There’s a crack in the door, though: keeping up with all the news and text-based information out there can be overwhelming. For fans who are serious about the game but have a life outside it, a single 5 minute fantasy football show that contained everything from waivers to injury updates to predictions for the upcoming games would given them an edge and save them hours per week.

Of course, that show would have to be timely. And it would have to avoid repeating what else is out there. So how does one make a fantasy football show that meets the demands for timeliness from its audience while delivering accurate insights other analysts are missing?

We’ll tell you how we did it for ON Networks over two great seasons.

The Goal: Give fantasy footballers a 5 minute dose of everything needed to run their team each week.

The Requirements: Our analysis must be unique. We must get this information to viewers as soon as possible, especially before their league waiver deadlines. The show has to be fun; football’s exciting, right?

The Challenge: Shoot, edit, render, and deliver a show to ON Networks in 6 hours every Tuesday.

The Run-Up

Football isn’t over until midnight every Monday. Analysis that doesn’t take into account Monday night football will immediately seem stale, especially if there’s a big injury or other surprise, so production had to wait until Tuesday.

Writing, however, could begin on Monday. DirecTV releases 30 minute versions of every game, and along with what we watched on Sundays, analyst/writer/host Sigmund Bloom and shooter/editor/producer/writer Marc Faletti watched every play of every game over 6-8 hours on Mondays. They kept copious notes and afterwards would cull them into the 10-15 most insightful takes of the week. By using only our own observations from actual game tape, we provided plenty of unique analysis to our viewers.

Every Monday night, host Cecil Lammey would fly into Austin from Denver to catch the end of Monday Night Football (he watched the rest on the plane) and prep for the next day’s shoot.

The Shooting

At 9am we arrived at the greenscreen studio. Sig and Cecil were dressed and put into makeup (all done by Marc Faletti and PA Diana Gerson) while reviewing their takes. Each host would cover 5-7 takes of 15-45 seconds each. They were scripted down to the last word and had to be memorized quickly.

By 9:30am we were shooting the first takes, usually putting Cecil through the paces as Sigmund checked for the latest news and injury updates. Anything that popped up would be added to his segments (or replace them). Our lone bit of improv were the intros and outros, because 1) it kept them loose, and 2) it often resulted in something unexpected and funny.

Shooting wrapped by 11. Marc then went to work ingesting the footage and bringing it into After Effects. The entire show is covered in motion graphics from the background to the transitions to the text coming and going from the screen. After applying the proper greenscreen filters, Marc would attach relevant stats/summaries to the virtual info board next to the host on each take and tweak the graphics as needed.

A quick proofread at around 1pm, then it was time to render. That took about 45 minutes — good thing there’s a tasty sandwich shop near the office. Once the render was complete, it was reviewed again. Any mistakes caught were corrected and those segments were re-rendered. Music was added and one last quick render was generated and burned to a DVD for delivery to ON Networks.

By 2pm (and often before), Marc Faletti was personally handing in a disc with the episode that he shot on greenscreen only hours before. And not once in 2008 did we have an informational error in the show.

This meant that by 3-4pm on Tuesday, viewers could watch The Drill and make their moves/claims/trades for the week. And other than injuries occurring in practices later in the week, our show remained spot on up to gametime. Combined with our one-of-a-kind analysis from Sigmund’s football acumen, The 5 Minute Drill truly was the best fantasy football show ever made.

The Lessons

Light your greenscreen the same way every time. It makes its removal so much easier.

Be bold in your takes. Viewers want a firm opinion they can choose to agree or disagree with. Trying to have it both ways protects the analyst at the expense of the audience.

Admit your mistakes. Fantasy football is incredibly fluid and depends on countless factors. If you missed something or couldn’t have foreseen a development, don’t hide from it. Adjust your position. And make it clear that you know you’re making a switch.

If the hosts are having fun, the viewers are having fun. Make the set a great place to hang out, even though you’re under incredible time pressure.

If you’re the only one saying something, say it even louder. When you’re right, people will remember you.

Last year isn’t this year. Don’t let any fantasy analyst tell you otherwise.

Having the guy who wrote it shoot it helps. Having the guy who shot it edit it really helps. Good thing Marc Faletti can do all of the above.

Regardless of your position on the matter, nobody benefits from false assumptions or misinformation. But how to you talk rationally and calmly about topics like teen contraception and late term abortion? Is it even possible?

