In the trailer for Jason Sciavicco’s latest behind-the-scenes show on University of Kentucky basketball, “The Road to Greatness Starts Here” scrolls across the screen.
Neither Sciavicco, a veteran storyteller who has found a niche with all-access docuseries, nor Kentucky coach John Calipari knew that road would venture through a dreadful four-game losing streak before they finished as champions of the SEC Tournament.
“We got guys who think they’re better than they are,” Calipari yelled at his team in the locker room after a loss.
That’s the kind of intensity and emotion the cameras captured with Sciavicco’s access.
“That’s sports, that’s what makes it so compelling,” Sciavicco said. “There’s ups, there’s downs, so from a producing standpoint, it allows you to be a fly on the wall. There’s nothing more raw. It requires no setup.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari takes part in “Inside the Madness: Kentucky Basketball.”Crazy Leg Productions
Sciavicco produced “Inside the Madness: Kentucky Basketball” as a 10-episode series for Facebook Watch, the platform’s new home for original content. The first episode debuted Feb. 17 and the show wrapped up last weekend with the end of the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament run.
The content was a mix of exclusive interviews, player profiles, game footage and behind-the-scenes video from practice and the locker room. Episode 7, which went into Calipari’s home and featured interviews with his wife and son, a Kentucky player, has been the most-watched with 1.7 million views.
CAA Sports represents both Calipari and Sciavicco, so the agency served as a matchmaker for the show.
Producing an all-access series is nothing new for Sciavicco, who started as an entry-level production assistant at ABC Sports in 1998 before becoming an independent producer. But producing for a digital platform rather than a linear TV channel was new.
Crazy Legs Productions
Facebook Watch also has been the home of two other docuseries, one featuring NASCAR’s Darrell Wallace Jr. and another with New England quarterback Tom Brady. Facebook users must follow the show’s page to gain access to the episodes. The “Inside the Madness” page in just over a month has gained almost 45 million followers.
Sciavicco, who has produced these types of all-access series for MTV, Showtime and ESPN, said producing for Facebook Watch created a unique experience from his chair. Instead of crafting a show for a 30-minute window on linear TV, Sciavicco’s episodes on Facebook ranged from 20 minutes to 25 minutes. The digital platform provided Sciavicco with the flexibility to tell that week’s story in whatever time he needed.
Facebook also gave him an immediacy so that interviews with coaches or players could run live on the show’s Facebook page, so not as much content wound up on the cutting-room floor.
“It’s another way to help viewers become invested in the show,” Sciavicco said.
The producer had gone behind the scenes with college football teams before, including Notre Dame, Florida State and Navy as part of Showtime’s “A Season With” series. In fact, Sciavicco is in talks to secure a college football team to follow this fall.
“Actually, it’s gotten easier,” he said. “Ten years ago, it was me pitching to the networks. Now it’s flipped. The networks come to us. … All-access really shows who you are as a coach, who your staff is, and how you run your program.”
