New Era, the official on-field cap of the NFL, aimed to capture the raw, tribal loyalty of football culture through their "Speak With Your Cap" campaign. Moving beyond standard product photography, the objective was to highlight the diversity and passion of the fans themselves by producing assets for all 32 NFL franchises leading up to Draft Day. However, the project presented a massive logistical challenge: the team had to capture authentic content for every single franchise in just one production day using real "superfans" rather than professional actors—a constraint that carried high risks of schedule delays and awkward on-camera performances.
To navigate these constraints, the creative direction championed a "Fan is the Face of the Franchise" philosophy, utilizing a minimalist studio aesthetic to keep the focus strictly on the individual and their cap. The campaign’s success hinged on the directing approach of Daniel Garcia, who eschewed traditional scripts in favor of genuine conversation. By engaging fans in unscripted discussions about their team's prospects and superstitions, Garcia was able to disarm their nerves, allowing the production to capture intimate, authentic portraits of excitement and loyalty rather than stiff, manufactured acting.
The execution relied on a "carousel" style modular studio, treating the set like an assembly line of creativity to meet the daunting schedule. This layout allowed fans to move seamlessly from photography stations to video setups without breaking their energy or requiring time-consuming lighting resets. By overlapping stations and relying on a conversational directing style, the team successfully captured all 32 unique team segments in a single 10-hour day, delivering a high volume of genuine, high-energy assets ready to flood digital channels.