RH Reality Check, a wing of the UN Foundation, wanted to find out. Hiring E2E to partner with outstanding writer Amanda Marcotte, they tasked us with making a show that debunks the bunk.

Did we pull it off?

The Goal: Produce an engaging show that arms viewers with facts that refute the various fictions being promoted about reproductive rights.

The Requirements: This is a contentious issue, but that doesn’t mean this should be a somber show. Keep it lively while jamming as much information as possible into 2-3 minute episodes. Don’t run from the tough issues; tackle them head on instead. Complete 12 shows in fall 2008.

The Challenge: Talking tough, having fun, and educating the viewer all at once.

The Writing

Unlike most of our shows, Reality Check wasn’t limited by a time restriction, though we were budgeted less than $2k per episode to complete it. This meant that it would need to be carried by its writing and graphic presentation along with strong performances on screen.

Amanda didn’t want to beat around the bush — she made sure we tackled every tough issue being argued today. These included late term abortions, the value of crisis pregnancy centers, the right of pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control, whether abstinence only education works, and so forth.

She then researched and consulted with experts to make sure every piece of information she presented was accurate. Her objective was to fill the viewer with facts presented in a clear, conversational voice. To keep it entertaining, she presented the misinformation she was combating in each episode in the voices of the regular folks who promote it — angry, emotional, and condescending. Treating bad faith arguments with kid gloves gets you nowhere, and nobody takes them apart like Amanda.

There was a lot to say about each topic and not much time per episode to say it. Working with E2E shooter/editor/producer Marc Faletti, Amanda carefully refined each piece down to a digestible 2-3 minutes that would arm the viewer with a lot of information, but not so much that it would be lost or overwhelming by the end.

The Production

We cast our liars among proven 5 Minute Drill talent like Cecil Lammey and Diana Gerson, and we added our own Marc Faletti to the mix. Not many people have written, shot, edited, produced, and appeared in a piece, but Marc was dying to play one of the disingenuous misinformers. He proved once again how stretching yourself in web TV is an ideal way to stretch your budget.

We shot against greenscreen in half-day chunks. We encouraged performers to work their hands into their presentation (you’d be surprised what a difference this makes on the web), and we made sure everyone kept their energy level high. A lumbering take can cause someone to shut down the browser in an instant.

In editing, we worked to make sure everything was clean and legible. Simple can be better on the web without detracting from the professional appearance of the show. We delivered everything ahead of schedule to RH Reality Check, and to this day the show continues to aid their education efforts across the country. It’s also pretty dang funny.

The Lessons

The easiest way to tackle the hardest issues is head on. Your audience is smart, and trying to tiptoe around tough language or hard truths turns them off. It also makes them doubt your information.

You really can teach, entertain, and inform all at once. You just need an amazing writer like Amanda.

Debate format shows (real or staged) are not being utilized enough on the web. It’s an ideal format for shorter shows with less screen real estate than normal television.

Recurring characters will always build up a backstory, even if you don’t intend for them to do so.

Vimeo still crushes the competition when it comes to embedding video across the web. Use them when you can.

E2E is a lot smarter about reproductive rights now than it used to be. So’s our audience!

But what if fans had their own scouting reports on more than just the top 10 players? What if someone evaluated the best sleepers, stories, and stars with the depth of an NFL scout using exclusive HD footage and interviews in a language the viewer would understand? Well, we decided someone should, and that someone should be us. We pitched the idea to ON Networks, and they bought it. Like, 51 episodes bought it.

So how did we make a 51 episode show in 3 months with a budget of less than $75k?

The Goal: Make the first great show scouting future NFL players like the pros for the fans. Give them something to use to prepare for the draft, to augment their viewing of it, and to refer back to as players break out in training camp.

The Requirements: Scout hundreds of players in the NFL Draft and select our favorite 50 guys, which should be a mix of big names and sleepers. Use 1080P HD footage and interviews exclusive to our show to evaluate their games and tell their stories. Release all 51 episodes at least a month before the Draft.

The Challenge: Do it all for less than $100,000.

The Roadtrip

If you want exclusive footage of hundreds of college footballers about to go pro, there’s only one place to get it: the all-star games. Unless a player is a surefire top 10 pick, he needs to show scouts what he can do outside of his former college scheme, so he attends one of three events designed to show him off in a week-long set of practices and a weekend exhibition game. Scouts will tell you that the exhibition game is for the players; to learn whether a guy’s got the goods, it’s all about the practices.

