Caption: University of Colorado Boulder student Alex Ervin with his camera gear. Photo courtesy of Alex Ervin.

By Jayden Fortner

Alex Ervin sets up his video camera on the sidelines at his high school football field so that he’s ready to capture the action when the game begins and the players come barreling towards him.    

“Two players were coming in at the same time, and I’m just sitting right there,” Ervin said. “They both hit each other. I fully thought I was about to break my face.” 

Ervin was shooting a documentary about his high school football team that day. Now he’s a CU sophomore studying media production. He covers sports events on campus and has a knack for the money shot. He launched his own company Ervin Productions in 2021. His portfolio includes creative hype videos, short documentaries and mini reels. 

“This is definitely my life goal,” Ervin said. “Whether it’s in sports or not, I think video is definitely my passion and the thing I want to continue to pursue.” 

Ervin lives by a daily mantra: “make something happen.” It was something his father often said.

“Rather than sitting back and just letting life kind of play out, it’s kind of like go and do something about it,” he said. “It’s been a big life motivator.”

Ervin began filming at 16, after his grandfather gave him an old camera. 

“I just started messing around with it, and I loved it,” he said. “But I never really wanted to do anything with it. I just thought it was a cool side hobby. Then one of my friends passed away junior year and I kind of started a week after that. It gave me that motivation that I needed.”

Sports fans want to know more about the players’ personal lives, according to CU student Camden Dempsey, who is a linebacker for the Colorado Buffaloes.  

“People want to see the behind-the-scenes side,” he said. “They want to know the players and what makes them tick.”   

Dempsey says fans follow and track him and his teammates after the games.    

“It’s been really fun, too, because then it lets you know, kind of our guys’ true side show, through kind of getting more of that real story,” he said.   

Storytelling is an essential part of the sports industry, according to CU alumnus Jeremy Bloom, the CEO of X Games, former Olympic freestyle skier and retired NFL player. Bloom recently spoke to CU students at a Sports Media Summit held at the Touchdown Club at Folsom Field.

“Leagues need to get back to storytelling because it’s humanizing,” he said. “It’s so important to capture those amazing moments but also capture those devastating ones.” 

Ervin strives to do just that. He looks for angles that capture how the athletes are feeling and show what makes sports memorable to fans. He shoots the celebration after a touchdown and when the goalie realizes they failed to defend a shot that entered their goal.  

“Anything where you can get their face in it is always something good, because you can get all that emotion,” Ervin said. “The camera doesn’t really matter. It matters more about what they’re doing, and it’s just finding the right spot and where to capture that.”   

Sometimes capturing those moments means putting himself in a difficult spot. Despite the potential danger, Ervin loves the unpredictability of shooting sports.   

“You never know what can happen,” he said.       

And something always does.