Get Ready for the Story of the Season with ESPN's NBA Coverage

This week, Arts & Letters Creative Co. and ESPN launched a new NBA tipoff anthem titled 'The Time is Now', just ahead of the NBA’s regular season (starting Oct 24th). The film hypes up the incredible foundation of the league and its games, showcasing all the familiar greats, yet representing a 'more storied than ever' perspective on the season.

The film will air during Monday Night Football on ESPN. The spots will run between October 9th through November 26th in the US.

By way of craft of this work, Arts & Letters Creative Co. are especially excited about how it all came together. Arts & Letters Creative Co. involved a really cool visual artist team, the McGloughlin Brothers at Hinterland Films of Ireland. This is the first time its had the chance to work with them, but after seeing so many strong examples of their VFX work, it was a no-brainer to enlist their talents. In the past, the McGloughlin Brothers have done visual work for A.S.A.P. Rocky and Bonobo, among other projects. Additionally, the music is an original composition for the film, created by artist Nathan Micay who composes the music for the HBO show, Industry. 

Sam Christian, art director at Arts & Letters, said, “The compelling and frenetic visual style the McGloughlin Brothers have mastered was a perfect fit to showcase the unpredictable state the NBA is currently in. Their past films with A$AP Rocky and Bonobo are proof of that.

Sam added, “Nathan's atmospheric, pulsating sound was a huge inspiration when we first approached music for this spot. To have him compose a song from scratch for us was an added bonus.”

Brendan Howard, copywriter at Arts & Letters, said, “The NBA is in a state of evolution. Tall ball is back, dynasties are done, league parity is at an all-time high, and the new in-season tournament is completely changing the landscape of November and December. We’re excited for fans to witness this metamorphosis in real-time.”