The Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards in late July recognized achievements from local news stations \u2013 and one of USC\u2019s newest graduates. <\/p>\n
Sanay Saboo and his team won in the short promo sports category for their video \u201cWar Time,\u201d the official season trailer for USC Football that played before every home football game during the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were making the video, my main pressure was delivering something memorable and that I could be proud of and the football team could be proud of,\u201d Saboo said. \u201cWhen we got the nomination, in my head I thought, \u2018This is enough,\u2019 but naturally, it was very nice to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saboo, who graduated from USC this spring with a degree in cinematic arts, film and television production, served as director of the video.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The trailer features USC football players preparing for a game while wielding swords, Traveler leading the team onto the field and even the defeat of a fictional colossal figure in the Coliseum surrounded by cheering fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWar Time, a lot of people don\u2019t know, is the chant that the players always do right before they run out,\u201d Saboo said. \u201cIt\u2019s been part of the theme of USC Football for years and years. So when I first met with them, it really stuck with me that I wanted to create something that tied in with the legacy of the Coliseum and [USC\u2019s] mythic symbols, like the Trojan horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The video, which has amassed more than 20,000 views on USC Football\u2019s official YouTube page, was a culmination of years of work in USC Athletics videography for Saboo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Galen Center and in other places around campus, I met a lot of creatives who I ended up working with who introduced me to basketball and football,\u201d Saboo said. \u201cI [started with] swimming, soccer, tennis, everything, and as I met more people I slowly transitioned to basketball my sophomore year.\u201d<\/p>\n
This marks the second consecutive year that a USC student production has won first place in the category. In 2025, Flint Tanquary and his team won the award for \u201cArrival of the Trojan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Saboo credits Tanquary for encouraging him to pitch his ideas to the football program \u2013 a strategy Tanquary developed while working on \u201cArrival of the Trojan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would sit outside the USC Football office door, waiting for the head of video marketing guy to come in every single day, and I would pitch it to him on the spot,\u201d Tanquary said. \u201cIt was a hard sell. It took three months to four months for him to say yes but I knew that I wanted to do it really badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tanquary and Saboo became friends during their time at USC. When Tanquary graduated and USC Football needed a new season trailer, he saw an opportunity to pass the project along to another creative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember he took some of my grad photos, so after we got pizza and he was showing me the ideas for his vision,\u201d Tanquary said. \u201cI think Eric, who\u2019s a part of the USC football program came to Sanay being like, \u2018we have this idea, \u201cWar Time,\u201d what do you think about it?\u2019 And so Sanay came up with his ideas in a pitch deck, and he\u2019s so creative and talented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two USC Thornton alumni also contributed to both years\u2019 award-winning productions. Mic Ferrante composed the score for both videos, while George Tyler Heffley contributed to the musical arrangement. Both graduated in 2024. The arrangement for \u201cWar Time\u201d incorporated remixes of songs by Playboi Carti and Kendrick Lamar.<\/p>\n
USC\u2019s Division I athletic programs and creative academic opportunities have allowed students like Tanquary, Saboo, Ferrante and Heffley to build careers at the intersection of sports and storytelling.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving such an incredible sports program at your disposal is something students should definitely take advantage of,\u201d Saboo said. \u201cYou get access to incredible equipment in the sports department, and there\u2019s so many great skills that are transferable across many creative disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Emmy win has opened new opportunities for both Tanquary and Saboo.<\/p>\n
Tanquary signed with London Alley production company after winning the award and recently directed a music video project<\/a> tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cI got this opportunity to direct the music video for the [World Cup] which was really fun,\u201d Tanquary said. \u201cThis was the first year the World Cup had an entire album, they always had just one song, so being involved with that was exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Saboo recently returned from directing a project in Arizona and continues to pursue new creative opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been pretty busy directing, editing my projects,\u201d Saboo said. \u201cI just got back from directing something in Arizona \u2013 I left the day after the Emmys for it. Besides that, I\u2019m just trying to expand more. I\u2019ve never been one to want to do the same thing over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n