Behind the scenes of Bears 'Hard Knocks' with the HBO crew at Halas Hall (2024)

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Shannon Furman, the lead director for HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” knew the Chicago Bears were close to finalizing a contract extension with receiver DJ Moore.

“Because it was happening in ‘robos,'” she said.

The robotic camera in the corner of general manager Ryan Poles’ office and the microphone placed there were breaking the news.

“I texted Ryan and was like, ‘Hey, if he signs, are you going to do it in your office or will it be in a different room?” Furman said.

“And he was like, ‘That was weird.'”

It was weird because Furman knew ahead of time.

Poles was cool with it, though.

Moore did sign his deal in Poles’ office. The scene became one of the highlights of the first episode of “Hard Knocks” last week. It’s also an example of how the Bears have become a willing participant in the popular show.

“It’s been a good experience — a great experience actually,” Furman said.

Not every interaction makes the show. Some are better suited for outtakes or written stories like this. Furman said she also saw and overheard assistant GM Ian Cunningham ask Poles how the “Hard Knocks” crew handles its laundry.

It resulted in another text to Poles.

“Tell Ian that we have a coordinator who takes our laundry every six days to the laundromat and we get it back that night,” Furman said she texted. “They were just laughing at me.”

Over the course of a 30-minute conversation with The Athletic, Furman — who is in her 10th season on location for “Hard Knocks” — provided an inside look at how things work behind the scenes for the show that specializes in working behind the scenes.

Some storylines are predictable but have to be told. Caleb Williams, of course, has a starring role as the first pick in the NFL Draft. Safety Jonathan Owens’ trip to Paris to watch Simone Biles, his wife, perform in the Olympics was easy.

And coach Matt Eberflus’ new look — or his “glow up” as narrator Liev Schreiber described it in the opening episode — was an early one to check off, too.

The scene featuring Eberflus and barber Lawrence Funk took approximately 30 minutes to shoot. Furman just needed to know when Eberflus’ appointment would be and how long his haircut and beard trim would take. Furman interjected only a few times with questions.

“We don’t like to interrupt those scenes,” Furman said. “We’re trying to be as natural as possible. … They were just friends talking.”

Furman first met Eberflus in 2018 as a director for Prime Video’s “All or Nothing: A Season with the Dallas Cowboys.” Eberflus was the team’s linebackers coach at the time. He’s one of the few Bears staff members Furman knew before working with the team this year.

“He was super friendly that year,” Furman said. “He would actually ask us about how our filming process worked.”

Furman detailed how that process is working at Halas Hall this year with Eberflus.

“Hard Knocks” has as many as 36 crew members working on site. Some of them, you never see. The credit goes to senior producer Erik Powers for the idea to use “Sirius,” the Bulls’ entrance song, to introduce Williams in the first episode.

The 12-hour-or-longer days begin at 7 a.m. for the “Hard Knocks” crew. The Bears provided them with a large office space on the third floor of Halas Hall, so there’s no need for trailers on site.

“This is probably the best space we’ve ever had,” Furman said.

During practice, Furman’s team uses eight cameras. One is elevated on a scissors lift. A drone also has been used during camp. Another camera captures things in slow motion, which cameraman Jim Barry specializes in.

“He’s strictly following the ball,” Furman said. “He’s one of the guys who shoots like tight on the spiral and stuff like that.”

All of the crew members have different specialties. Andre Messina does a bit of everything, from handling the camera on the scissor lift to flying the drone to operating one of the robotic cameras stationed throughout Halas Hall.

One camera is always locked on Eberflus, who is mic’d for every practice. Another will get involved if Eberflus is blocked off at any point.

“Hard Knocks” will place microphones on as many as 12 people — players and coaches — during a practice but no less than six. Which players and coaches get the microphones depends on the storylines chosen as a focus for that day. Mark Ricci and Paul Flinton are in charge of all the audio.

“If Caleb’s mic’d, he’ll have two cameras on him,” Furman said. “One will be far away, so he won’t even know it’s there. Then another one might have a little bit of a closer perspective.”

