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NHL annouces formation of the NHL Original Productions entity
The National Hockey League today announced the creation of NHL ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS, an initiative that will join forces with renowned executive producer Ross Greenburg, through Ross Greenburg Productions.
Greenburg, who has won 51 Sports Emmy awards for his pioneering work at HBO over three decades, will work with the NHL's Content Group on NHL Original Productions initiatives.
NHL Original Productions will create original, long- and short-form hockey programming for NBC Sports and the League's media assets, beginning later this season. The new venture reflects the partnership forged between the League and NBC over the past six years and reaffirmed by the 10-year media rights deal signed in April, 2011. The launch of NHL Original Productions is the latest collaboration between the NHL and Greenburg – an alliance that produced two critically-acclaimed programs on HBO: Broad Street Bullies and the Emmy Award-winning 24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic.
NHL Original Productions also will develop original content for use by the League's media platforms (NHL Network and NHL.com) as well as national and regional rightsholders.
"Extending our programming and production capabilities through this relationship with Ross Greenburg will allow us to do more story-telling, bring fans further inside the game and promote our players through compelling content that our avid fans crave and new fans will embrace,” NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins said. “As we continue to grow our business, NHL Original Productions will enable our Content Group, headed by Executive Vice President Charles Coplin, and our Clubs and rightsholders to benefit from Ross’s unparalleled talent and experience to present our sport in new ways.”
Among the projects on the drawing board for NHL Original Productions in 2011-12 are “Day in the Life” player documentaries revealing the regimens and personalities of NHL players appearing in NHL on NBC games. Plans also are being developed for documentaries and features to coincide with the lead up to the NHL’s Centennial Celebration in 2017. Greenburg also will work with independent producers and filmmakers to produce hockey films and other documentaries and reality-based series focused on the sport.
"Though I've long been a fan of the game, my passion for hockey -- particularly the way it is played at its highest level in the NHL -- was intensified by working on the Broad Street Bullies and 24/7 projects," Greenburg said. "Hockey players compete in a sport that requires an unmatched combination of world-class skill and relentless toughness, all the while remaining the most approachable and genuine of professional athletes. I am thrilled to be able to tell their stories in exciting and innovative ways and delighted that I'll be working so closely with the NHL for years to come."
In his 33 years at HBO – beginning as a production assistant, as an award-winning executive producer and, for the last 11 years, as the president of HBO Sports – Greenburg was instrumental in the creation of several of the network’s signature shows and series. Those included the sports magazine series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, the NFL training camp reality series Hard Knocks, and the 24/7 franchise which provides all-access build-ups to boxing matches and the NHL Winter Classic. The last project Greenburg supervised before leaving HBO in July was a documentary on New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter’s pursuit of 3,000 hits.
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"Trust me I'm an expert, I watched 13 rangers games on NHL center Ice this year through streaming." -Starburst
"I don't even understand what the point of all this arguing is. Are you guys hoping that the other side is going to have an epiphany and go 'Oh, OH! You're right, we ARE going to lose this series!'" -Crease
Really looking forward to seeing what they'll come up with.
I'm hoping that the HBO group has some autonomy with respect to what they can get away with.
Greenburg left HBO, so he's totally independent (from them).
I'd love to see more of the "Voices" series; essentially they concentrated on the radio pxp guy (unless the TV guy was such a "name"). There is still the analyst and/or TV guys to do. Easily 1-3 more per team. You could also tackle other "hidden" members of the staff, like the trainers, equipment guys, scouts, GMs, etc. (perhaps 5 min per guy or something). Always interesting to learn their stories.
I like the idea of a "day in the life". I'm thinking it would be like HBO's 24/7 on the Winter Classic build up, but concentrating on one player, or a handful, on a team. Probably 30 minutes (or even 10) per player - easy "after post game" if the former length or intermission fodder for the latter length.
I'm having a hard time believing that Costas can pull this off at this time. His run is long over. And I don't believe he has the respect of most athletes. His late night talk show was a joke and certainly didn't last very long. Now he's going to be the focus of the program. Good luck on this one. There's better people out there they could have used to pull this off. He damn near got his ass kicked in his interview with the president of the wrestling world. Vince McMahon.
The NHL needs to produce better product for DVD also.
Most NHL DVDs are the drizzling *****, and they have so much to offer. They should enter partnerships with right holders and release official box set of great hockey tournaments, DVD detailing great rivalries, great players...
I'm having a hard time believing that Costas can pull this off at this time. His run is long over. And I don't believe he has the respect of most athletes. His late night talk show was a joke and certainly didn't last very long. Now he's going to be the focus of the program. Good luck on this one. There's better people out there they could have used to pull this off. He damn near got his ass kicked in his interview with the president of the wrestling world. Vince McMahon.
Later with Bob Costas lasted for six years. He wasn't fired, he left on his own because Costas was tired of traveling to NYC from his home in St. Louis.
This is an extension of Bob's old HBO show which came after Later. The only reason his HBO program went off the air is because Costas had to give it up as part of his deal with MLB Network.
The NHL needs to produce better product for DVD also.
Most NHL DVDs are the drizzling *****, and they have so much to offer. They should enter partnerships with right holders and release official box set of great hockey tournaments, DVD detailing great rivalries, great players...
Excluding Stanley Cup winning team "commemorative" DVD, I'm not aware that there's a lot of "game action" DVDs being made/sold. A few players have had highlights/milestone games (like Gretzky), but very few of those.
It will be very interesting to see how the release of last season's "24/7 Road to Winter Classic" DVD release in about 3 weeks goes. (DVD only, no BluRay; but it's the first "24/7" HBO has ever released.)
The Bruins' cup DVD set was the first I've been aware of that's being released in BluRay (and DVD).
Story - good. Follows a player for 36 hours. Kane was doing a number of things during those hours - charity, practice, game day, etc.
Yeah, it was quite good unless you happened to watch 24/7 just prior. Doesn't really stack up to that but it was still pretty cool. I love any behind the scenes stuff from the NHL, so I'm easy to please.
