Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

The Simpsons Funday Football: ESPN Creative Studio's Michael Spike' Szykowny Pulls Back the Curtain on Creative Process

09/12/2024

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
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/12/09/the-simpsons-funday-football-es...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

09/11/2025

Dalet Unveils Agentic AI Media Workflows at IBC2025

Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

16/09/2025

ENCO Introduces Raptor Cloud-Based Captioning For Live Streaming Video

NOVI, Mich. ENCO has unveiled Raptor, a cloud-based live streaming captioning encoder that injects the speed, power and reliability of real-time AI capabilities...

16/09/2025

Comcast NBCU and NBCU Local Award $2.5 Million to Nonprofits

NEW YORK Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCUniversal Local have announced that a total of $2.5 million has been awarded in 2025 to 69 nonprofit organizations servicin...

16/09/2025

Martin Euredjian Joins Atomos

AMSTERDAM Martin Euredjian has joined Atomos as director of advanced imaging and will lead innovation for advanced display technology....

16/09/2025

Calrec Unveils 48-Fader Argo M

AMSTERDAM Calrec introduced a 48-faced Argo M and showcased its largest Argo software updates at the recently concluded IBC2025....

16/09/2025

Lawo Unveils HOME Audio Shuffler App

AMSTERDAM Lawo introduced its HOME Audio Shuffler app, a replacement for a traditional baseband audio matrix within an IP-based Dynamic Media Facility, during t...

16/09/2025

77th Emmy Awards on CBS Deliver Largest Audience Since 2021

CBS is reporting that the 77TH Emmy Awards hosted by Nate Bargatze on Sunday Sept. 14 was seen by more than 7.42 million viewers on the CBS Television Network a...

15/09/2025

Get to Know This Fall's Filmmakers Through These 27 Sundance Institute-Supported Titles

Steve Zahn, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, and Janeane Garofalo star in Ben Stiller&...

15/09/2025

aespa and Spotify Invite Fans to Unlock Their Inner Rich Man' With an Immersive MY VAULT Experience

Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...

15/09/2025

Spotify's Free Experience Is Even Better-Here's How to Make the Most of It

Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...

15/09/2025

Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic Brakes (BSCCB) successfully expands production capacity by 50% in Germany and Italy to meet rising demand

After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...

15/09/2025

L3Harris Receives Multi-Year Javelin Solid Rocket Motor Contract

A U.S. Marine launches a Javelin shoulder-fired anti-tank missile during a training exercise. (Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps)...

15/09/2025

TV Tech Unveils Best of Show Winners at IBC 2025

AMSTERDAM TV Tech has named its Best of Show Awards winners for IBC2025, which wraps up today. Entrants were judged by a panel of industry experts on the criter...

15/09/2025

SES SCORE Surpasses 600,000 of Transmission Hours, Delivering 900 Hours of Major Sports Content Daily

Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...

15/09/2025

The Great Flood' Teaser Trailer Previews A Gripping Struggle for Survival

Back to All News The Great Flood' Teaser Trailer Previews A Gripping Struggle for Survival Entertainment 15 September 2025 GlobalSouth Korea Link copi...

15/09/2025

From Hardship to Hope: Typhoon Family' Presents a Tale of Youth, Crisis, and Resilience on October 11

Back to All News From Hardship to Hope: Typhoon Family' Presents a Tale of...

15/09/2025

Gloom Goes Global as Wednesday's' The Doom Tour Hits Five Continents for Season 2

Back to All News Gloom Goes Global as Wednesday's' The Doom Tour Hit...

15/09/2025

New study reveals overwhelming support for a more sustainable future

-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...

14/09/2025

AMWA and EBU Form JT-DMF Joint Task Force on Dynamic Medi...

Partnership to address business and technical challenges of DMF adoption he Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU...

14/09/2025

Mantis' Trailer Previews High-Stakes Rivalries to Be No. 1 Contract Killer - Premieres September 26

Back to All News Mantis' Trailer Previews High-Stakes Rivalries to Be No. ...

13/09/2025

Cox Media Group's Misti Turnbull Inducted into the NATAS Silver Circle

ATLANTA Cox Media Group has announced that the company's vice president of news, Misty Turnbull has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Ar...

13/09/2025

Shotoku Debuts Swoop Cranes for Studio Robotics at IBC2025

AMSTERDAM Shotoku Broadcast Systems, a major developer of robotic systems, has announced plans to take studio robotics to the next level at IBC2025 by debuting ...

