TheHurricanes
Five minutes on who the Hurricanes are, why they matter, and one argument that lives forever on camera.
Watch the filmThis was the first doc TFL Films ever made, and it's only five minutes long. I'm proud of that. It didn't need to be longer. It needed to tell you who the Hurricanes are and why they matter.
The opening
We start with the name. The team wanted to be a problem. They wanted people to fear them, and the idea is that a hurricane is something you can see coming from a mile away. You know it's coming and you know you're going to be in trouble when it hits you. I kept that line first because it sets the tone for the whole film: this team knew exactly what it wanted to be.
“We wanted people to fear us. And I think hurricanes, you can see it from a mile away. You know it's coming.”FROM THE FILM
Year one
Then we go back to the very first team. It was built on youth, with a young Jackson Turnwald, Jared early in the season, and a Hicks arriving near the end. The guys on camera talk about how much fun it was and how those young players kept them young. The film turns on one play from that first year: a catch stretched over the line for a touchdown, with Lukas's iconic call on top. I let the player explain the fake and the cut, because the story is better when you hear how he set up a defender who likes to be aggressive. It's the moment I'd point to if someone asked why TFL is worth filming.
The draft and the disrespect
Next comes the draft, and with it the feeling that the media did not respect this team. Half the city knew Jared's guys, and the fans were burning jerseys. I wanted to show that the Hurricanes were an underdog even in their own town. Jake gets a short portrait as the sharp wizard of a player who was playing out of his mind. I cut it quickly on purpose, so it feels like a highlight reel of a team finding itself.
The rivals
The Amish come in with a bit of humor. A championship ring on one side, a reputation on the other, and a lot of trash talk about how no one in the league took them seriously. Israel gets a fair shot at the end, with the verdict that he had talent but wasn't fully there mentally.
The last play
The film ends on a pile-on at the edge. The player swears he got there, and of course it was caught on video. It sets up the idea that every TFL argument lives forever on camera, which is the whole reason we film it. The last line is that he's not short, it's just a bad angle, and then it cuts out. I like ending on a joke that is also an argument.
“I got to that pile-on and I swear I got it. I knew I got it.”FROM THE FILM
That this team has a history, a chip on its shoulder, and a sense of humor about it. This was the first time I tried to tell a TFL story with a beginning, a middle and an end, and it gave me the idea that every season could be a movie.
Watch The Hurricanes