NFL Films
Encyclopedia
NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League
, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows. Founded as Blair Motion Pictures by Ed Sabol
in 1962
, and now run by his son Steve Sabol, it is currently owned by the League and produces most of its videotaped content except its live game coverage, which is handled separately by the individual networks.
was a World War II
veteran who worked selling topcoats after returning to the United States
. In his spare time, he often used a motion picture camera
, received as a wedding gift, to record his son Steve’s high school football
games. Inspired by his own work, Sabol founded a small film company named Blair Motion Pictures, after his daughter. Sabol won the bidding for the rights to film the 1962 NFL championship game for $
4,000, double the bid for the 1961 championship game. The film of that game impressed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle
, who asked the owners of the NFL to agree to buy out Sabol's company. Although the owners rejected Rozelle's proposal in 1964, they agreed a year later and renamed Sabol's company NFL Films. He received $20,000 in seed money from each of the league's 12 owners, and in return would shoot all NFL games and produce a highlight film for each team.
On August 6, 2011, Ed Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of fame as a major contributor to the National Football League.
television critic Matt Zoller Seitz has called NFL Films "the greatest in-house P.R.
machine in pro sports history . . . an outfit that could make even a tedious stalemate seem as momentous as the battle for the Alamo
."
NFL Films productions follow certain patterns. Film is mostly used, one camera is dedicated entirely to slow motion shots, microphones are present on the sidelines and near the field to pick up both the sounds of the games as well as the talk on the sidelines, and narrators with deep, powerful, baritone voices are preferred. Narrators have included the late Harry Kalas
and Scott Graham
, both voices of the Philadelphia Phillies
, and the famous John Facenda
, the late WCAU-TV anchor called by some "The Voice of God." J.K. Simmons was tabbed to narrate the company's one-hour recap of the 16-0 regular season of the 2007 New England Patriots
.
The style has been called tight on the spiral, a reference to the frequently-used slow-motion shot of the spinning football as it travels from the quarterback's hand to the receiver. NFL Films also dubs sound bites of local radio broadcasts over key plays, because radio announcers are typically more enthusiastic about their home teams than are network television broadcasters. In addition, NFL Films often uses multiple camera angles (with an emphasis on close-up shots that often exaggerate the speed of the players in real time), muscular orchestral scores usually provided by Sam Spence
, Dave Robidoux and Tom Hedden (though the company also made use of KPM Musichouse
tracks, notably those of Syd Dale
such as his track "Malestrom" for the company's 1968 Minnesota Vikings season
highlight reel and also the psychedelic-flavored jazz track "Artful Dodger" on the film recap of Super Bowl V
), and film of the players and coaches in the locker room after the game. With these techniques NFL Films turns football games into events that mimic ballet
, opera
, and epic
battle stories. Among the company's most famous creations is the poem and accompanying music cue The Autumn Wind
, which have become official themes for the Oakland Raiders
.
NFL Films produces the Greatest Moments series, which details classic games from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; the Lost Treasures series, which uses old NFL Films footage which had previously never been shown on television to give an inside and largely uncut look at football players, coaches, and referees; and NFL Films Presents, which shows games of today that NFL Films produces in their traditional, dramatic style. They appear on either ESPN
or the NFL Network
.
NFL Films also produces the NFL Game of the Week
, which showcases a previous-week's game of the current season. ION Television has purchased the rights to air Game of the Week, Saturdays at 6PM ET beginning September 15, with the Giants
-Cowboys
game from September 9, 2007. ESPN Classic
has been known to air classic episodes of Game of the Week
.
Among other television programs NFL Films is credited for producing include NFL Total Access
and much of the NFL Network
's programming output.
NFL Films' game highlights were also a staple of HBO's Inside the NFL
for its entire run; this will continue on that show's new network Showtime, in addition to having the company produce the show. NFL Films also produced for Showtime the five-part miniseries Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League
, which aired in fall 2009 as part of the American Football League
50th anniversary celebration.
