'24/7' with HBO more than a show; it's fast-paced life

Upon closer examination, there may be more correlations between the actions of a pit crew on a NASCAR team and an HBO Sports film crew than first meets the eye.

In the four-episode, all-access series 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: The Race to Daytona -- which will begin airing on Jan. 26, 2010, leading up to February's Daytona 500 -- HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said he envisions not only highlighting the behind-the-scenes antics of high-profile characters such as Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus, but also those who fill various roles on the No. 48 Chevrolet's pit crew.

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Ross Greenburg is going to show America a side of Jimmie Johnson it hasn't seen before.

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"I think it's all fascinating. And I don't think people are even aware that world exists," Greenburg said. "And they're all thoroughbred, world-class athletes. Many of them are taken right off the college football field."

"Die-hard NASCAR fans may be aware of that -- but even them, I don't know how many of them have seen these guys at work except on race day. This is a team effort, with a lot of team members going after the big prize -- which is the checkered flag at Daytona. ... I think it's just going to be fascinating to dive in."

The same could be said if someone were to do a documentary of HBO Sports putting together one of their "real-time" documentaries. Greenburg explained the logistics of pulling off a 24/7 episode involving Johnson is going to be challenging from his end.

But he was quick to add that he's certain his own team will be up to the task.

"We'll start rolling some film as the Chase ends. Jimmie should capture his fourth [championship] and that's important, so we can open up our first episode and showcase that," Greenburg said. "But I think we're really going to start ramping up at the turn of the year -- mid- to late December to the turn of the year. We'll start bringing cameras down there [to the Charlotte, N.C., area where Johnson lives and works] every day, and we'll start shooting the prep.

"We'll latch onto certain storylines. ... For the first couple of weeks, we're assembling all that footage. But then we've got to pare that down so that on Jan. 26, we can have a half-hour show on the air."

That's when the production schedule really starts heating up, putting pressure on all those involved in making the show happen.

"The quick turnarounds start to happen. Once we hit Show One, then on a daily basis, we continue to shoot," Greenburg said. "We'll wrap up and edit Show One, and it'll be on the air that Tuesday. But then as soon as Wednesday morning rolls around, our crews will be back at it. We'll be rushing our footage from on-site to our editing rooms up here in New York, usually by satellite, and we're doing quick, daily turnarounds of the show to assemble the next episode for airing the following Tuesday.

"There is not a reality show other than [HBO's] Hard Knocks and boxing's 24/7 that turns it all around the way we do here at HBO. And we do that because we want the instantaneous understanding that this is in the how, that this is in the moment. .. We want to remind people that this is not stuff we shot six months ago, that this is an ongoing, down-to-the-minute kind of program."

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