“. . . Dude Perfect could not have been nicer in terms of giving Nolan the time of his life.”
The trick-shot artists work with SportsCenter's "My Wish" Series to fulfill the request of Nolan Harm, a child living with cystic fibrosis. A producer provides a look at how the segment was made.
When Josh Vorensky was notified that he’d get the opportunity to produce one of the ESPN “My Wish” features for 2019, he was thrilled, both personally and professionally to make his first contribution to the series.
The award-winning series is back for its 14th season with five new sports-themed wishes for children with critical illnesses.
Since its beginning in 2006, the series has partnered with Make-A-Wish® to fulfill 68 wishes, and ESPN produces features about the wishes for airing on SportsCenter.
“It’s been an amazing opportunity,” said Vorensky. “It’s a project that definitely has a lot of reverence within the company but it also has given me a lot of very personal satisfaction.”
Vorensky, who has worked on many different projects since joining ESPN eight years ago, is the producer of the “My Wish” featuring YouTube sensation Dude Perfect, a group of trick shot artists who are tremendously popular, especially among young people. The feature debuts today on SportsCenter.
https://twitter.com/MakeAWish/status/1150525469659488256
The story centers on Nolan Harm, an 11-year-old from Brick Township, N.J., living with cystic fibrosis, who has a passion for making the seemingly impossible happen and had a wish to meet Dude Perfect.
“With me being from New Jersey, and Nolan being from New Jersey, and hearing Nolan’s story and the amount of perseverance and courage that the whole family has been through, especially having two children with cystic fibrosis, to help tell the story has just been a tremendous honor,” Vorensky said.
“The family has been beyond welcoming, and Dude Perfect could not have been nicer in terms of giving Nolan the time of his life.”
Vorensky shot part of the feature in New Jersey, including interviewing family members and capturing the “reveal” when Nolan learned his wish was being granted. Then he and a crew shot the wish when it happened at Dude Perfect’s facility in Frisco, Texas.
“We had a drone shooting within the compound and that created some really fun angles,” he said. “Dude Perfect does trick shots and we wanted to help to illustrate that feel the way we were shooting.”
Vorensky is part of the SCEU group (SportsCenter Enhancement Unit) and this fall will be working on features for NFL Countdown. He was a field producer for ESPN’s Special Olympics World Games coverage in Abu Dhabi this year and in past years has worked on World Cup and Euro soccer coverage, Baseball Tonight and Outside the Lines.
“I definitely wanted to do more features and I’ve gotten those opportunities in the past few years,” he said.
“It’s just been a pleasure to be able to help to tell Nolan’s story,” he said. “It has definitely been a good challenge and a fun project to work on.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Read host Chris Connelly’s take on My Wish’s 14th season and what went into fulfilling 14-year-old football player George Taylor’s wish to meet NFL star Saquon Barkley.