NFL Films is famous for producing an annual highlight film for each team every season. If a team had a good year the film often revels in each victory, while breezing through, or skipping altogether, losses during the season. Inversely, if a team suffered through a poor season, the highlights commonly attempt to still show the team in a good light, however difficult that may be. Losses and pitiful play is commonly, and conveniently, edited out, leaving only isolated moments of success, prompting the viewer to not always realize how bad the team might have actually been. Most films conclude by portraying teams optimistically for the upcoming season, whether founded or not.
The Sabols have used NFL Films to showcase their senses of humor, as in the Football Follies
series. The Follies used blooper plays, such as fumbles, dropped passes, deflected or bobbled passes, players slipping and falling, mascots, the quarterback lining up behind the guard instead of the center, and disorganization, and outtakes and silly narration.
The presence of NFL Films' cameras allowed for the preservation of video footage from many of the NFL's 1960s era games in an era when sports telecasts were either broadcast live without any recording or whose films and tapes were destroyed and recycled
for later use. Without the presence of NFL Films, there would be no surviving footage of several of the early Super Bowl
s. In comparison, other major leagues that lacked the film resources that the NFL had have archives missing all the way up through the 1970s, with much of the time before that preserved only by Canadian television broadcasters.
In addition to covering the National Football League, NFL Films has also ventured into other unrelated documentary films, such as documenting the Munich Olympics massacre
for one of NBC
's Olympics telecasts, and serving as back-up film photography for other major events. It also produced the video for Journey
's 1983 hit single "Faithfully
".
NFL Films' distinctive style has been parodied in numerous commercials, particularly for the NFL's sponsors, including Sprint Nextel
and Burger King
.
NFL Films has won 105 Sports Emmys.
Lombardi is a biopic of former Green Bay Packers
and Washington Redskins
coach Vince Lombardi
, said to be starring Robert De Niro
in the title role. NFL Films will be producing the film in conjunction with ESPN Films
. It is set to debut before Super Bowl XLVI
.
Currently employing 12 full-time employees as well as several "seasonal" employees, the lab is open to the public for development needs. Clients include feature length and short films shot on location in Philadelphia as well as students at local universities.
The current lab is the third incarnation. The original lab was located in a building next to NFL Films original offices at 230 N 13th St in Philadelphia. The second lab was housed in the center of the NFL Films offices at 330 Fellowship Rd in Mt. Laurel, NJ. That entire one-story building has since been razed and replaced with a modern 4 story office building.
The third lab is located in the lobby of NFL Films current location in the Bishop's Gate industrial park in Mt. Laurel behind a 2-story glass wall. This allows visitors to the offices to see the inner workings of the entire processing lab. Those on morning tours can often watch as employees develop film for use in weekly shows.
NFL Films Lab is also in charge of the archiving and maintenance of the vault. Containing over 100 continuous years of football footage, the vault houses all of the film that NFL Films has shot or acquired from other sources in its entire history. Currently, NFL Films is in the process of re-transferring all of its footage into HD format, although the original film will always be kept as it's likely to outlast tape medium in terms of degradation.
Much of the NFL Films archive has been publicly posted on Hulu
.
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows. Founded as Blair Motion Pictures by Ed Sabol
Ed Sabol
Edward "Ed" Sabol is an American filmmaker and the founder of NFL Films. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 as a contributor due to his works with NFL Films....
in 1962
1962 NFL season
The 1962 NFL season was the 43rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, CBS signed a contract with the league to televise all regular-season games for a $4.65 million annual fee....
, and now run by his son Steve Sabol, it is currently owned by the League and produces most of its videotaped content except its live game coverage, which is handled separately by the individual networks.
