Coyotes’ Award-Winning Production Team Engages Fans with Next-Level Access

Capturing the most important moments of each hockey season is literally quite a production.

As it turns out, the Arizona Coyotes have one of the best teams in all of sports to take that challenge head on, and have earned recognition because of it.

The Coyotes’ production team earned a 2023 Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmy Award in the Sports Story Short / Long Form Content category for its “Inside Access – No Pressure No Diamonds” documentary, and was honored with the award in November. The team earned three total nominations – Editor News/Sports (Vince Dwyer) and Sports Program – Live or Post-Produced (Inside Access, On the Clock).

Nate Steele, Executive Producer, Video Content & Live Production, Wesley Fry, Senior Producer, Vince Dwyer, Senior Producer, John Gray, Senior Producer, and Kevin Thompson, Senior Motion Graphics Producer, all received the award for the Inside Access episode. The 2023 honor marks the second such time the team has been recognized after winning a 2022 Emmy for “Leighton’s Legacy” in its Sports Story Content category, as well.

“This one is the most special for me because of what went into it from our group, and what it meant for us, to prove to ourselves, that we were capable of it,” Steele said. “Belief has to come from the inside first, but it sure does feel nice to get the recognition. It was great because of them.

“We had the opportunity provided to us by leadership, but without all of them being willing to come in and sweat it out, it’s not possible.”

All of the success came only after the team received unparalleled access from General Manager Bill Armstrong and his staff.

It started with team scouting meetings in Reno, Nev., and then through the NHL Combine in Buffalo, NY, before culminating in the lead-up to the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, where Arizona possessed three picks in the first round.

The process for filming required a trust from Armstrong and his staff that isn’t forged overnight. The production team was privy to a number of confidential conversations as the scouting staff ranked its top prospects leading up to the draft, in which they ended up selecting Logan Cooley (3rd overall), Conor Geekie (11th overall), and Maveric Lamoureux (29th overall).

Armstrong said it’s not necessarily easy to initially allow that level of access, but his team had full faith in the group, and Steele and his team kept them in the loop every step of the way.

“At the start it is, it’s kind of frightening,” Armstrong said. “We have a good trust with that group, and they are extremely professional and understand there are some sensitive topics that we talk about in the room that nobody else is privileged to.

“They’re really good. They’re exciting, they really are the key for our fans to see that inside access of what it’s really like to be a part of the scouting staff, and other key moments. They give a really good inside look into what’s going on.”

Steele said the more traditional documentary style had been a goal since he started with the Coyotes organization, but it took some time to set in motion. The documentary itself was inspired by previously produced shows that the team admired, including “Last Chance U Basketball” on Netflix.

They weren’t quite ready to kick off the process in 2021, but fast-forward a year and the team had the plan – and the trust – to kick it off.

“We knew we were going to have an amazing draft pick,” Steele said. “We laid out the ground work, and Bill Armstrong opened the doors and said ‘come on in.’ You can’t use everything, but let’s record it and find out.”

Fry, a lifelong hockey player who played his youth hockey with the Jr. Coyotes growing up, has been with the organization for five years. He’s worked tirelessly since his arrival to gain that trust, which was rewarded a few years ago when he was first allowed on the ice to capture postgame video -- something that has since become a regular occurrence.

The content gives fans an on-ice view of some of the most on-ice intimate moments, and the access to do so isn’t something that Fry has ever taken for granted.

“Taking those first steps in pushing to make it happen, I take pride in it for sure, but ultimately I made the first step and then the team made 20 steps behind me to get me where we’re at,” Fry said. “Our group is so special. We all bring something different to the table. This opened a world to me, and I’m so grateful that it all panned out. Just starting from back when I first got the job, content was big, but it was not at the level that we have created.”

That progression has been an intentional plan that has taken time to execute, and Dwyer said there was talk about the team completing longform content before he started with the Coyotes. As they started to put their plan in motion collaboration was more important than ever before.

“Everyone is willing to hear each other out,” Dwyer said. “We figure it out together, especially when we’re on a tighter deadline.”

Producing and editing the award-winning spot had its obstacles, too. “No Pressure, No Diamonds” was being worked on during a time of transition for the team, as it was moving its business offices from then-Gila River Arena to its new complex in Scottsdale.