The biggest event is the Senior Bowl. Most of the players in attendance have hopes of being a first or second rounder, and the practices are full of intensity as they chase the big signing bonus. The Shrine Game gets the next tier of players, typically 3rd-5th rounders with strong character. A few players from this game also tend to sneak into the top rounds. The final game is Texas Vs. The Nation. Most of the guys in attendance are late-rounders or in danger of not being drafted. That might sound like a low-impact group, but this is where the biggest surprises emerge. In 2008, multiple attendees wound up starting games for their teams as NFL rookies. Draftguys TV had pegged them as future starters before anyone else in the world.

Every year, we have three weeks in January to go from Houston to Mobile to El Paso to get all our footage. With our budget, we can’t afford a big team, so we keep the crew tight:

• Marc Faletti, our shooter/editor/producer.
• Sigmund Bloom, our top football analyst.
• Cecil Lammey, our secret weapon in the interviews.

Only one shooter means we have little margin for error, and every day of practice Marc works every play, running up and down the sidelines to get the action or going into the stands for a scouts-eye view. In the end, we wind up with enough footage to cover over 100 players. Then it’s time to break down their games and select our top guys.

The Editing Days & Nights

We wrap in the final days of January, and all 51 shows must be released by the end of March to give viewers who want to bone up before the draft a chance to sift through everything. This also gives us a chance to launch promotion efforts via beat writers in pro and college towns as well as our radio tour leading up to the Draft at the end of April.

Sigmund usually has a good idea which players stood out to him during the events, but we need hard evidence to back up any claims we make, and that evidence must come in the form of footage. Marc Faletti and Sigmund pour over everything and cull the top guys, making sure we mix in first rounders (like Rey Maualuga, BJ Raji, and Peria Jerry in 2009) with sleepers who will shock the world (like Dwight Lowery and Eric Foster in 2008).

Then we break down every play and look for patterns in their game that will help (or hurt) their chances at the next level. We evaluate which systems favor the player, what roles will suit hims best, his fundamental skillset, his athleticism, his smarts, and his personality. The last part leans heavily on our interviews performed by Cecil Lammey, who has a knack for relaxing players and giving fans access to a side of guys seldom seen. Let’s put it this way: how many other football shows have players volunteering their XBox Live gamertags to the viewers? Exactly.

Once we’ve scripted the full scouting report, we record intros and voiceovers, then dump everything on Marc’s desk again. For approximately six weeks he does nothing but eat, edit, and catch a few Zs. His mixture of dedication, quality, and ingenuity make him the ideal editor for massive web efforts like these — especially when you need them finished in no time flat.

The Release

Everybody loves to show off their work, and throughout February and March we release episodes to the public every weekday. This gives fans at portals like Draft Countdown and Draftguys a chance to consume the product on a steady diet. It also gives episodes a chance to catch on virally and spread around the web.

2009 has been massive for Draftguys TV. As of August, the show has received over 650,000 views, and we collect thousands more every single day. On draft day alone, over 100,000 videos were watched. Several of our players garnered tens of thousands of views as their stock has climbed. Because our football knowledge runs deep, we get out ahead of the players nobody’s talking about, and when one of them shines as we predicted, it adds more views — and more respect — to Draftguys TV.

The Lessons

Web TV production has very little to do with traditional media production other than the quality HD camera and Final Cut Pro. Our teams must be smaller, more nimble, and have a broad skillset.

The time restrictions mean your editors must be more concerned with pacing, punch, and insight than every detail of every frame. The budget restrictions mean “your editors” are really “your editor.”

Everyone involved needs to wear multiple hats and pick up slack for each other without asking permission. Of course, on occasion, it’s appropriate to ask for forgiveness.

Sometimes people look at you funny when you buy a Diet Coke in rural Louisiana.

There is no roadmap for great web TV yet, so don’t be afraid to rewrite the rules to suit your product.

Great motion graphics work wonders for web presentation. If you’re going to splash the cash in one area of an HD web show, make it the graphics.

Web content must be bolder and more insightful than traditional TV. This isn’t a passive audience; for a show to gain traction, viewers must actively engage with it and want to pass it on.

We’re darn good at this.