Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Esports Production Summit: Franchises Churn Out Content With In-House Production Facilities

04/12/2019

Esports Production Summit: Franchises Churn Out Content With In-House Production Facilities Dignitas and FaZe Clan are the latest to exhibit this trend By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor

Wednesday, December 4, 2019 - 9:00 am

Print This Story

Story Highlights

Although watching competitors play is generating the most viewership for esports productions, creating surrounding content is drawing new viewers to the main platform (and sometimes keeping the diehard fans around). Some production companies looking to control the minute details of when and how their message gets out are developing their very own facilities to tell stories about the players beneath the headsets.

At the SVG Esports Production Summit, two such outlets discussed how they're tailoring both live-streamed and VOD material to be digested by the esports masses.

Dignitas VP of Marketing Heather Garozzo defines the ethos of some of the team's produced content:

This past summer, we decided that we really needed to put some content around these guys because they're hilarious, have great personalities, and are hard workers. A lot of the content so far has been mini docuseries on their different events, and [viewers] get a behind-the-scenes look at what it feels like to be a team that's the underdog who's taking on the best in the world and are winning some of those matches.

Dignitas's Heather Garozzo outlines how the company's new facility in the Prudential Center offers access to creating content with celebrities and professional athletes.

Since we're is based in [Newark, NJ's] Prudential Center, which is one of the busiest arenas in the world, we have this opportunity to bring celebrities and athletes into our headquarters that are gamers. We want to make it feel authentic. We're not going to pay people to come and create content; we just want to invite people in to relax and play some games

FaZe Clan VP, Content and Production, Oluwafemi Okusanya describes the beginnings of the company and where it is today:

FaZe Clan started with a group of gamers that wanted to link up and start a [gaming] clan. They started gaming, and, a few years into it, they all said, Hey, we don't want to just show our gameplay. We're also individuals that want to show off our personalities and show the world who we are.' Then, FaZe Clan really started to blow up on YouTube before it became popular because they would create videos of trick shots on Call of Duty.

They started to amass this huge following, and, after a while, each one of those guys started to get followers of their own on Instagram. Our President Lee [Trink] and CEO Greg [Selkoe] came in and wanted to put the structure behind everything, so we're broken up into three categories: professional athletes who compete in the highest levels of esports, content creators who are purely streaming, and our [social] influencers. It has grown because of our fan loyalty and content that is organic.

Garozzo and Okusanya outline the construction of their respective new production hubs:

Garozzo: Within the Prudential Center, we have a 3,000-sq.-ft. facility. 500 sq. ft. of that is dedicated to a content studio with 4K cameras and several IRL backpacks, so, if we don't want to sit inside to create that content, we can take those things and walk into a Devils game and live-stream from the concourse or what we did at the Grammys [at the Prudential Center], or [we can] give [the backpacks] to our social influencers to take out on the road. We have our teams come in now and then; we do a week's work of content that we can publish for about a month or two. We also have content creators that live in a house in Jersey City, NJ, that are gamers at heart but are also musicians. They produce music and also create content with those that come into the space as well.

We're also building a 7,000-sq.-ft. space in Los Angeles. It's going to be a little different: it's not a dedicated studio but more of an event space. It'll be kind of a 5v5 setup with cameras mounted on the ceiling, and we'll invite fans and other teams to live-stream from there.

Okusanya: We're preparing to open a new Los Angeles office in January 2020. It'll be 14,000 sq. ft. on the sixth floor of a building, and, inside of that, we'll have our production studio and do photoshoots with celebrities when they come in. We'll also do live streams and produce content within our infamous FaZe House, a Hollywood mansion not far from the new office.

The FaZe Council didn't want the office being more than 5 miles away from the House. We want those guys to feel free to come down to the office and have a chat with the production team and have the freedom to take celebrities that are visiting the FaZe House and show them what we have going on over there. The cool thing about having these houses is that the guys really sit down and strategize about what they're going to do on their own personal channels. We wanted to keep that tradition alive in L.A.

Okusanya and Garozzo on getting the job done with limited staffing:

Okusanya: We do everything in-house, and we make it work. You may think that we have a huge, 20-person team, but the FaZe Clan content team has only four full-time workers, three remote editors, and contracted videographers and DPs. I was given the green light to staff up because we're getting a lot of brands coming in that want a certain commercial or documentary, so we're in the process of building up our team.

Garozzo: We also have a staff of four right now: director, producer, videographer, and a creative strategist. It's a small team for all the content we produce, but, once we open up our Los Angeles facility, we'll certainly have to beef up our staff.

For an entire look at the discussion, wa
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2019/12/04/esports-production-summit-franc...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

28/03/2024

TNT Sports Gets Its College Game On for March Madness Audio

TNT Sports Gets Its College Game On for March Madness Audio Marching bands, crowds make up for lack of court FX and wired players By Dan Daley, Audio Editor ...

28/03/2024

Cosm/ESPN Deal Will Bring NBA, NHL, Tennis, College Football, and More to Shared Reality' Venues

Cosm/ESPN Deal Will Bring NBA, NHL, Tennis, College Football, and More to Share...