Founding
Founder Ed SabolEd Sabol
Edward "Ed" Sabol is an American filmmaker and the founder of NFL Films. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011 as a contributor due to his works with NFL Films....
was a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran who worked selling topcoats after returning to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In his spare time, he often used a motion picture camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, received as a wedding gift, to record his son Steve’s high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
games. Inspired by his own work, Sabol founded a small film company named Blair Motion Pictures, after his daughter. Sabol won the bidding for the rights to film the 1962 NFL championship game for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4,000, double the bid for the 1961 championship game. The film of that game impressed NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle
Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world....
, who asked the owners of the NFL to agree to buy out Sabol's company. Although the owners rejected Rozelle's proposal in 1964, they agreed a year later and renamed Sabol's company NFL Films. He received $20,000 in seed money from each of the league's 12 owners, and in return would shoot all NFL games and produce a highlight film for each team.
On August 6, 2011, Ed Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of fame as a major contributor to the National Football League.
Style
Much has been made of the NFL Films style. Salon.comSalon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
television critic Matt Zoller Seitz has called NFL Films "the greatest in-house P.R.
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
machine in pro sports history . . . an outfit that could make even a tedious stalemate seem as momentous as the battle for the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
."
NFL Films productions follow certain patterns. Film is mostly used, one camera is dedicated entirely to slow motion shots, microphones are present on the sidelines and near the field to pick up both the sounds of the games as well as the talk on the sidelines, and narrators with deep, powerful, baritone voices are preferred. Narrators have included the late Harry Kalas
Harry Kalas
Harry Norbert Kalas was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies...
and Scott Graham
Scott Graham
Scott Graham is an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of the Philadelphia Phillies. He has lived and worked near Philadelphia for most of his life. He was born June 10, 1965 in Belleville, New Jersey, and now lives in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. His sportscasting résumé covers...
, both voices of the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, and the famous John Facenda
John Facenda
John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda was an American broadcaster and sports announcer. He was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for NFL Films and Football Follies...
, the late WCAU-TV anchor called by some "The Voice of God." J.K. Simmons was tabbed to narrate the company's one-hour recap of the 16-0 regular season of the 2007 New England Patriots
2007 New England Patriots season
The 2007 New England Patriots season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and 48th season overall. They finished with a perfect 16–0 regular season record but lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII....
.
The style has been called tight on the spiral, a reference to the frequently-used slow-motion shot of the spinning football as it travels from the quarterback's hand to the receiver. NFL Films also dubs sound bites of local radio broadcasts over key plays, because radio announcers are typically more enthusiastic about their home teams than are network television broadcasters. In addition, NFL Films often uses multiple camera angles (with an emphasis on close-up shots that often exaggerate the speed of the players in real time), muscular orchestral scores usually provided by Sam Spence
Sam Spence
Samuel Lloyd Spence is an American soundtrack composer best known for his work with NFL Films.-Biography:A former USC music instructor living and working in Munich, Spence was hired in 1966 to score the mini-documentaries that conveyed NFL highlights and personalities to fans in the...
, Dave Robidoux and Tom Hedden (though the company also made use of KPM Musichouse
KPM Musichouse
KPM Musichouse is a company which provides library music, formed by the merger of KPM and Musichouse .-History:KPM music has been used in many films and television programmes worldwide...
tracks, notably those of Syd Dale
Syd Dale
Syd Dale was born in York, England. He was a self taught composer and arranger of funk, easy listening and library music. His music played an important role on TV, radio and advertising media of the 1960s and 1970s. It is still extensively used today.Syd Dale started as an apprentice engineer at...
such as his track "Malestrom" for the company's 1968 Minnesota Vikings season
1968 Minnesota Vikings season
1968 was the eighth year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 49th regular season of the National Football League. Under head coach Bud Grant, the Vikings won the NFL Central Division title with a record of eight wins and six losses, as they qualified for post-season play for the...
highlight reel and also the psychedelic-flavored jazz track "Artful Dodger" on the film recap of Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V was an American football game played on January 17, 1971, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1970 regular season...
