A 2.5-minute sizzle reel for an exciting competition series pitch, featuring custom animation work combined with ripped assets.

Roles: Writer, Senior Producer, Video Editor, Animator, Title GFX

Client: Invent TV

Invent TV told me they wanted to develop a competition show for smiths, and the primary target was History Channel. There was an idea that contestants could recreate weapons and armor from different historical periods, but the merited concern was that it would too closely resemble an existing show, “Forged In Fire.” I was asked to run with the loose concept and help “forge” it into something unique and exciting. “What if they actually begin in the Stone Age?” I asked. I’d seen Youtube videos of survivalist-types who build their own bricks from mud, use those bricks to make small ovens, and use those ovens to melt down metal and reshape it into tools. “And, what if they don’t just build weapons, but instead the smiths are teamed up with engineers and have to recreate the technological leaps of early civilizations?” When asked what I meant by that, it was one word that got the team on board and changed the whole direction of the concept, “catapults.”

Once the concept was whole, and I had written a concise script, everything fell into place quickly. I used many ripped elements, but also created original animations, as that was a feature Invent wanted in the series as well. Fast-paced cutting and careful attention to the sound design helped bring everything together to create a super fun and exciting sizzle reel for what could be a captivating competition show.