28/03/2024

MLB 2024: The Famous Group, Miami Marlins Team Up for AI-Powered Intro for All 2024 Home Games

MLB 2024: The Famous Group, Miami Marlins Team Up for AI-Powered Intro for All 2...

28/03/2024

MLB 2024: MLB Network Showcase Opts for Secaucus-Based Remote Production

MLB 2024: MLB Network Showcase Opts for Secaucus-Based Remote Production The league's production arm marks 15th-anniversary season with packed schedule By ...

28/03/2024

MLB Opening Day: ESPN Brings Sunday Night Baseball Into Analytic Age With Volumetric Replays, Win Probability' in Scorebug

MLB Opening Day: ESPN Brings Sunday Night Baseball Into Analytic Age With Volume...

28/03/2024

MLB 2024: FOX Sports Steps Up to the Plate With Big Audio Plans

MLB 2024: FOX Sports Steps Up to the Plate With Big Audio Plans More player and field sound will be on tap By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Thursday, March 28, 202...

27/03/2024

Program Productions Partners With Investment Firm Integrum, Eyes Expansion Into New Markets

Program Productions Partners With Investment Firm Integrum, Eyes Expansion Into ...

26/03/2024

Royal Belgian Football Association's Head of Content Daf Van Campenhout on Creating a Content Strategy That Makes a Difference

Royal Belgian Football Association's Head of Content Daf Van Campenhout on C...

26/03/2024

WEBINAR: Content Leadership in Pro Sports With The Gargano Leadership Group

WEBINAR: Content Leadership in Pro Sports With The Gargano Leadership Group Managing content teams with New York Jets Jessica Ciccone, Washington Commanders Rae...

26/03/2024

Prime Video's Eric Orme on What's Next for the Streamer

Prime Video's Eric Orme on What's Next for the Streamer By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital Tuesday, March 26, 2024 - 1:01 pm Print This Story |...

26/03/2024

NFL Streaming Exclusives in 2024: Peacock Lands Week 1 So Paulo Game, Prime Video Adds NFL Wild Card Game

NFL Streaming Exclusives in 2024: Peacock Lands Week 1 S o Paulo Game, Prime Vid...

25/03/2024

The State of Soccer Rights in Europe: Ampere Analysis' Daniel Monaghan Breaks Down the Complexities

The State of Soccer Rights in Europe: Ampere Analysis' Daniel Monaghan Break...

25/03/2024

Rising Star: Checking Out Strategic Sports Goals With TikTok's Global Head of Sports Partnerships Rollo Goldstaub

Rising star: Checking out strategic sports goals with TikTok's global head o...

25/03/2024

TV Skyline Completes Record Winter Sports Season with FIS Ski World Cup in Saalbach

TV Skyline completes record winter sports season with FIS Ski World Cup in Saalb...

25/03/2024

Sports Innovation 2024: New Viewing Experiences and Tracking Systems Provide a Glimpse Into the Future

Sports Innovation 2024: New viewing experiences and tracking systems provide a g...

25/03/2024

Sports Innovation 2024: Wonderment and Warnings in Equal Measure as AI Dominates Dsseldorf Event

Sports Innovation 2024: Wonderment and warnings in equal measure as AI dominates...

25/03/2024

NAB 2024: EVS Sets Out Plans for NAB and Highlights Industry Tech Trends

EVS sets out plans for NAB and highlights industry tech trends By George Bevir Wednesday, March 20, 2024 - 16:34 Print This Story Left to right: Lisa Coll...

25/03/2024

ESPN's Allison Loucks on the Challenge of Integrating Analytics Into the Live Sports Broadcast

ESPN's Allison Loucks on the Challenge of Integrating Analytics Into the Liv...

25/03/2024

NBC Sports Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks Team Up for First-Ever Animated Real-Time Local Sports Broadcast

NBC Sports Chicago, Chicago Blackhawks Team Up for First-Ever Animated Real-Time...

22/03/2024

Put It in the Mixer: European Broadcasters Embrace the Cloud For Soccer Production

Put It in the Mixer: European Broadcasters Embrace the Cloud For Soccer Producti...

22/03/2024

SVG Digital Engagement Forum Tackles Current Industry Topics, Evolving Media Landscape

SVG Digital Engagement Forum Tackles Current Industry Topics, Evolving Media Lan...

22/03/2024

Edgio's Eric Black on Offering Cost-Efficient Solutions for Direct-to-Consumer, OTT Platforms

Edgio's Eric Black on Offering Cost-Efficient Solutions for Direct-to-Consum...

22/03/2024

With Caitlin Clark Effect' at an All-Time High, ESPN Covers NCAA Women's March Madness From All Angles

With Caitlin Clark Effect' at an All-Time High, ESPN Covers NCAA Women'...

21/03/2024

Visual Aids: Telling the Story of Soccer Through Data and Graphics

Visual Aids: Telling the Story of Soccer Through Data and Graphics Tech leaders from FIFA, Sky Sports, and Genius Sports discussed the opportunities at SVG Euro...

21/03/2024

March Madness Gets Real Today; NEP, Game Creek, F&F Trucks Are Front and Center for 20-Camera Productions

March Madness Gets Real Today; NEP, Game Creek, F&F Trucks Are Front and Center ...

