‘In The Lab’ – The Carolina Panthers Black Helmet Promo was one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects of my career. The effort paid off, earning incredible fan reactions and ultimately winning me an Emmy for ‘Best Director – Short Form Content.’ This project was a true testament to the power of teamwork and creativity, with every collaborator playing a vital role in bringing our bold vision to life.

In 2022 the Carolina Panthers organization was set to debut its new alternate black helmets—an exciting first in team history. While black uniforms had been a staple for years, the Panthers had never strayed from their signature silver helmets. At that time, the NFL was allowing only one alternate helmet appearance per season, so the organization chose a high-profile stage: the Thursday Night Football showdown against the Falcons.

I saw this as the perfect opportunity to craft an in-house promo—not just to showcase the helmets, but to build excitement for the primetime game. I challenged my short-form team to pitch creative concepts, and one idea stood out: a mad scientist, obsessed with transforming the Panthers’ silver helmet into something darker, bolder, and more sinister. The vision was set—now, it was time to bring it to life.

While I mapped out the shot sheet, my teammates tackled both the creative and logistical challenges. Our social media team secured props and set materials, while my assistant director, Omari Collins, sourced lab equipment from a local high school and locked in a filming location at The Ford Factory in Camp North End, Charlotte. Omari also landed our lead actor—Lou Young, a popular content creator on Instagram and TikTok, and a former Panthers player. It was the perfect synergy, blending a viral personality with someone who had real ties to the franchise.

The location scout was a game-changer. Seeing the vast creative possibilities inside the derelict factory made the vision snap into place. One area, in particular, stood out—a metal staircase with a canopy that could support lighting, plus a massive windowed wall that would add incredible depth to the visuals. With the location locked, our director of photography, Jack Chapman, and our gaffer, Frank Balthazar, began crafting a lighting plan to bring the scene to life.

To the right are some crude set design mock-ups I made after our location scout.

Inspired by the movie Venom and the way the "Symbiote" moves like a living entity, I researched practical effects to recreate a similar look. That’s when I discovered ferrofluid—a magnetized liquid originally developed by NASA. By simply placing a strong magnet nearby, the fluid would react in fascinating, organic ways. After enough trial and error, I was able to control its movement exactly how I envisioned. It was incredibly fun to experiment with—and even more rewarding to see it come to life on camera.

I set to work on bringing the idea to life, and luckily, I had the perfect song tucked away from our royalty-free music library (APM Music). I had saved it for the right project, and this was it. Since this promo wasn’t meant to be dialogue-heavy, the music and sound design had to carry the weight. The track had everything—an eerie, haunting buildup, dramatic hits and brams for tension, and a final surge of energy and intensity. It was exactly what we needed. I trimmed it down to a tight, teaser-length cut and began scripting shot for shot, building the entire video in my mind before we even rolled a camera.

The location scout was a game-changer. Seeing the vast creative possibilities inside the derelict factory made the vision snap into place. One area, in particular, stood out—a metal staircase with a canopy that could support lighting, plus a massive windowed wall that would add incredible depth to the visuals. With the location locked, our director of photography, Jack Chapman, and our gaffer, Frank Balthazar, began crafting a lighting plan to bring the scene to life.

To the left are some crude set design mock-ups I made after our location scout.

To the left is a behind-the-scenes video that offers a glimpse into the intricate details of a production like this. One of my favorite aspects of this project was that I got to play the role of a scientist myself. I experimented with water pumps at home, testing their flow and effect to create the illusion of a bubbling, fully functional lab. But my favorite detail by far was the ferrofluid.