During the production of the 2014 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, a film crew was simultaneously shooting scenes for a feature film. Ivan Reitman’s “Draft Day” would star Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Chadwick Boseman, and Frank Langella. Along with our colleagues at the NFL Network, ESPN’s Chris Berman, Jon Gruden, and Mel Kiper, Jr. made appearances in the film as well as a myriad of NFL stars past and present including Deion Sanders, Jim Brown, Bernie Kosar, Ray Lewis, and Commissioner Roger Goodell.
I was present at most of the filming that took place in and around Radio City Music Hall, but was not in any scenes. Some of my designs, however, are scattered around the hall and made their way into the film. Later on, during post production, I worked directly with the editing crew to provide graphics and information tickers for all scenes that involved a television somewhere in the shot showing ESPN’s coverage of the draft. All graphics were built using ESPN’s Draft coverage look and were filled with information pertinent to the story and characters of the film itself.
From IMDB.com: “It’s draft day in the NFL, and as General Manager of the Cleveland Browns, Sonny Weaver Jr. is forced to come up with a big move. After trading for the number one pick, Sonny has to choose between a lower-ranked linebacker with a questionable past, or a celebrated quarterback with a questionable future. All the while, Sonny is walking in the footsteps of his recently-deceased father, and personal complications force their way to the surface.”
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