21/03/2024

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Comcast Technology Solution's Peter Gibson on Activating Content Via AI Tools

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Comcast Technology Solution's Peter Gibson on Act...

21/03/2024

Inside Monumental Sports Network's New ST 2110 Production Facility: A National-Network Feel at DC's New RSN

Inside Monumental Sports Network's New ST 2110 Production Facility: A Nation...

21/03/2024

SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Travels to Denver on June 26-27

SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Travels to Denver on June 26-27 By SVG Staff Thursday, March 21, 2024 - 1:47 pm Print This Story | Subscribe Story...

20/03/2024

Between the Lines: The European Soccer Rights Revolution and Its Impact on Production

Between the Lines: The European Soccer Rights Revolution and Its Impact on Produ...

20/03/2024

The Reality of Production in a Post-Pandemic World: SVG Yearbook Offers a Glimpse Into the Past and the Future

The Reality of Production in a Post-Pandemic World: SVG Yearbook Offers a Glimps...

20/03/2024

MLB Seoul Series: ESPN Turns to COVID-Era Remote Production for Two-Game Slate in South Korea

MLB Seoul Series: ESPN Turns to COVID-Era Remote Production for Two-Game Slate i...

20/03/2024

Mobile TV Group Launches Latest Flex Series Mobile Unit With 52FLEX

Mobile TV Group Launches Latest Flex Series Mobile Unit With 52FLEX 52FLEX seats over 20 on-site crew members and features a first-of-its-kind Visitor Mobile Un...

20/03/2024

Mike Helling, Longtime FOX Sports and Regional Sports Producer, Dies at 65

Mike Helling, Longtime FOX Sports and Regional Sports Producer, Dies at 65 He led regional broadcasts for both the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals duri...

19/03/2024

Calling the Shots: What European Soccer Directors Really Want

Calling the Shots: What European Soccer Directors Really Want Sky Sports Sarah Cheadle, Telenet Play Sports Serge Bellens spoke at SVG Europes Football Summit l...

19/03/2024

Going Grassroots: Men in Blazers Shoots This Week in Wrexham Digital Series With iPhones

Going Grassroots: Men in Blazers Shoots This Week in Wrexham Digital Series With...

19/03/2024

Grass Valley Maverik X Switcher Takes AMPP-Based Production to Next Level

Grass Valley Maverik X Switcher Takes AMPP-Based Production to Next Level By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 10:40 am Print ...

19/03/2024

Monumental Sports Network Launches State-of-the-Art Production Facility and Broadcast Studios

Monumental Sports Network Launches State-of-the-Art Production Facility and Broa...

19/03/2024

NBA League Pass Escalates Sports Betting Functionality With Sportradar's emBET Integration

NBA League Pass Escalates Sports Betting Functionality With Sportradar's emB...

19/03/2024

ESPN Extends Exclusive Media Rights for Expanded College Football Playoff Through 2031-32 Season

ESPN Extends Exclusive Media Rights for Expanded College Football Playoff Throug...

18/03/2024

Major League Soccer: IMG on Capturing Fan Rituals and Delivering Consistent Coverage

Major League Soccer: IMG on capturing fan rituals and delivering consistent cove...

18/03/2024

Smashing Padel: Inside Aurora's Innovative Production of the Inaugural Hexagon Cup

Smashing padel: Inside Aurora's innovative production of the inaugural Hexag...

18/03/2024

Airspeeder Teams Up With EMG for World's First Live Broadcast of Flying Car Series

Airspeeder teams up with EMG for world's first live broadcast of flying car ...

15/03/2024

Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: New Truck Fleet, Live Drones Get Into the Mix for NBC Sports; Coverage Goes HDR

Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: New Truck Fleet, Live Drones Get Into the Mi...

15/03/2024

SVG Digital Engagement Forum (NYC, March 20): ESPN, CBS Sports, Amagi, TAG Video Systems Dissect the FAST Boom

SVG Digital Engagement Forum (NYC, March 20): ESPN, CBS Sports, Amagi, TAG Video...

15/03/2024

Pete Distad, Former Apple, Hulu Exec, Named CEO of New ESPN, FOX, WBD Streaming JV

Pete Distad, Former Apple, Hulu Exec, Named CEO of New ESPN, FOX, WBD Streaming ...

15/03/2024

Live From Big East Men's Tournament: FOX Sports Brings Back Pair of Live Drones for Second Year in a Row

Live From Big East Men's Tournament: FOX Sports Brings Back Pair of Live Dro...

15/03/2024

After a Record-Breaking 2023, NWSL Enters 2024 Season With More Production Partners, Free DTC Platform

After a Record-Breaking 2023, NWSL Enters 2024 Season With More Production Partn...

14/03/2024

Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: PGA TOUR Lays Out Vision for New Media Facility

Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: PGA TOUR Lays Out Vision for New Media Facil...

14/03/2024

Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: PGA TOUR Fleet of Trucks Transforms Setup, Coverage

Live From THE PLAYERS Championship: PGA TOUR Fleet of Trucks Transforms Setup, C...