Director of event presentation
The only person calling more audibles than Tom Brady on gameday might be Abigail Thelin. The director of event presentation at Gillette since 2013, Thelin is in charge of a crew of 43—including eight camera operators, seven replay operators and several graphics and ribbon board operators—working out of a TV production truck. She follows a production script that even has the coin toss scheduled to the second, but sticking to it is always tough—especially, for example, if Bon Jovi’s in the house and they’ve got to play “Livin’ on a Prayer.” “Five minutes into the game once we get a feel for how it is going, I can pretty much tear it up because everything has changed.”
7 hours till kickoff: Arrive at the stadium an hour before the crew call so I can finalize the scripts.
5.5 hours till kickoff: Run through the script in a crew meeting and point out anything new. As the crew begins to load content and test systems, I troubleshoot issues as they arise. This is also when we enjoy a crew meal—I’m a sucker for the mac ’n’ cheese. Seriously, it’s so addictive!
2.5 hours till kickoff: National anthem sound check. My inner 10-year-old was ecstatic when Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block sang the anthem for us a few years ago. Other than the banner-raising ceremony, that might have been my favorite day of work!
2 hours till kickoff: Gates open. We have to make sure all our ribbon boards are fired up and our DJ is playing music.
1 hour till kickoff: Players start to trickle onto the field for warmups, and we begin live production, showing the players and fans on the videoboards. The hourlong warmup is sponsored, so we have to make sure we show live footage for at least 30 minutes.
20 minutes till kickoff: Pregame presentation begins. Everything from this point on is scripted down to the second. We have to abide by timing given us by the broadcast so that we line certain things up with their commercial breaks.
Kickoff: Execute everything in the script, making sure that we run all our sponsor elements as well as entertain and excite the fans.
Postgame: Meet for a quick debrief on any issues we ran into during the game.
Team Players
Gillette's off-the-field MVPs share their gameday routines.
By Matt Martinelli | Photos courtesy of the New England Patriots / Eric J. Adler | Sept. 2, 2016
Abigail Thelin
Director of event presentation
The only person calling more audibles than Tom Brady on gameday might be Abigail Thelin. The director of event presentation at Gillette since 2013, Thelin is in charge of a crew of 43—including eight camera operators, seven replay operators and several graphics and ribbon board operators—working out of a TV production truck. She follows a production script that even has the coin toss scheduled to the second, but sticking to it is always tough—especially, for example, if Bon Jovi’s in the house and they’ve got to play “Livin’ on a Prayer.” “Five minutes into the game once we get a feel for how it is going, I can pretty much tear it up because everything has changed.”
7 hours till kickoff: Arrive at the stadium an hour before the crew call so I can finalize the scripts.
5.5 hours till kickoff: Run through the script in a crew meeting and point out anything new. As the crew begins to load content and test systems, I troubleshoot issues as they arise. This is also when we enjoy a crew meal—I’m a sucker for the mac ’n’ cheese. Seriously, it’s so addictive!
2.5 hours till kickoff: National anthem sound check. My inner 10-year-old was ecstatic when Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block sang the anthem for us a few years ago. Other than the banner-raising ceremony, that might have been my favorite day of work!
2 hours till kickoff: Gates open. We have to make sure all our ribbon boards are fired up and our DJ is playing music.
1 hour till kickoff: Players start to trickle onto the field for warmups, and we begin live production, showing the players and fans on the videoboards. The hourlong warmup is sponsored, so we have to make sure we show live footage for at least 30 minutes.
20 minutes till kickoff: Pregame presentation begins. Everything from this point on is scripted down to the second. We have to abide by timing given us by the broadcast so that we line certain things up with their commercial breaks.
Kickoff: Execute everything in the script, making sure that we run all our sponsor elements as well as entertain and excite the fans.
Postgame: Meet for a quick debrief on any issues we ran into during the game.
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