), and film of the players and coaches in the locker room after the game. With these techniques NFL Films turns football games into events that mimic ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and epic
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
battle stories. Among the company's most famous creations is the poem and accompanying music cue The Autumn Wind
The Autumn Wind
“The Autumn Wind” is a sports-themed poem written by present NFL Films President and co-founder Steve Sabol describing the atmosphere autumn weather, as it relates to pro football season. It is synonymous with, and the unofficial team anthem of the NFL's Oakland Raiders, and is often heard blaring...
, which have become official themes for the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Television programs
One of NFL Films' most popular series is "Hard Knocks." With production run entirely from the field and the NFL Films facility, NFL Films and HBO are granted unprecedented, exclusive access to one NFL team as they go through training camp, leading up to the beginning of the season. "Hard Knocks" won consecutive Outstanding Edited Sports Series Emmys in 2009 & 2010.NFL Films produces the Greatest Moments series, which details classic games from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; the Lost Treasures series, which uses old NFL Films footage which had previously never been shown on television to give an inside and largely uncut look at football players, coaches, and referees; and NFL Films Presents, which shows games of today that NFL Films produces in their traditional, dramatic style. They appear on either ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
or the NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
.
NFL Films also produces the NFL Game of the Week
NFL Films Game of the Week
The NFL Films Game of the Week, formerly known as the NFL Game of the Week, is a program that airs on NFL Network, the official television channel of the National Football League...
, which showcases a previous-week's game of the current season. ION Television has purchased the rights to air Game of the Week, Saturdays at 6PM ET beginning September 15, with the Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
-Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
game from September 9, 2007. ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biographies of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event...
has been known to air classic episodes of Game of the Week
NFL Films Game of the Week
The NFL Films Game of the Week, formerly known as the NFL Game of the Week, is a program that airs on NFL Network, the official television channel of the National Football League...
.
Among other television programs NFL Films is credited for producing include NFL Total Access
NFL Total Access
NFL Total Access is a television news program on the NFL Network.The network treats it as the league's "show of record" and bills it as the only year-round show dedicated to the National Football League, despite the ESPN show NFL Live running year round as well.NFL Total Access is primarily hosted...
and much of the NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
's programming output.
NFL Films' game highlights were also a staple of HBO's Inside the NFL
Inside the NFL
Inside the NFL is a weekly cable television sports show that focuses on the National Football League. It originally aired on HBO from 1977 through 2008...
for its entire run; this will continue on that show's new network Showtime, in addition to having the company produce the show. NFL Films also produced for Showtime the five-part miniseries Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League
Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League
Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League is a sports documentary miniseries that focuses on the American Football League , recognized by many as the genesis of modern Professional Football...
, which aired in fall 2009 as part of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
50th anniversary celebration.
NFL Films is famous for producing an annual highlight film for each team every season. If a team had a good year the film often revels in each victory, while breezing through, or skipping altogether, losses during the season. Inversely, if a team suffered through a poor season, the highlights commonly attempt to still show the team in a good light, however difficult that may be. Losses and pitiful play is commonly, and conveniently, edited out, leaving only isolated moments of success, prompting the viewer to not always realize how bad the team might have actually been. Most films conclude by portraying teams optimistically for the upcoming season, whether founded or not.
The Sabols have used NFL Films to showcase their senses of humor, as in the Football Follies
Football Follies
Football Follies are collections of American football bloopers performed by National Football League players. Produced by NFL Films, these collections also spoof parts of popular culture. Mel Blanc joined in the fun in 1976 with The Son of Football Follies, and returned in 1989 for The Super Duper...
series. The Follies used blooper plays, such as fumbles, dropped passes, deflected or bobbled passes, players slipping and falling, mascots, the quarterback lining up behind the guard instead of the center, and disorganization, and outtakes and silly narration.