13/09/2025

Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom...

At IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero Mini, the company's lightest and flattest wireless intercom beltpack to date. Designed to del...

13/09/2025

Shotoku Takes Studio Robotics to New Heights with IBC Deb...

Shotoku Broadcast Systems, the international developer of dependable, userfriendly robotic systems, is taking studio robotics to the next level at IBC 2025 with...

13/09/2025

The Bitmovin Video Developer Report 2025-26 Reveals Cost...

Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today released the 9th annual Video Developer Report 2025/26, offering an in-depth look at the evolvi...

13/09/2025

Bitmovin and StreamShark Partner to Deliver High Quality...

Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with StreamShark, the trusted video platform for enterprise...

13/09/2025

Ikegami Announces VFE-P711AD 7-inch OLED Multiformat On-C...

Ikegami has chosen IBC 2025 in Amsterdam as the launch venue for a major addition to its range of viewfinders. The new VFE-P711AD is a 7-inch high resolution OL...

13/09/2025

KitBash3D and Greyscalegorilla Announce Merger

Founder-led Merger to Fast Track R&D, Asset Library Upgrades, Tools and More; No Disruption to Pricing or Support for Users Today, KitBash3D, a pioneer in 3D a...

13/09/2025

Mavis Puts Itself at the Heart of Mobile Production

With NDI certification, Atomos integration, Grass Valley collaboration, and a new Monitor app, at this year's IBC, Mavis is showcasing a series of powerful...

13/09/2025

Creamsource Expands Vortex Family with Vortex24 Soft

Creamsource, maker of artisan LED lighting for film and television, has unveiled the Vortex24 Soft (V24S), a 1950W native soft light and the largest soft source...

13/09/2025

DAZN streams 2025 FIFA Club World Cup to billions of fans...

When international sports streaming service DAZN secured the global rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup football tournament, it set out to deliver an unmatch...

13/09/2025

Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interface

Riedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface from Broadcast Solutions, bringing a powerful, vendor-agnostic control system to it...

13/09/2025

RTW chooses Calrec as technology partner for its AI ready...

Building on its long-term relationship with audio metering specialist RTW, Calrec has integrated the company's brand new TMxCore metering platform across it...

13/09/2025

Calrec unveils 48 fader Argo M at IBC2025 and demonstrate...

Calrec is expanding its family of future-ready self-contained Argo M control surfaces at IBC2025, with the addition of a brand new powerful 48-fader console. Co...

13/09/2025

Reaching Across the Isles: UK-LLM Brings AI to UK Languages With NVIDIA Nemotron

Celtic languages - including Cornish, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh - are the U.K.'s oldest living languages. To empower their speakers, the UK-LLM sover...

13/09/2025

SKY Perfect Modernizes Playout-to-Delivery with Harmonic

Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...

13/09/2025

September 11, 2025

Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking Study by Scripps Research scientists shows how the brain learns to seek alcohol for relief, not jus...

12/09/2025

College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow Focus Coverage

College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow ...

12/09/2025

ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped Format

ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped FormatThe Finals moves to a best-of-seven series in 2025By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor Friday, Sep...

12/09/2025

Rabbit Trap Pulsates With Folklore Dread

(L-R) Jade Croot, Rosy McEwen, and Bryn Chainey attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Rabbit Trap at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park ...

12/09/2025

Spotify's The Drop Weekly' Brings You the Week in New Releases, Straight From Our Editors

For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...

12/09/2025

Agama and Consult Red announce RDK Accelerator integration

Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...

12/09/2025

IBC2025 Opens for Business

IBC2025 began on Sept. 12, with exhibits and conferences running through Sept. 15 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Explore the full TV Tech coverage of t...

12/09/2025

The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great)

The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great) With Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hitting theaters and songs from KPop Demon Hunters ruling...

12/09/2025

Tom Baldassare Joins Advanced Systems Group

Industry veteran Tom Baldassare has joined Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, as a Se...

12/09/2025

Maxon Unveils a Brand New Look for its Growing Family of...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced a...

12/09/2025

PlayBox Neo US Partners with AI-Media to Deliver Scalable...

PlayBox Neo, a leading provider of media playout solutions, has partnered with AI-Media, pioneering developers of AI-powered captioning technology, to integrate...