NBC Promotional Shoot

In November, I worked on putting together the NBC Promotional Shoot - a gathering of our top 70 Olympic hopefuls and many of NBC's entities to put together promotional packages, features and vignettes for their Olympic coverage. It took place at a famous studio in West Hollywood and was quite a glamorous experience for the athletes, starting with hair and makeup, and including photo shoots, commercials, green screens, interviews and more.

Gymnast Shawn Johnson getting her hair done.

Track & field legend Michael Johnson is now an agent who represents current track athletes. Here he is arriving with one of his top clients - 400 meter runner Jeremy Wariner, who won gold in Athens in 2004.

Synchronized swimmer Andrea Nott getting ready for some promo shots. We had about 15 different "stations" that the athletes were escorted to for 20 minute segments.

Four gymnasts at a lifestyle photo shoot: (clockwise from top left): Alicia Sacramone, Samantha Peszek, Bridget Sloan and Shawn Johnson. All four made the six-woman team.

16-year old gymnast Samantha Peszek with two beach volleyball players, who unfortunately just missed qualifying for the team.


Track star Lauryn Williams in front of a green screen.

Some of the other big name athletes who attended:

• Swimmers Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin and Ryan Lochte
• Beach volleyball Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh
• Women's basketball players Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi
• Track athletes Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards
• Gymnast Paul Hamm and his brother Morgan
• Soccer player Abby Wambach, who unfortunately broke her leg in the last pre-Olympics game and could be out for her career
• Divers Laura Wilkinson and Troy Dumais

NBC is focusing on five Olympic sports during their prime time broadcasts: gymnastics, swimming, track & field, beach volleyball and diving. Those are the athletes they request the most because they're marketing those they want fans to connect with.

Overall the event was a success and I've seen the footage quite a bit - from TV screens in Best Buy and Comcast OnDemand, to NBC commercials and NBCOlympics.com, to pieces they've aired during their coverage of the Olympic Trials. They've amped up coverage and promotions for these Olympic Games more than even before, which is a huge sign the Olympic Movement is prospering and puts the USOC in a good position for future broadcast negotiations.