Jason Hehir, the director of “The Last Dance,” was just like you and me last night. When he sat down on his couch to watch the finale of his 10-part series, it was the first time he’d ever seen it on the big screen.
Hehir joined Mike Tirico on “Lunch Talk Live” on Monday to discuss his smash-hit show and offered up some behind-the-scenes info on how he and his team put it together.
“I had never seen those episodes on a television screen,” Hehir said on “Lunch Talk Live.” “I’ve only seen them on the laptop that I’m speaking to you on right now, because we finished those episodes in quarantine. So I’ve never seen those episodes on any screen bigger than the one in front of me right now.”
Crazy to consider, but that wasn’t the only way quarantine affected Hehir and his team as they wrapped up production.
“Technologically it was a big challenge, because we had to go from a multi-million dollar facility into our own apartments… we don’t have the same accoutrements that you would in a facility like that.
“But we have brilliant technical people on our team, and we have world-class editors who happen to have world-class set-ups already at home, so we were able to go pretty much seamlessly, and get large hard full with thousands of hours of footage into our apartments.
NBA
“Creatively it was difficult because we’re used to-- all these high points of the doc, of any project, are the product of an epiphany that you have in the room with the people you work with. Late at night when you’re ordering takeout, someone has an idea: Try this shot and over that cut of music. The ideas go from there.
“Well that was gone now, because we’re just on Zoom calls and emails and texts.”
Somehow, they pulled everything together, and it’s safe to say the collective sports world is thankful.
RELATED: Hehir: Reggie Miller interview 'took us awhile' to get
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Bulls easily on your device.