With the Labor Day launch of Scott Van Pelt’s midnight SportsCenter (#SCSVP), Front Row has been running a series of posts bringing fans behind the scenes with Van Pelt and his production team. Stay with Front Row as we take you “Behind the Glasses” and into a new SportsCenter that will present the world of sports through Van Pelt’s distinctive perspective.
Today, we meet editorial graphics producer Amy Zeleznock, who has been with ESPN four years.
Hometown/Currently reside/School: From Hazleton, Pa., ([Chicago Cubs manager] Joe Maddon’s hometown); graduate of Ithaca College (GO BOMBERS!).
Top 3 teams: Philadelphia Eagles, Penn State Nittany Lions, Philadelphia Phillies. Needless to say, my teams have brought me much more heartache than celebration in my lifetime.
In 25 words or less, explain your role on the SVP SC show: I’m responsible for all the graphic content on the show. I make the show look good. If I’m doing my job you won’t see screengrabs of a graphic floating around on the interwebs. (That’s 33 words — math was never my strong point, sorry!)
The best thing about working on the launch of a new show is: The excitement of the first night, creating something from scratch and making it your own. There’s not a real blueprint you need to follow; you can see what works, what doesn’t work and adjust as you go.
If Stanford Steve were an emoji, he would be: The smiling face with horns – he will poke at SVP just enough to get the best out of him and play that antagonist role when he needs to.
In 140 characters or less, my favorite thing about SVP is: He brings a smart approach to covering sports and isn’t afraid to incorporate smart betting nods into the show. Also has great dopplegangers.
So far, my favorite graphic for the show is: My favorite graphic has to be one of the “room” back/front end animations – I’m kind of torn between the Vegas room and the art gallery room. If I had to choose one, would probably be the art gallery room where the SVP animated character is doing pushups on a bench.
