Kraken chief marketing officer Katie Townsend meets with film and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a team investor, occasionally and asked about the 2022-23 season’s video presentation during games at Climate Pledge Arena, mapping out some intentions.
“And that’s when he said, ‘I’ve got a friend to who I think I could ask to compose music for the open for the Kraken,’” Townsend said.
She sent over pregame video from last season, and Bruckheimer met with Hans Zimmer in London, later confirming that the Oscar and Grammy winner would compose an eight-minute original “suite” for the Kraken between projects over the summer. Portions of it have already been used, and others can feature in future clips.
“It was a gift from Hans to Jerry,” Townsend said.
Zimmer won his second Academy Award for Best Original Score in March for “Dune.” He won in the same category for “The Lion King” in 1995. Zimmer has been nominated for an Oscar 12 times. He and Bruckheimer collaborated on several films, including the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.
“When I watched their game presentation, which I thought was very good, the one thing that they missed was the kind of explosion when the players come on the ice,” Bruckheimer told The Associated Press. “Musically that could be very interesting, because they’re basically gladiators going to battle.”
Bruckheimer called Townsend from a Los Angeles studio and played some of what they were working on.
“His only way of working, really, is to imagine that he’s making a movie,” Townsend said. “So he kind of thought about what would that process be, a couple of hours leading up to getting on the ice. When are they sitting quietly, focused on the task? When is the adrenaline rising? And so that was the idea, that it kind of tells this journey.
“When I listened to it, you could almost hear waves in there as well.”
The visuals came later. Filming took place in Aberdeen on the Lady Washington, a replica of a ship used during the Revolutionary War, which was used in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.” They also filmed lighthouse scenes on Patos Island in the San Juan Islands.
The Kraken put out a call on fan sites for extras to take part in a three-minute video introduction filmed at Mt. Baker that plays before the team hits the ice. Player spots were also filmed in Ballard and will start airing in TV commercials in addition to during games.
Winger Jaden Schwartz’s personal connection to the St. Louis Blues and that night’s matchup was cut into Wednesday’s pregame video. More changes will help the evolving, “immersive experience” the organization is seeking.
“I’m incredibly happy with it,” Townsend said.