Thursday 24 October 2013

The Thrill of Returning to Notre Dame

I'll always remember my first trip to Notre Dame. It was the fall of 1993, and I was producing a feature on basketball star Monty Williams (now the coach of the NBA New Orleans Pelicans) for The George Michael Sports Machine. I was looking forward to reuniting with Monty, who briefly interned for me at NBC in Washington, DC. What I remember most about the trip was the first time I looked up and saw the golden dome. You could almost hear the echoes of Knute Rockne. Fast-forward 20 years later, and I have the privilege of returning to South Bend with 3 Penny Films. I'm a Boston College grad, a rival of the Fighting Irish, and Dan Skendzel, the Director of Fighting Irish Digital Media jokingly said he'd welcome me back anyway. I did remind Dan that Notre Dame could thank Boston College for Frank Leahy. It's an honor to announce this partnership:


***PRESS RELEASE***

For Immediate Release October 24, 2013

3 PENNY FILMS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA

Production company to provide in-depth television and web programming
for Notre Dame Athletics

SOUTH BEND, IN – 3 Penny Films, a collegiate sports television and web programming production company, announced today its partnership with University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Digital Media (FIDM). 3 Penny Films and FIDM have engaged in multiple projects since spring 2012 and are currently partnering on a four-month project to chronicle the 2013 Notre Dame football season as well as select stories related to Notre Dame’s inaugural seasons in other sports in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

3 Penny Films produces both television and web programming for FIDM. To date, 3 Penny Films has produced three behind-the-scenes shows chronicling the Irish football program that have aired on NBC Sports Network, with the next network program scheduled to air November 25 at 6:30 p.m. Additionally, 3 Penny Films has produced five shows that premiered on NBC Sports Network featuring Notre Dame men’s and women’s basketball, hockey, women’s soccer and men’s lacrosse.

“3 Penny Films has brought a cinematic level of production to our programming,” said Dan Skendzel, senior associate athletics director for Fighting Irish Digital Media. “What makes them so valuable to us, in addition to their outstanding storytelling ability, is that they understand and respect our culture and see themselves as educators at heart.”

“We are excited and honored for the opportunity to partner with FIDM and look forward to sharing the incredible story of Notre Dame through athletics,” said Jess Atkinson, co-founder of 3 Penny Films. “Our goal is to assist Notre Dame in telling authentic stories aligned with the university’s core values of excellence, education, faith, tradition and community through the video and web content we produce.”

3 Penny Films’ roster of clients includes the University of Maryland, University of Miami, Marquette University and the Wounded Warrior Project. Previous 3 Penny Films projects include “Auburn Football Every Day” produced for Auburn University Athletics, "Raising Canes" online series for University of Miami Athletics, and the Arkansas State documentary on the coaching era of Gus Malzahn.

ABOUT 3 PENNY FILMS
3 Penny Films was founded by Jess Atkinson, Bill Kraus and Joe Schreiber. The genre of reality/documentary style programming for collegiate sports was originally pioneered by former NFL kicker and television broadcaster Jess Atkinson in 2003 at the University of Maryland. The unique partnership of 3 Penny Films was formed in 2009. Kraus had previously formed the marketing machine behind the explosive growth of Under Armour. Emmy Award winning producer Joe Schreiber helped launch and produce NBC’s The George Michael Sports Machine, a show that ran for 23 years, one of the longest running national sports shows in television history. For sample of 3 Penny Films productions, please visit www.3pennyfilms.com.



CONTACT:
Kristen Seabolt Dan Skendzel
Maroon PR Fighting Irish Digital Media
443-864-4246 574-631-2454
Kristen@maroonpr.com skendzel.1@nd.edu





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