And to think it all started at a bar mitzvah, or a wedding–that’s where Steve Porter started DJing. Now, he’s made it to the Big Show—the NBA.
Porter’s the visual and audio force behind the NBA’s “Amazing is…” ad campaign, the most potent (and lucrative) example of how video mash-ups can go viral.
NBA caught a whiff of Porter, a long-time DJ Times reader, last June, when “Press Hop,” a mash-up of sports meltdowns and press conferences cut up in Final Cut Pro, set to music, and posted to You Tube, started appearing on SportsCenter.
“A month after SportsCenter picked it up, the NBA contacted me and said let’s see what you can do with our content,” Porter told us. “I cranked out four demos of the things they sent me. Then they told me they wanted to put them on commercials, and the series has been running the entire season and into the playoffs.”
Porter tells us the NBA was attracted to the viral capability and the unique art form. “They saw that syncing up video clips in a rhythmic manner and embedding them to music was unique. They thought this was a great way to express the vibe of the NBA through the players’ voices through music. With Final Cut and Abelton, you have the ability to turn conventional dialogue from players and make them into rap stars and music stars just by toning their voice a little bit…there’s so much you can do with this.”
