Merman’s Gupta Captures Day in the Life of NHL Stars
Ritesh Gupta, represented for commercial work in the U.S. by Merman Branded, has directed the third round of the celebrated NHL campaign “The Next Golden Era is Now,” which was created for the brand by the agency Highdive. The campaign is focused on celebrating how hockey has never been as exciting and fun as it is right now.
This season’s campaign showcases top NHL players through the lens of contemporary trends and cultural conversations, with the recently launched “Work From Home,” featuring Jack Eichel and Mitch Marnerof the Vegas Golden Knights, Matt Boldy of the Minnesota Wild, Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Travis Sanheim of the Philadelphia Flyers; and “Day in the Life” starring Bedard, Marner and Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings, Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks, Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Matthew Kniesof the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The previous round of spots, , unveiled last season and also directed by Gupta, featured popular Gen Z NHL stars making light of being called members of a “lazy” generation as they play show off their hockey talents on the ice and their sense of humor. The spot scored with audiences and critics alike, and contributed to AdAge naming the NHL a Marketer of the Year 2024.
“This campaign has been incredibly rewarding,” says Gupta. “The players were amazing to work with. They totally got the concept and even improvised some scenes. Once again, the scripts from Highdive were some of the best creative I’ve ever worked on, and we really turned it up a notch this time around, making it even smarter, more relevant and funnier. The NHL and Highdive are super team players. We really scored, pardon the pun, another hat-trick in this series.”
A former award-winning sports journalist turned Emmy nominated filmmaker, Gupta has created culturally iconic works for brands ranging from Budweiser (“Dwyane Wade: This Bud’s for 3”) to Beats by Dre (“You Love Me”). He’s netted two Emmy nominations, four Webbys, six AICP wins, eight Cannes Lions, 25 Clios and honors from ADCOLOR, the ANDYs and LBB’s Immortal Awards.
Client: NHL
SVP, Marketing & Branding: Casey Hall
VP, Marketing: Josh Dubin
Sr. Marketing Manager: Charlie Keuchler
Agency: Highdive
Head of Production: Jen Passaniti
Group Creative Director: Patrick Seidel
Group Creative Director: Chris Rose
Executive Producer: Luke LiManni
Freelance Executive Producer: Jenny Hoffman
Senior Art Director: Erin Nedelman
Senior Copywriter: Tim Flemke
Junior Art Director: Coco Loomis
Junior Copywriter: Sarah Solovy
Art Director: Ryan Almond
Copywriter: Andy Frank
Senior Art Director: Sydney Cohen
Senior Copywriter: Jordan Fischel
Company: Merman Branded, LLC
Director: Ritesh Gupta
Global Managing Partners: Ellen Clarke, Kira Carstensen
Executive Producer: Jessica Miller
Producer: Andrew Scrivner
1st AD: Sean Harner
Director of Photography: Eric Koretz
CLT: Joshua Hensley
Key Grip: Rick Grover
Production Designer: Bill Bittmann
HMU: Stephanie Peterson
Wardrobe: Joslene Ginn
Edit: Cutters Studios
Editor: Billy Montross
Assistant Editor: Christian Leontios
Executive Producer: Patrick Casey
