The video was supposed to be about five minutes long, a straightforward tale of a complicated journey: Juan Soto is a Met, Mets fans are excited, and this is how it happened.
But nothing stays small in Flushing these days — not the drama, not the payroll and, with Soto signing the biggest contract in North American sports history in December, certainly not the star power.
And Bobby Clemens, a lifelong Mets fan who grew up in Copiague and lives in West Islip, knew enough about this franchise to recognize its quickening pulse.
Five minutes just wouldn’t do.
“I think being a fan, I kind of know and understand our fan base really, really well,” Clemens told Newsday.
Clemens is the team’s creative director and vice president of creative content, and one of the driving forces behind “The Pursuit,” a two-part documentary on the Soto signing whose first episode will go live Friday on the Mets’ YouTube channel.
Bobby Clemens Credit: New York Mets
“We’ve seen some highs and we’ve seen lows and I think that helps with the storytelling,’’ Clemens said “ . . . A lot of the people on my staff are Mets fans and they’re big storytellers and they know how to tell those stories. I think it’s [about] being relatable is the best way to put it. We relate with [the fans]. We’re rooting for the team just as hard as the 7-Line Army.”
The result is two episodes, about 20 minutes long, detailing the behind-the scenes negotiations that ultimately led to Soto trading his Yankee pinstripes for orange and blue. Presented by professional services firm CohnReznick, it includes interviews with owners Steve and Alex Cohen, insight from Soto and commentary from former Mets such as David Wright, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez.
It’s the team’s first foray into longform video, though Clemens said it won’t be the last. It’s also narrated by Anthony Ramos, a Brooklyn native and Mets fan who rose to fame as an original cast member in the musical “Hamilton.’’
“Juan’s signing was a monumental moment in the sports industry, and we couldn’t think of a better topic to be our first foray into producing long-form content,” Mets president of business operations M. Scott Havens said in a statement. “We’ve seen that sports-themed content is an effective tool in reaching both avid and casual fans, and we are excited to share a behind-the-scenes look into what went into targeting a top-tier, generational talent.”
Added Clemens: “How do we make sure that the kid that’s not a baseball fan thinks it’s cool to wear a Mets hat?”
The timing is ideal: The Mets’ brand gained a sort of mythic quality last year, what with its unending cadre of mascots and its unexpected (and downright cinematic) playoff run. Telling the Story of Soto had to include telling the story of a team that got within two wins of a World Series without him. Together, the two elements build the brand, but also the mystique.
“We just had this huge, magical run — why don’t we start the story there?” Clemens said. “What you’ll see in the first part is that it’s heavily focused on that run from last year . . . You [also] get some really cool insight on when we hired David Stearns. That was a topic in that interview with Steve. ‘Hey, what’s your plan on Juan Soto when he becomes available?’ So that’s how it transformed from this five-, seven-minute piece into this much longer story.”
A bulk of the interviews were done during the team’s Amazin’ Day in January, which hosted a number of current Mets and alumni. Two editors worked on it for two straight months, Clemens said, allowing for the quick turnaround.
“It was wild,” he said. “It was a crazy few months, but we’re really excited with how it came out.”
Clemens, who went to Copiague High School and graduated from St. John’s, started with the Mets 17 years ago, but much like everything else that’s happened to this franchise since it was purchased by the Cohens, he’s seen a shift — in his case, in the increased focus on content creation.
“I went from a team of probably about three or four of us full-time in there to now we have a team of 17 to 18 people,” he said.
There are a few more longform pieces in the works and “everybody in the organization is buying into this stuff,” he said. “We’re thinking about more content like this, behind the scenes, giving our fans a sneak peek into things they wouldn’t know.”
As for this initial attempt, the early feedback for “The Pursuit” has been “incredible,” Clemens said.
“I showed a couple people that are not huge Mets fans — just, ‘Hey, what do you think of this just from the outside looking in?’ ” he said. And they say, ‘This is like a Netflix show.’
“The feedback has been tremendous. The feedback on social has been great on the trailers. So we’re just super-excited for it to release so everybody can see the real thing.”
