‘Our Time’ docuseries on ESPN+ wants ‘to tell the stories’ of UCF
Gus Malzahn’s first season as UCF’s football coach is the subject of a multi-part all-access documentary series exclusively on ESPN+. The second episode of “Our Time: UCF Football” streams Thursday.
Brian Lockhart, senior vice president of Original Content & ESPN Films, spoke with the Orlando Sentinel about the series, which takes viewers inside the meeting rooms and locker rooms, and hear from Knights coaches and players who are miked up for various segments.
“You’ll obviously know what the results are before each episode drops, but you’ll get a sense of all the things that have gone into it, even before game day,” Lockhart said.
Each episode will come out Thursday nights on ESPN’s streaming service and will likely be about 30 minutes in length.
“One of the beauties of ESPN+ is that we were not beholden to any commercial format so we can serve story,” Lockhart said. “We can make them whatever we need to do be. If a specific episode is 24 minutes or if needs to go to 34 minutes, we’re going to give you the best story.”
One challenging aspect of a weekly show is the production crew will turn around and begin editing after each game while continuing to shoot for the next episode. There’s a method to the madness.
“Our team has been in a lot of turn situations,” Lockhart said. “After our games on Saturday nights, by Sunday we are usually seeing the first outline. So there’s work all the way through the night immediately following the game. It’s constantly building the plane as you’re flying it.”
The UCF series will mark the third in the “Our Time” series following Oklahoma State and Kansas programs during the 2020 and 2019 seasons.
So why was UCF chosen? “We want to tell the stories of the team,” Lockhart said. “We want people to know the teams that are going to make noise. When teams like UCF open up our doors wide to us, you can really serve fans in a really compelling way.”
The stories of UCF include not only Malzahn’s first year but the stories of players such as thirdyear quarterback Dillon Gabriel, the return of defensive tackle Kalia Davis and the transfers.
“There are multiple compelling storylines,” Lockhart said. “With the head coaching, with guys who are potentially going to play at the next level, with this team trying to win the conference and obviously Cincinnati is a juggernaut, they’re going to try unseat them and go back to national prominence.”
Lockhart explained the series isn’t out to break any news but instead be there when big things potentially happen inside the
program.
“When they become national news, we’ll be there,” Lockhart said. “We’ll hopefully get a point of view on that story because we’re embedded and because we’re there and folks will feel and want to be candid with us about the things that are transpiring.”
The full schedule for “Our Time: UCF Football” episodes each month:
Sept. 16 and 23
Oct. 7, 14, 21 and 28
Nov. 4, 11, 18 and 25
Dec. 2
Lockhart hopes college programs across the country will see the series and want to be included.
“Hopefully, we create a reputation that you’ll want to be part of ‘Our Time’ if you’re a college football program,” he said. “It’s a great recruiting tool if done right. It’s a great way for people to show off the culture and vibes of your staff.”