Update Feb. 1 and Jan. 30: Arcadia got another national as well as a global moment in the TV spotlight during the Super Bowl tonight, Feb. 1. A production crew hired by the NFL spent many hours filming some scenes at the Arcadia High School football field and stadium Jan. 11 to be potentially be included in one of those rah-rah National Football League “Together We Make Football” commercials during the Super Bowl telecast.
The spot (below) included the band in two very brief shots at about 18 second and 35-seconds — which is one more than celebrities like Britney Spears got…
When a marching band was needed, the NFL knew where to go — AHS was selected after a statewide search by the NFL because of AHS’s great reputation, the availability of more than 300 band students, the relatively new stadium facilities, and the school district’s willingness to work with the production on short notice to make it happen. The production company, which was at the AHS stadium from 4 p.m. and under the lights until well after midnight on that Sunday, has done Nike commercials and spots with LeBron James and Derek Jeter, so this was no small-time endeavor.
<Story continues after local KNBC video news story shown on Jan. 30…> Although everyone involved with the coordination of the production was under a Non-Disclosure Agreement until Jan. 30 that prohibited them from discussing any of the specifics about the production that took place, more than 300 students were involved, as well as their parents. Thus, Arcadia’s Best learned a few morsels of information several days in advance of the media announcement that might be helpful in advising you what to look for during the game.
First of all, to manage expectations, the entire thing may wind up not being used in the 60-second promotional piece, or at best there will likely only be a couple of seconds — and the way it gets integrated into the spot that filmed at was shot at locations all over the country may make identifying anything at the AHS stadium all but unrecognizable. But here’s what we know from some people involved who cannot be identified:
There are some celebrities in the commercial but none were on location during the production at AHS.
Students wore their band uniforms with Arcadia signs in the background.
The production involved a crew of 70-80 professionals on site.
The NFL made a notable donation to the AHS band program
Even before the Super Bowl, AHS band students and director Kevin Sherrill were featured on several local news station when Arcadia Unified School District Public Information Officer Ryan Foran arranged a media event Jan. 30 to announce the details and provide photos and video footage of the production and make band students available for interviews with TV news reporters (see two more videos below…).
— By Scott Hettrick
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