KicksGuide's April Artist Series, T-Mac 4 design contest prize, Part 2: Ryan Holler takes a trip to Los Angeles, to meet Tracy McGrady and hang out on the set for the filming of the T-Mac 4 TV commercial.

A few weeks ago I shared the story of my trip to adidas Village as part one of the T-Mac 4 design contest prize, in which I (along with Zenith Chance) met and spent a day with adidas footwear designers. For the second part of the prize, which was to meet Tracy McGrady in person, I was given the choice between going to a T-Mac photo shoot in Orlando or the filming of a T-Mac TV commercial in Los Angeles. Since adidas was including an extra ticket for my 9-year old son, Harrison, I left the decision up to him. Harry chose L.A.

A week or so after returning home from the trip, Harrison was given a writing assignment to describe the most fun experience he'd ever had with his family. I'll let his story tell you the rest, and photos follow below...

My Trip To Los Angeles, by Harrison Holler

The most fun time I've had was not with my whole family. It was just me and my dad. My dad won a basketball shoe design contest on kicksguide.com, and we got to go to Los Angeles, California.
 
When we arrived, adidas, the shoe company, rented a Ford Mustang for us. It was shiny black and fast. They also put us in a great hotel in Santa Monica right by the beach.
 
The second day of the trip was the best. We got to go to a T.V. studio to watch adidas shoot a commercial for Tracy McGrady's new shoe, the T-Mac 4. Tracy plays for the Houston Rockets. I got to hang out with Tracy during one of his breaks. He was very nice. He autographed a shoe and a poster for us. Dad took lots of pictures.
 
We walked around the studio lot too [Raleigh Studios, in Manhattan Beach]. We saw the TV studios for The Practice, C.S.I. Miami and The O.C.
 
Next we went to Universal Studios Park. There were rides, studio tours, and 3-D movies. The Jurrasic Park ride had life size mechanical dinosaurs. They looked totally real. It was awesome! The Backdraft studio lets you walk through a burning building. That was scary. There's also a 15-minute 3-D Shrek sequel. I felt just like I was in the movie!
 
On the last day Dad took me to Encounter, at LAX Airport, for lunch. It was like eating in a UFO.
 
When we flew home, the dentist from the TV show Extreme Makeovers, was on our flight. We talked to him and he was very friendly. Dad took my picture with him.
 
Now you know why the trip was so fun. I got to do lots of cool stuff in just 3 days.

Here are the photos...

With a little time left on Wednesday, our arrival day, we decided to take a trip to Universal Studios CityWalk	How perfect is it that Harrison has red-eye in this photo?	Aaahh... Candy... at Popcornopolis.	MJ jerseys at a sports memorabelia shop at Universal CityWalk. The Bulls jersey was $1,899.00
We took a walk to the beach before breakfast. The water was COLD.	View from our room at the Radisson Hotel in Santa Monica	Harry meets T-Mac. Tracy walked over to meet us once he realized we were there. He was very welcoming, as was all of the adidas staff.	T-Mac takes a look at my design while Harry raids the Kraft Food Services table.
T-Mac autographed a few copies of my design, plus a poster and a one-off sample of the T-Mac 3 which adidas had waiting for me in my room. Harry makes himself at home among the crew. Tracy went out of his way to interact with Harrison. T-Mac is a genuinely nice guy. He was very "down-to-earth", and didn't seem to expect star treatment. When asked what he'd like for lunch, he said, "The sandwiches from Quizno's like we had yesterday will be fine."
T-Mac chats with Travis Gonzolez and other members of the adidas marketing team.			Harrison asked T-Mac if he could see his shoe, so he took it off and handed it to him.
Harry checking out the gagets on the T-Mac 4.		Back to the shoot.	A stylist tended to T-Mac's hair and misted him with water before each take.
The script for that day's shoot required T-Mac to dribble at a normal speed until nearing a camera stationed at eye level, at which point he slowed to almost running in place, glanced at the camera, then proceeded past. The footage resulted in the part of the commercial in which T-Mac glances at us (the TV viewers) during our breif view from the cockpit of one of the helicopters trying to bring him down. I didn't count how many times they reshot the scene, but it was the only scene they worked on for the entire time we were there. Though we were invited to stay for lunch and the afternoon shoot, we decided to leave for a return to Universal Studios since the previous day's visit didn't leave enough time for rides at the theme park. We said good bye and thanks to T-Mac and the rest of the adidas team as they broke for lunch.
The shoot was staged at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, just south of Santa Monica. As we left the studio we checked out some other sound stages. The set formerly used by The Practice is now being used by the show Boston Legal. It was right next door to T-Mac's shoot. We also saw the sets for The O.C. and CSI Miami. At CSI Miami the door was open, so we went in. The actors we shooting off site that day but what appeared to be their scripts were spread out in a small office near the production room.			My wife had recently seen a feature by Food Network on Encounter, The Restaurant at LAX Airport and recommended that Harry and I eat there.
Pictures inside Encounter, where we had lunch before returning home. Dr. Bill Dorfman, the dentist from Extreme Makeovers was on our return flight and was kind enough to pose for a photo during a stop in Dallas.

The trip was an unforgettable experience. And getting to bring my son along made it all the more special. Again, I'd like to say thanks to KicksGuide and the very friendly people at adidas for making this all happen.

Ryan Holler