MADAM Shoots Global Influencers The F2 for Long-Form Six Part Series
Production on Whistle Sports’ latest long form series was serviced entirely by MADAM in the UK. Fronted by global social influencers the F2, the six-part series, It’s Called Football, which launched Boxing Day looks at the history, culture and fans of Premier League clubs and features unbelievable trick shots. With 11.5 million social media subscribers, the F2, Jeremy Lynch and Billy Wingrove, are Adidas key ambassadors, alongside the likes of Messi.
Production service company, MADAM, produced all elements of the UK segment with unprecedented access across four premiership football clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham and Southampton – their home grounds and training grounds, including their players and various locations across London & the UK.
MADAM producer, Michelle Stapleton: ‘The exciting element of this project was combining long-form film making with the expertise of working across high-end ads. This needed to be produced in a super organized high-end commercial manner but with the flexibility of working in a programme/documentary manner not governed by commercial rules. We had compact 4K cameras, second and third units, half the usual size commercial crew but still our preferred A-List crew members. All of which allowed us to cover off 4/5 locations a day and produce four 30 minute films across nine days. It was a fast paced, highly organized project with numerous decision changes on a daily/hourly basis.’
The 10 day shoot saw all crew travel extensively across London and South England with unparalleled access to home grounds of Stamford Bridge, including full access to the pitch, tunnel, dressing rooms, the Olympic Park, training grounds, local locations including Sloane Square, King’s Road, Bluebird Café, Cheyne Walk houseboats, an open top London double decker bus tour covering iconic central London sites including Trafalgar Square & Big Ben and for classic British Beach Hut shots in Hampshire. Access to Premiership players included Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi, Southampton’s Kelvin Davis and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet.
Director George Wieser: ‘The Madams were able to wrestle some semblance of order to the chaos that we brought to their shores. Changes came fast and at the last minute. Not only were there many moving parts, not enough time, a ridiculously ambitious shot list and a cranky director but also shooting with premier league teams and talent. With Michelle running the show I knew that it was going to be sorted properly. From a creative stand point it took a huge weight off my shoulders and allowed me to perform my duties as director without having to worry about the production. In the end we ended up with a wonderful show that wouldn't have happened without the expert help from the Madams.’
In each 30-minute episode, F2 Freestylers, Billy Wingrove and Jeremy Lynch, will take fans behind a different club from the Premier League, providing background on the culture, songs, stadiums, history, and fans of the club.
In the first episode, Billy and Jeremy examine the key facts fans need to know about Premier League football, and take fans through London’s Chelsea neighborhood to speak with Blues fans. The guys also speak with Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi, and perform trick shots under the lights at Stamford Bridge.
The second episode in the series features a look into the history of Arsenal Football Club, including appearances by Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, defender Shkodran Mustafi, and former Arsenal player Daniel Karbassiyoon.
