May 18, 2008

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BEHIND THE SCENES

West Hartford Production Company Triples Sports Business

By Sean O’Leary

Hartford Business Journal Staff Writer

05/05/08

As ESPN broadcast the Masters Tournament last month, most Greater Hartford viewers were unaware of a West Hartford connection to the global sports network.

Sean O'Leary

Bluefoot Productions, which won three sports Emmys last week, produced the ESPN lead-in to the Masters Tournament, pictured above with company founder Timothy Horgan.

The coverage began with actor Thomas Hayden Church narrating a two-minute Masters montage of scene-setting swaths of green and azalea blossoms mixed with scenes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and other golfing greats.

The slick intro was created in a production studio tucked above Grant’s Restaurant in West Hartford Center by Bluefoot Entertainment, an Emmy-winning production company that creates a variety of high-definition video projects for clients such as ESPN, ABC Sports and Major League Baseball.

Projects range from 60 second spots to ESPN’s hour-long news magazine show, E:60.

Last week, Bluefoot’s work was recognized with three sports Emmys. Company founder Tim Horgan and editor Matt McCormick, took home Emmys for Outstanding Technical Team Remote for their work on ESPN NASCAR and Matt McCormick won and emmy for Outstanding Short Feature with ESPN’s Martin Khodabakhshian.

 

Modest Beginnings

Horgan worked for ESPN for several years before founding Bluefoot in 2004 in his hometown of West Hartford. “I’m really proud of how West Hartford has grown, and we want to showcase what is being developed here,” he said.

Horgan started the company by himself with two clients. Today he counts seven clients. The production studio has more than tripled to 3,200 square feet, where four full-time employees and 16 contract freelancers work in three editing suites. Each suite is equipped with six to eight monitors, several computers and other technical equipment connected through fiber optics.

Since January 2007, Bluefoot completed 193 projects.

Now that the state’s film tax credit is luring major motion movie productions to Connecticut, Horgan said the movie sector is Bluefoot’s next logical growth area.

“We want to get our foot in the door,” he said. “It’s sometimes a matter of equipment more than talent, so we have to keep on the cutting edge.”

But talent matters too because Bluefoot relies on word-of-mouth, not expensive marketing campaigns, to land new business. The steady increase in the company’s ESPN contracts over three years testifies to its ability.

“ESPN has been a big benefit for us because it gets our name out there and people are able to see our work,” Horgan explained.

Craig Mikhitarian, principal of Ridgefield-based ACM Productions, has also done post-production work for ESPN projects. To continue to get work and expand is not easy because ESPN’s standards are high and the jobs can be tough, he said.

“It’s a big company that sets its ground rules and you have to follow them,” Mikhitarian said.

Since ESPN itself is continuously expanding, Mikhitarian said a company with Bluefoot’s track record and geographic proximity is well positioned for more success.

“They contract out their work, but they’re still based in Bristol,” he said. “To be an in-state company certainly can’t hurt.”

Bluefoot’s work ranges from shooting video footage to post-production editing. Its post-production work requires the staff to coordinate music, camera shots and voiceovers to create a finished product.

 

Putting It Together

The two-minute Masters Tournament segment was nearly four months in the making. “That took about 40 hours of editing,” Horgan said of the Masters project. “Sometimes, we will edit for up to 20 hours straight.”

Some projects demand even longer hours. During ESPN’s coverage of the 2007 Heisman Trophy ceremony, a trophy for the best college football player, Bluefoot’s staff was on the scene in New York City for four straight days in a production trailer, Horgan said.

Bluefoot employees also have rubbed elbows with rock ‘n roll royalty. Last summer, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler stopped by for an ESPN collaboration and they may work with rock band Coldplay for an international soccer promotion. “I really hope we get that,” Horgan said. “I’m a big fan.”

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