As such, each team member fondly recalled leveraging the new space to edit the video in a brand-new office complex that wasn’t even fully operational yet, but the team pulled it together despite being up against tighter deadlines by spending late nights together to get it across the finish line.

The result wasn’t only an Emmy-award winning piece – it also created memories that strengthened an already rock-solid bond.

“We had arrived into the new offices when nobody else had moved in yet,” said Gray, who now acts as the Thundervision Lead Videographer for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. “There was no air conditioning, we were in there with fans, and remember you're talking about computers that are running as hot as they can get.

“It was a really special moment, and a really special time, because against all circumstances we all showed up together, got it done, and we were ready to put something great out. I’ll never forget it, because it’s one of the most memorable elements in an already-great story.”

That success and camaraderie is something that has driven the Coyotes’ production team to pursue even more lofty goals. The 2023-24 season marked the second year it leveraged Unreal Engine to power the production day set – something Steele and his team conceptualized and developed for a year before putting it into practice.

Production days mark one of the biggest events of the year for the team, as it captures the majority of the file video and photography content used throughout the season, including the team’s in-arena introduction video.

Unreal Engine is essentially an application for building three-dimensional stories, applications, and video games, and was developed by Fortnite creator Epic Games. The software is made available free to users, who create a virtual world inside of it.

The capabilities allow for the team to film in front of hundreds of feet of paneling – and a wall that was over 40 feet tall -- while projecting a digital world behind the subject. It's synchronized with various lighting arrays that respond to cues in real time, such as lightning strikes and dust storms.

The technology is used in Hollywood to prevent the need to bring massive sets to a specific location, and has been used to film the wildly popular series, “The Mandalorian.”

“We live in a geographically rich, iconic state, which is very unique compared to many other hockey markets all over the world,” Steele said. “We have deserts, canyons, rivers, beautiful, rich landscapes and culture. The problem is you can’t really wear hockey gear around the Grand Canyon, so we put Monument Valley into the unreal engine to create an environment for our players to be in a virtual world.”

Setting up the environment requires months of preparation – something Steele said begins as soon as the previous season has concluded. Thompson built out some of the incredible effects in this year’s video, which included a dimensional rift, or portal, that could be used and controlled in real time.

As motion graphics lead, Thompson has the largest role when it comes to graphic treatments, title cards, and thumbnails – all accents that help put the story together.

“That is my Super Bowl every year,” Thompson said of production day. “It’s cool for the players, too, because in the past you either have the players on the ice with lights, or you have them brought in front of a blue screen or a green screen. With that, they don’t see the vision of what you’re trying to do. You have to rely on telling them, ‘Hey, trust us with this.’

“When you’re working with the Unreal sets and you have these massive three-story tall screens and cameras tracking them in real time, the guys are looking while they’re being filmed, and they get a sense of this is what they’re working towards.”

Innovative thinking, talent, and a strong bond has helped the award-winning team continue to be leaders in the industry, which was highlighted by their win at the Rocky Mountain Emmys. Though the tight-knit group is quick to point out they do it for each other – and the team – the recognition is something that ultimately means a lot.

“It’s nice to be recognized once in a while because you do so much work in a year,” Dwyer said. “A lot of times everything is moving so fast that we don’t have a lot of time to sit and appreciate things that we’ve made.

“It was stressful. We had a lot of moving parts going on. We were able to create this thing that had never been done with our team before; We had some long days and some nights working trying to figure out what we were doing, and together we are all so proud of what came from it.”

Armstrong was equally impressed.

“They’re open to different ideas and they want to know how we see things, and they put their creative spin on it,” he said. “It’s amazing what they can do, that group. They’ve done some great work, and we’re truly lucky to have them in our organization.

I just thought the access and the excitement of the draft and everything was just outstanding.”

As the 2023-24 season begins to wind down, the Coyotes’ production team will again begin planning for next season, aligning its ideas and plans with everyone that will be collaborating on upcoming projects.

A few award-winning seasons should have fans excited for what’s yet to come.

“I can’t really even put into words what it means,” Fry said. “It’s the culmination of something extremely special: Friendships, pride, the love of the game, and the love for this team.”