The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 starts in a just a few weeks, and Fox Sports is airing a few very epic commercials to build the hype. What’s cool is that the commercials themselves were filmed, by a Grammy and Academy Award-winning talent, right here in Tampa Bay.
In a behind the scenes video, director Joseph Kahn (who’s won Grammys for work with Eminem and Taylor Swift) teams up with renowned, Academy Award-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) and members of the U.S. Women’s National Team to film the spots at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
The spots feature national team stars like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, Julie Ertz, Mallory Pugh, Carli Lloyd and more taking penalty kicks and juking out other players — played by local athletes — on the field at RayJay.
“In ‘All Eyes on Us,’ we take you on to the field in a way you typically don’t see,” Robert Gottlieb, FOX Sports’ EVP, Head of Marketing, said in a blog post about one of the spots. “You’re really going to feel like a part of the action with the U.S. team.”
Other spots include “Goliath” and “The Finisher.”
One local athlete, Jasmine Johnson, made it into “All Eyes On Us” playing a member of the Brazilian national team. Johnson grew up in Clearwater and played soccer for both the University of Florida and Saint Leo. At Saint Leo she was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), which put a halt to her soccer career. The diagnosis left Johnson initially shocked, scared, and in disbelief.
“When I was 13 years old my Grammy who was like my mother died from leukemia. So of course that was the first thing I thought about when I was told,” Johnson wrote in a post. Hospital stays have marked the last decade, and Johnson has been able to keep her own spirits up, but financial constraints caught up with her and led to inconsistent treatment.
“I can deal with my emotions but I cannot make money appear,” Johnson wrote. After nine years of trying to beat cancer, Johnson’s doctors are now recommending a bone marrow transplant to save her life. Johnson’s insurance will cover 80% of costs, including the at-home care doctors say she’ll require, but Johnson is still on the hook for $11,000 — so she’s asking for help via a GoFundMe page and trying to spread awareness for bethematch.com’s donor bank.
“Anyone that knows me well knows I’m not the type to expose my personal life let alone ask for help especially publicly. One of the many things having CML has taught me it’s that I can’t beat this alone and asking for help doesn’t make me weak,” she wrote. Being African-American lowers Johnson’s chances of finding a match, but she believes that it’s important for everyone of all ethnicities to be aware of the registry and how easy it is to register.
“The process possibly saves someone’s life at little to no cost. I also believe sharing my story might one day help someone who may experience many of the same hardships I have experienced,” she said. “My goal for the rest of my life is to spread the word of how important it is to get registered in the BMT registry.”
In that behind the scenes video, Kahn, describes his fascination with the national team athletes.
“They’re superhuman. I’m just trying to get that on a camera,” he said.
Turns out, there was another superhuman on film, too, but her story won’t play out on the world stage.
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This article appears in May 23-30, 2019.