Always An Original

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

Most centennial content feels like a history lesson. The Chicago Blackhawks handed 100 years of franchise history to the people who actually lived it — and built a documentary series that broke franchise viewership records and found audiences around the world.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

Most sports milestone content follows the same predictable formula — a highlight reel dressed up as a documentary, built for fans who already care and ignored by everyone else. Always An Original rejected that formula entirely and in doing so, set a new creative standard for how franchises approach legacy content.

By placing creative authority in the hands of local filmmakers with genuine personal stakes in their subjects, the Blackhawks didn't just make better content. They made honest content. And honest content travels. The fact that a franchise documentary series generated the highest international viewership month in Blackhawks digital history is proof that authentic storytelling doesn't just serve existing fans — it creates new ones.

The Sergio Lozano model is the benchmark worth studying: a 30-year building employee, not a polished broadcaster, delivering the most resonant episode of the series. That's a creative philosophy, not just a casting decision. It tells the industry that the most compelling voices in sports storytelling might already be inside the building — they just haven't been handed the camera yet.

The bar has been raised. Centennial content doesn't have to feel like a history lesson. It can feel like a film.

Objective

One hundred years of history. Championships. Original Six heritage. A dynasty that captivated the sports world. A stadium so loud it became its own legend. The story of the Chicago Blackhawks is enormous — and that's exactly the problem.

In a media landscape that rewards brevity and punishes ambiguity, asking a modern audience to sit with a century of history is a significant ask. Asking non-fans to do the same is an even bigger one. The challenge wasn't having enough story to tell — it was finding the human truth inside all of it that would make anyone, fan or not, unable to look away.

The objective was clear: 

• Create a content series that transcended traditional sports storytelling
• Reach beyond the existing fanbase
• Position the Blackhawks' Centennial not as a historical commemoration but as a living, emotionally resonant cultural moment worthy of a global audience.

Strategy & Execution

The solution started with a single creative conviction: the only people who could tell this story authentically were the ones who had lived it.

Rather than hiring a single production company to document a century of history, the Blackhawks gave each episode to a local Chicago director with a personal, lived connection to their subject. Not filmmakers who researched the story — filmmakers who were part of it.

Each episode was built around human story first and historical record second. Rare archival footage paired with intimate present-day interviews. Visual storytelling prioritized over narration. Every director brought their own distinct cinematic voice — ensuring the series felt like four genuine films, not four chapters of the same promotional package.

No example captures this better than Episode Two, The Madhouse — directed by Sergio Lozano, a United Center employee of 30 years who has operated the scoreboard from inside the very building he was asked to document.

Four episodes. Four filmmakers. One city. This wasn't content made about Chicago. It was content made by Chicago.

Organizations

• • NOMINT
  • Daily Planet Productions Ltd.
  • Banner Studios

Links

•   Website

Featured

• Several dozen Blackhawks Alumni

• Front Office and Broadcasters from the teams's 100 year history along with support from the following:
  • Dilla  - Chicago Historian / Creator
  • Jeff Garlin - Actor & Comedian
  • Jim Belushi - Actor & Comedian 
  • Billy Corgan - Musician
  • The Smashing Pumpkins
  • Frank Brown - NHL Historian 
  • Harvey Wittenberg - Team Historian (retired)
  • Pat Foley - Blackhawks Ambassador & Former Broadcaster
  • Eddie Olczyk - Blackhawks Alumni & Current TNT Broadcaster
  • Wayne Messmer - Stadium Anthem Singer 1983-94 
  • Ron Bogda - Stadium Organist 1973-82 
  • Uxmar Torres - Spoken Word Poet
  • Crystal Vance Guerra - Poet & Historian

Credits

Jerry Ferguson
EVP, Brand & Marketing
Chicago Blackhawks

Trevor Bray
Director, Content & Creative
Chicago Blackhawks

Lyndsey Stroope
Director, Brand & Communications
Chicago Blackhawks

Brian Howe
Director, Events & Experience
Chicago Blackhawks

Audra Fornaro
Manager, Content Production
Chicago Blackhawks

Jack Gambro
Manager, Art Direction
Chicago Blackhawks

Nicholas Gallagher
Manager, Marketing Operations
Chicago Blackhawks

Kayla Jackson
Manager, Game Presentation
Chicago Blackhawks

Alec Ruden
Manager, Growth Marketing
Chicago Blackhawks

Ben Fromstein
Director, Hockey Communications
Chicago Blackhawks

Mary DeBartolo
Manager, Player & Alumni Relations
Chicago Blackhawks

William Chatmon
Lead Producer
Chicago Blackhawks

Gregory Tonge
Lead Editor
Chicago Blackhawks

Rachel Stellfox
Manager, Events & Experiences
Chicago Blackhawks

Chase Agnello-Dean
Photographer
Chicago Blackhawks

Scott Marvel
President
Daily Planet

Sara Evans
Director
Daily Planet

Sergio Lozano
Senior Director, Scoreboard Operations
United Center

Lina Martino
Senior Creative Producer and Editor
United Center

Patrick Dahl
President
Banner Studios