Habana
Avenue Strikes It Big & Rich For ESPN College Gameday Show
David Steinberg June 12th, 2008
An expansive oasis of great weather, proximity to abundant production resources and college students, as well as boasting a Bulls team in last year's top ten, the University of South Florida at the Tampa campus was chosen by the Habana Avenue production team to be the locale for the ESPN College GameDay open. The show, to be hosted by Chris Folwer, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso airing Saturdays starting this Fall, called for an open with a fresh, high-energy, youthful vibe.
ESPN wanted a musicfest-a-palooza staged for the open so Warner Bros. Nashville country luminaries Big & Rich were enlisted to do the honors. The band, performed "Coming to Your City." "This is not a mere local band," remarks Habana Avenue CEO and creative director Steven J. Levy. "With Tampa station WQYK being the first to air Big & Rich's music, and the region being the third largest market, everyone was excited to be a part of it." All of these elements along with a phenomenal local mobile staging company, MB Pro Sound & Staging, made Tampa a perfect fit.
Shot in one of the USF athletic fields, the outdoor fest scene is one of three parts. Other elements will include behind-the-scenes footage of the College GameDay crew and college football clips.
"Big & Rich were only available for one day," recounts Habana Avenue's John Mullins, "so we had to shoot within a limited time frame. We needed to shoot at least 1,000 students when the school session was out." He adds that radio calls, a live broadcast, blogs and Craig"s List were all utilized to generate a local buzz, in order to get enough people to show up.
"The USF campus was a great spot to draw a lot of people without having to over-spend on talent," says Levy. "Clients know they can depend upon the Habana Avenue team for creative thinking, resourceful decision-making and staying within budget."
About Habana Avenue
Habana Avenue is a full-service TV, film, live event and concert-experience Production Company and an original content creator. The company has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami's South Beach and Tampa. It maintains a boutique postproduction facility in Tampa and has full-service postproduction partnerships with Outsider, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois Mad Toy Box in Charlotte, North Carolina and Vidiots in New York City. For more information visit www.HabanaAvenue.com or call 877.Habana0 - 877.422.2620.
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