The presence of NFL Films' cameras allowed for the preservation of video footage from many of the NFL's 1960s era games in an era when sports telecasts were either broadcast live without any recording or whose films and tapes were destroyed and recycled
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
for later use. Without the presence of NFL Films, there would be no surviving footage of several of the early Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s. In comparison, other major leagues that lacked the film resources that the NFL had have archives missing all the way up through the 1970s, with much of the time before that preserved only by Canadian television broadcasters.
Success
Although NFL Films earns more than $50 million in revenue a year and is expanding at a double digit rate, compared to the $18 billion in revenue that the NFL earns from television alone, most consider this to be minor. The real value of NFL Films is how it packages and sells the game and many credit it as a key reason that the NFL has become the most watched league in the United States.In addition to covering the National Football League, NFL Films has also ventured into other unrelated documentary films, such as documenting the Munich Olympics massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
for one of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Olympics telecasts, and serving as back-up film photography for other major events. It also produced the video for Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
's 1983 hit single "Faithfully
Faithfully (song)
"Faithfully" is a popular song and power ballad by the band Journey, and the second single from their album Frontiers. It was written by Neal Schon, Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their second consecutive top twenty hit from Frontiers...
".
NFL Films' distinctive style has been parodied in numerous commercials, particularly for the NFL's sponsors, including Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
and Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
.
NFL Films has won 105 Sports Emmys.
Albums
- The Power and the Glory: The Original Music & Voices of NFL Films (1998)
- Autumn Thunder: 40 Years of NFL Films Music (2004)
- NFL CountryNFL CountryNFL Country is a compilation album released by the National Football League that featured country musicians performing songs with NFL stars...
(1996) - Music from National Football League Films, LP NFL-1, circa 1970s.
Films
- Truth in 24Truth in 24Truth in 24 is a 2009 documentary film directed by Keith Cossrow and Bennett Visltear detailing Audi's preparation for the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team is followed through several races prior to Le Mans, including the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1000km of Monza. Neither race results in...
(2008) - Lombardi (2012)
Lombardi is a biopic of former Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
coach Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
, said to be starring Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
in the title role. NFL Films will be producing the film in conjunction with ESPN Films
ESPN Films
ESPN Films is a production company owned by ESPN that produces and distributes sports films and documentaries.-History:...
. It is set to debut before Super Bowl XLVI
Super Bowl XLVI
Super Bowl XLVI will be the 46th annual edition of the Super Bowl in American football, and the 42nd annual championship game of the modern-era National Football League . It will be held on February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. This will be the first Super Bowl to be...
.
NFL Films Lab
NFL Films operates its own in-house 16mm and 35mm Color Negative Processing Lab. This enables the film that is shot at each game to be rushed back to the Mt. Laurel facility and processed immediately so as to give the production team the maximum amount of time to produce its weekly shows.Currently employing 12 full-time employees as well as several "seasonal" employees, the lab is open to the public for development needs. Clients include feature length and short films shot on location in Philadelphia as well as students at local universities.
The current lab is the third incarnation. The original lab was located in a building next to NFL Films original offices at 230 N 13th St in Philadelphia. The second lab was housed in the center of the NFL Films offices at 330 Fellowship Rd in Mt. Laurel, NJ. That entire one-story building has since been razed and replaced with a modern 4 story office building.
The third lab is located in the lobby of NFL Films current location in the Bishop's Gate industrial park in Mt. Laurel behind a 2-story glass wall. This allows visitors to the offices to see the inner workings of the entire processing lab. Those on morning tours can often watch as employees develop film for use in weekly shows.
NFL Films Lab is also in charge of the archiving and maintenance of the vault. Containing over 100 continuous years of football footage, the vault houses all of the film that NFL Films has shot or acquired from other sources in its entire history. Currently, NFL Films is in the process of re-transferring all of its footage into HD format, although the original film will always be kept as it's likely to outlast tape medium in terms of degradation.
Much of the NFL Films archive has been publicly posted on Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
.