Early on, a wide net was cast with the microphones, especially when only rookies were at Halas Hall.

“We do do that to find characters,” Furman said. “And then as you get to know people, it becomes a lot less.”

There are 20 robotic cameras placed throughout Halas Hall, including the offices of Poles and Eberflus and the Mugs Auditorium. Some of them are attached to the walls. Others are built into trusses that blend in with Bears colors and signage.

Along with robotic cameras, microphones are placed in tiles in the ceiling or the walls — or even in the floors and seats in the room. They’re meant to blend in. The Bears rooms are essentially bugged. Larger rooms, such as the Mugs Auditorium, include more than one microphone.

The 20 robotic cameras aren’t rolling all at once. No one is watching during practice. Furman’s team works with and around the Bears’ daily schedule set by Eberflus. They need to communicate with the team. Pat Harris is Furman’s assistant director. Hannah Epstein, who played professional lacrosse in Israel, is the show’s director of photography.

There are also “robo cameras” in meeting rooms for quarterbacks, receivers, defensive linemen and offensive linemen. But catching the most interesting interactions requires prep work and help. Eberflus tips off Furman on things such as guests like Nick Saban, and the crew hears about schedule changes in staff meetings.

“Hard Knocks” is ready to adjust. The show is drawn to stories and personalities.

“Running backs is a group that we have become more interested in than we thought before we got here,” Furman said. “We like (running backs coach) Chad Morton.”

Add it all up, and Furman said approximately 400 hours of film go into making one episode. Each practice could potentially be 20 hours of tape.

With streaming services, there are deadlines to meet before the show runs at 8 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday nights. Everything has to be in before 10 a.m. that day.

It often requires hustle. Early alarms need to be set. The scene of Owens watching Biles at home was filmed last Monday morning, just a day before the first episode premiered. Crew members arrived at Owens’ home around 4:30 a.m.

“That was all in the show,” Furman said. “That was a pretty crazy turnover.”

Furman arrived in Lake Forest on July 14, five days before veteran players reported. The opening scene featuring players and the Chicago River was shot during the last week of June. Furman will leave on Sept. 1. The final episode will run the next day.

There are more stories to document.

The best ones can be unplanned, too.

Furman’s favorite was sharing tight end Darren Waller’s story, which includes overcoming a drug addiction, during the 2019 show with the Oakland Raiders. He still attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings then. Waller invited a crew to ride along with him.

“That was the year he blew up as a tight end,” Furman said of Waller, who surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time that season.

“It was special to be able to do that. He gave us feedback about how many people reached out to him because they saw the show.”

“Hard Knocks” is always on the lookout for long shots, young and old. Don’t be surprised if veteran safety Adrian Colbert is featured more in future episodes. There will be more about the Bears’ backup quarterbacks: Tyson Bagent, Brett Rypien and Austin Reed.

“They’re just a fun group,” Furman said.

Then there’s what happens in the preseason games. Receiver Collin Johnson earned screen time with his performance in the Hall of Fame Game against the Houston Texans.

“He wasn’t wired for the game, but we had him iso’d,” Furman said. “So he was on our radar from those early practices, and now he’s obviously going to be a bigger part of the show since that happened.”

Williams made his preseason debut in Buffalo on Saturday against the Bills. Undrafted rookie back Ian Wheeler scored twice in the 33-6 rout of the Bills.

Things are just getting started with the Bears. Only one episode has aired. The “robo cameras” are still running in Poles’ office. Williams and Eberflus will remain stars. But the Bears have more of them — starting with receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze — to highlight, too.

Moore’s contract signing was just the start.

“The access has been great,” Furman said. “I have absolutely no complaints. It’s been easy. There’s years that are harder than others. … I’ve been doing it for 10 years. And they’ve made it fun again. It’s been cool.”

(Top photo courtesy of the Chicago Bears)

Adam L. Jahns covers the Chicago Bears as a senior writer for The Athletic. He previously worked at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he started in 2005 and covered the Blackhawks (2009-12) and Bears (2012-19). He co-hosts the "Hoge & Jahns" podcast. Follow Adam on Twitter @adamjahns