The UFC. I’m sure you’ve heard of them.

I’m not personally an avid watcher of the sport. Or any sport if I’m being honest. I’m more of a sit around with my feet up, watching a movie or reading a book kind of guy. 

That being said, working in sports is a blast. There’s a built in climax, an energy that gets the blood flowing.

I got the call–or LinkedIn message–from an old collaborator of mine that is now a producer in UFC’s Branded Department. They were looking to outsource the post work on a branded project with Thorne, work that included not just editing, sound mixing, and color grading, but animation work as well. 

My first call was to EJ Brieva and Jordan Stone at Notion of Motion.

If we were going to do this project right, I needed them on board for the animation work. Their expertise and attention to detail are what make their work so damn good.

Someone recently asked me how “I” did the animation work.

I said I don’t know. I hired someone. 

Once the fellas over at Notion of Motion were on board, I reached out to Brittney Briggs, a fellow Montclair State film school classmate. Brittney’s work has style and energy, working in the music video world in LA. I knew she would be the right fit for this project to bring it life, to keep that energy flowing.

The team was rounded out by…

…Rob Acocella, MPSE–the team’s resident smartass–an incredibly talented sound designer, Emiliano Monsegur a foley artist in Argentina, Jon Fuentes with the killer color grade, and very importantly Jillian Sczesnak as Post-Production Supervisor, who kept the train rolling throughout the seven week project. 

So the team was ready. We all were set to go.

Typically, the process starts with locking the edit, before adding any animation, sound design, color, etc. However, since this was a project paid for by UFC’s branding partner Thorne, each round of revisions, from the first cut forward, needed to be complete with animation, sound design, color. 

This was a challenge, as most people in post are not used to working this way. But our team handled it in stride, adapting their workflows to work more quickly, handing off project files, AAFs, XMLs, back and forth to each other in different time zones, sometimes completing all notes for all departments within 48 hours to send back to the client. 

It was a bit of a mad house, but we did it.

The UFC was happy. Thorne was happy. So this makes us happy. 

In total, we created two 2-minute “Hero” videos featuring Merab Dvalishvili and Kayla Harrison, plus four social cutdowns. In just the past two weeks, these videos have gained over 37,000 views on YouTube and 4.8 million views & 72,000 likes on Instagram. 

Just think about that.

A team spread out between California, Kansas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Argentina was able to work together through an endless number of Slack messages, Frame.io uploads, and late night phone calls. Not once did we meet in person. Some people on this team had never even met each other before. 

What made this possible? The sense of ownership that being a freelancer brings to a project. Everyone has a piece of this.

This isn’t “my” project. This is our project. We’re a team of subcontractors coming together, working to achieve a common goal. 

▶ No Punches Pulled: UFC/Thorne – the Ultimate Matchup

▶ This ain’t your grandma’s soap: Peek into Unbreakable Guard

▶ Coming in hot (but cruelty-free): Vegan Pop Eats. Watch last year’s special while we cook up the next one.