In mid-January, as wildfires tore through Los Angeles, I got a call from Eric Georgeson about a gig with the New York Giants. As someone who spent their teenage years in the Boston area, any job involving a New York sports team carries weight. While my passion for the major leagues has faded over time, a few franchises still haunt me. Any mention of the Yankees triggers a knee-jerk reaction.
After more than 20 years in Los Angeles, my hatred for the Lakers has cooled—but New York still holds its grip on Boston transplants like myself. As images from 2008 of the helmet catch flashed before my eyes (my dad and I had the misfortune of watching our Patriots’ perfect season end in Glendale, Arizona), I accepted the assignment.
NFL Schedule Release videos have become a highly anticipated event. To stand out, our director, Dylan Landon, envisioned a frame-accurate parody of the Love Island USA Season 5 trailer. His team meticulously recreated the set and tone, casting a playful actor to represent each New York Giants opponent for the 2025 season.
Our production designer, Dragon Ridic, tested numerous materials before landing on the final build. Getting the opacity right, dialing in the color, and shaping the layout for camera required close collaboration across departments. My gaffer, Team Bashet, spent a large chunk of time the day before the shoot programming Astera AX1 tubes for the background.
In our line of work, there’s never enough time. Ideally, we would’ve had a full day to build and rig, but our team pushed hard—we shot 15 actors, built the set, and wrapped the location in 12 hours. I have to credit our incredible crew for working so efficiently. I didn’t think it was possible to pull this off in that window.
Thankfully, the internet appreciated our efforts—we earned the #1 ranking from FootballGuys.com. I’ve pulled together a few highlights from around the web below.
The Los Angeles Times didn’t hold back either:
Sports Business Journal placed us at #4.
CBS Sports concluded:
The Athletic / New York Times wrote:
Sports Illustrated included us in their top 10.
Apologies for the delayed post—things have been busy. Thankfully, the 2025 season hasn’t started yet. Which team’s schedule release video did you enjoy most? You can watch all 32 here. I also liked how short and sweet the Bills one is—though full disclosure, I worked with Buffalo’s Josh Allen a few weeks ago, so maybe that influenced my opinion.
Crew
Director
Dylan Landon
Production
Trent Park — Producer
Eric Georgeson — Production Manager
Curtis Case — Assistant Director
Camera
Dustin Pearlman — Director of Photography
Joshua Allen — B Camera Operator
Morgan Miller — Camera Assistant
Grip & Electric
Team Bashet — Gaffer
Gyasi Howard — Key Grip
Harris Smith — G&E Swing
Sound
Blake Christian — Sound Mixer
Production Design
Dragon Ridic — Production Designer
Nigel Mogg — Art Assistant
Wardrobe & Makeup
Mika Garcia & Erin Blinn — HMU
Orlando Mabry — Costume Consultant
Post
Michael Alperowitz — Editor
Joel Ides — Colorist
CAST
49ERS — Brian Rich
BEARS — Tim De LA Motte
BRONCOS — Grant Johnson
CHARGERS — Liam Shi
COMMANDERS — Johnny Ramey
COWBOYS — Kelly Vohnn
CHIEFS — Makhyli Simpson
EAGLES — Channing Apodaca
LIONS — Nicholas Rene Rodriguez
PACKERS — Camille James Harman
PATRIOTS — John Swanswiger
RAIDERS — James Troup
RAMS — Sandie Cameron
SAINTS — Alyse Hamilton
VIKINGS — Ian Steven Peterson