Field Work Breaks the Ice with Launch Film for New NHL Team, The Utah Mammoth

In a dramatic departure from traditional sports marketing, the NHL’s newest franchise, the Utah Mammoth, has launched a cinematic brand film that trades traditional sports tropes for something that leans into myth, mystery, and mountains. Directed by Zeppelin Zeerip of Salt Lake City-based production company Field Work Creative, the piece introduces the Mammoth not just as a team, but as a legend awakening in the Utah mountains.

“This wasn’t just a rebrand or a promo piece,” says Zeerip. “It was the birth of an NHL identity — and they needed a production partner who could move fast, push creatively, and carry some weight, literally. When they called, we jumped in with both feet.”

Crafted in close collaboration with the Utah Mammoth’s internal marketing team, the film blends suspense, folklore, and visually rich storytelling to capture the cultural moment of hockey's arrival in Utah, positioning the Mammoth brand as something much deeper: a presence that has always been here, waiting to emerge.

Zeerip, known for his roots in outdoor filmmaking, brought an atmospheric, cinematic tone to the project, which marks a striking pivot from the usual fast-cut, high-intensity norm of sports hype videos. 

Zeerip, instead, tells a masterful multi-leveled story in just 90 seconds that follows a group of kids exploring a history museum, as well as a hiker uncovering a tusk deep in a cave. Those two stories collide with a third of a mammoth itself stirring back to life from under the arena ice. The final shot, designed to evoke awe and scale, shows a tusk bursting through the ice, followed by the team’s catchphrase: “Tusks Up.”  

“Most teams go with fast edits and gritty intensity, but for this one, we leaned into mythmaking,” Zeerip explains. “The Mammoth wasn’t just a name. It became a presence. We wanted it to feel ancient and alive, something you could discover, not just root for.”

The concept was developed entirely in-house by Mammoth’s internal brand team, with Zeerip and the Field Work Creative team tasked with refining the narrative and executing the production at a high level under intense time pressure. The production went from greenlight to shoot in just eight days,  including casting, permits, location scouting, and storyboarding.

“We shot in three wildly different environments: a museum, a real cave system, and snow-covered mountain roads rigged for pursuit shots,” Zeerip says. “It was tight, but the team trusted us to elevate it. That cave sequence, dropping in lighting and camera rigs by rope, was more cinema than commercial. That’s the heart of it for me.”

Creative Credits:

Client: Utah Mammoth

Project: Brand launch spot

Agency: Utah Mammoth In-House

Production: Field Work, Salt Lake City, UT

Director/EP: Zeppelin Zeerip

Producer: Brian Durkee

Creative Director/EP: Chris George

Post-Production Director: Kevin Charles

Creative Production Manager: Josh Joon Lee

Copywriter: David Shum

Producer: Colin Fenner

DP: Bentley Rawle