The Simpsons Funday Football: ESPN Creative Studio's Michael Spike' Szykowny Pulls Back the Curtain on Creative Process By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Monday, December 9, 2024 - 3:13 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
During more than 2 decades at ESPN, Michael Spike Szykowny has seen his share of innovations. However, the 10-time Emmy Award winner believes that tonight's The Simpsons Funday Football animated Monday Night Football altcast is unlike anything you've ever seen before in live sports.
The VP, edit animation graphics innovation creative production, ESPN Creative Studio sat down with SVG to provide an inside look at the monumental efforts that went into The Simpsons Funday Football, which premieres tonight on ESPN2, Disney , ESPN , and NFL (on mobile).
Michael Spike Szykowny, VP of Edit Animation Graphics Innovation Creative Production for ESPN Creative Studio,
The much anticipated, additive telecast will feature Bart as a member of the Bengals and Homer with the Cowboys, with Lisa and Marge serving as on-field sideline reporters. ESPN NFL analysts, and Simpsons enthusiasts, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will make their animated-telecast debut as they provide live in-game analysis. Drew Carter is set to provide play-by-play. The trio will call the game from ESPN's Bristol, CT, studios while simultaneously appearing as Simpsons-inspired versions of themselves within the telecast. A variety of other Simpsons characters will also be seen during the broadcast from Atoms Stadium in Springfield.
How did the idea for Simpsons Funday Football come about?
As we started looking at possibilities for our next [animated broadcast] this season, The Simpsons was at the top of our wish list, and, thankfully, [The Simpsons team] was up to do it. Part of it was dictated by the time of the game: Toy Story was early in the morning and seemed like a better time for kids, but a primetime game definitely works better for something like The Simpsons. Once we got the greenlight, we had about 3 months to put this together, but we were also working in parallel on Dunk the Halls [alternative NBA broadcast] so it has been a very busy time.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW: Inside the Tech That ESPN and the NFL Use To Bring Springfield to Life
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS: The Game May Be Set in Springfield, but the Production Team Is in Bristol
CREATIVE PHILOSOPHY: ESPN Creative Studio's Michael Spike' Szykowny Pulls Back the Curtain on Creative Process
TRACKING TECHNOLOGY: Sony's Beyond Sports CEO Sander Shouten Analyzes How Tracking Tech Enables Real-Time Animated Altcasts
MUSIC & THEME SONG: ESPN Records Unique Twist on Monday Night Football Theme for Animated Alternative Broadcast
What were your early conversations with the Simpsons creative team like?
Obviously, they have been doing this very successfully for 36 years, so we wanted them to take full ownership and determine the story they wanted to tell. It all started with the reason this game is happening. They came up with the idea of Homer falling asleep and the game taking place in Homer's dream. Inside Homer's dream anything can happen, so that gave us the main canvas to work with. Of course, you can't plan everything for a live game, but you can certainly plan the beginning, middle, and end, and we fill in the rest as the game is happening. I think it's also important to note that, from the start, the NFL was great about working with us and [the Simpsons team], hearing all of our ideas, and turning back very few.
What has it been like to work with such iconic property like The Simpsons?
They were wonderful partners, and they got the spirit of what we were trying to accomplish and jumped on board with how we have to work for a project like this. The Simpsons has always been edgy and not wanting to just repeat the same things. I think that [is evident] in [their] letting us work in that universe.
In every project like this, you start with a lot of people involved, and then you end up whittling it down to a core team that is going to be working on it every day. With that small group, we were able to move quickly and make decisions because you have to keep moving forward on these kinds of projects; there's no looking backward. The Simpsons [team] - especially [Executive Producer] Matt Sellman and [producer] Joel Cohen, whom we worked with closely - understood that very well. I feel like we were in sync with those folks. Of course, they're doing their show every week, and we're doing our day jobs so we all have a lot going on besides this project, but we were able to work together to get it all done.
The Simpsons is a 2D animated show, but tonight's game will feature 3D animation. How did that work?
[The Simpsons team] deserves so much credit for putting the trust and faith in us to make that [2D-to-3D] transition. They actually have done 3D in some of their Treehouse of Horror broadcasts in the past. We got models from the company that they used, and we built out a lot of it ourselves, too. We started with just the main characters - Bart, Homer, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie - and expanded the universe from there.
It's tricky because lighting for 3D is different from lighting for 2D and there are a lot of other factors that you need to account for. But, in the end, I think we pulled off. It was truly a team effort between us, The Simpsons, Gracie Films, and we also worked with our friends at Big Studios, who handled a lot of the 3D animation work. It was a true partnership, and I think that shows in the final product.
What lessons from the Toy Story Funday Football and Big City Greens Classic productions did you apply to this project?
It's interesting because they all have their own unique challenges and advantages. With Toy Sto
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
The Simpsons Funday Football: ESPN Creative Studio's Michael Spike' Szykowny Pulls Back the Curtain on Creative Process By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
