In 2016 – that was our most rewarding work. That was the Penguins 50th anniversary of the franchise and they gave us the go-ahead to do a feature-length documentary on the history of the team. We interviewed 44 people – that was the first time people heard from Jaromir Jagr in a long time and we found the original owner of the team. It was three-hours – a labor of love that filled some gaps about the team, and it ended with the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup that season. You couldn’t have written a better ending.
Now you just produced “The Football Town” covering the history of football at all levels in the Western, PA – narrated by Pat McAfee – what prompted this documentary?
The Steelers, state and local reps and Visit Pittsburgh all were trying to create some excitement in the region as we lead up to the draft. When the idea of creating this immersive film on a giant screen came up, the Steelers approached NFL Films. NFL Films was excited at the idea – it is the first every immersive, large format film they’ve made. They wanted a boots-on-the-ground person who could tell the story authentically, so they reach out to me since they knew me well already. And U.S. Steel generously sponsored it.
It spans coverage from youth football to the Steelers – that’s a wide expanse. What common threads did you find throughout those levels of football?
That’s a good question – the film is more about the region and people – football is the thread that binds it all together. Sports is so intrinsic with the area – it dates back to the origins of the city – the blue-collar, grit and hard-work mentality that tangibly translates to the field. We tried to offer viewers a glimpse of what that looks like – what it looks like on a Saturday morning seeing parents going crazy watching their five-to-six year olds play Pee Wee Football, or on Friday Nights seeing the maybe-next great quarterback slinging it.
We try to make people feel something – to see where that passion is rooted and where that love affair begins. The Pop Warner kids are on the screen as much as the Steelers players are. It’s about football in Western, PA. Of course the Steelers are the reason for the film but they are just a piece of it all.
Who are some of the people we can expect to see in the film – were there people you were most excited to have on it?
My favorite segment of the film is with Jerome Bettis and Bill Cowher sitting on the banks of the Allegheny talking about Pittsburgh and football and what it means to the city. They way the connected it – it felt like “This is it.” This is exactly what it means. A guy that grew up in the city and coached his hometown team and won a Super Bowl and a guy who won a Super Bowl in his hometown who understood what it meant to Pittsburgh. Two guys who will be forever linked to the Steelers and Steelers lore who understand the depth of what it means to the area. That conversation was th ethos of the film.
What surprised you most as you produced this – what did you learn that was most interesting to you?
There were so many thing. One tangible thing that seems small but was surprising was the distance between the Steelers and Pitt locker rooms at Acrisure Stadium. They were just a short hallway fro each other. That was fascinating to me – and to those who didn’t know as much about the relationship between the Steelers and Pitt at NFL Films, they just couldn’t believe the proximity of the two teams and how they worked so closely together.
One other thing – when we filmed the Pitt versus NC State game on the Saturday, before the Pitt players were even off the field, the grounds crew was already working on turning the stadium over for the Steelers game the next day. The players weren’t even off of the field yet – they didn’t waste a second!
Where can we see it?
It premiers February 28 – you can buy tickets here: https://kaminsciencecenter.org/rangos-giant-cinema/the-football-town/. It will show for a few months there. The whole thing was filmed specifically for this screen – its 71 feet wide by 41 inches tall – it’s an immersive experience. When we shot some of the Steelers game, it’s like you’re in the stadium. In really hope people go to see it there.