Five minutes before the regional Suncoast Emmy Awards began in Florida, LSU gymnastics videographer Giovanni Lamonte remembers his girlfriend asking one question. “Do you have a speech prepared?”
Convinced he had zero chance of winning in his category, he shook his head no, but she insisted he type something up just in case. So, he did what any nominee would do: He turned to AI. He typed a few bullet points into ChatGPT, turned it into an acceptance speech, and thought nothing else of it. That is, until his name was called as a recipient in the category of Sports Program – Post-Produced or Edited (Series). That’s when Lamonte says he blacked out.
“I don’t even remember what I said, probably nothing that I actually wrote down,” Lamonte recalled about the culminating moment of a 2023 season he will never forget.
Lamonte is the mastermind behind “The Climb,” the docuseries that took the internet by storm and led many other teams to create their own behind-the-scenes look at their own programs. His work began in 2019 as a student, the first year that current fifth-year gymnasts Kiya Johnson, Kai Rivers, and Alyona Shchennikova were freshmen. Originally working with the football program, Lamonte branched out to cover the gymnastics team in 2021, creating and releasing hype and recap videos. When LSU created its own streaming service in 2022, each sport began to produce docuseries for their team. This led to the creation of The Climb, based on the team’s motto for the 2023 season.
Lamonte knew that being given full access to a team could be worrisome, so he made sure to reassure head coach Jay Clark of his intent throughout. “My main thing for him was that the story will always be spun in a positive way. It will always show the team overcoming something,” he explained. Clark gave him full access to everything and allowed him to shoot whatever he wanted. “He’s so good, I don’t even know he’s there most of the time,” Clark noted.
Before filming the first season, Lamonte drew inspiration from Peacock’s docuseries, “Golden,” featuring current LSU freshman Konnor McClain. The most important element that he took from that series was the pacing of the show. “[I didn’t want to] just throw everything at the viewer at once, [but rather] let the emotion and the story build. That makes everything pay off in the end.”
The process for each episode from beginning to end typically takes Lamonte about three weeks. The first two weeks are primarily spent filming all the preparation, like team meetings, practices, and one-on-one interviews with members of the team. The process is then capped off with a meet.
Though Lamonte leads the charge, the filming isn’t a one-person operation. Besides the team and coaching staff, Lamonte credited several other individuals for the success of the series, including Alyssa Leal, LSU gymnastics’ sports information director; Logan Sampey and Caleb Vedros, additional camera operators during meets and intrasquads; and his parents. “They keep me sane… None of this would be possible without the help from them.”
Most episodes come out on the Thursday of the third week of production, but editing doesn’t start until the Monday of that week, or “hell week,” as Lamonte calls it. It takes a total of 48 hours of editing time to put together three weeks worth of stories. Most people might be a little hesitant to talk at length about the adversities they go through, but with Lamonte, there’s a trust between himself and the athletes.
“They trust me to tell their story in a way that glorifies them as not only an athlete but a person first,” Lamonte explained, noting that his familiarity with the team allowed them to feel more comfortable sharing those vulnerable moments.
Junior Aleah Finnegan is an athlete who’s had important moments come to life in the docuseries. Her 2023 streak of four 10s in four meets was documented last season. Lamonte made reflecting back on the experience simple. “He’s very easy to talk to, which definitely helps in terms of being in front of a camera,” she said.
Once episodes started coming out, it became a source of inspiration. Most of the time, the team would be on the road when a new episode came out, so they were given private screenings. The reactions were always the same. “We were all just crying uncontrollably,” Clark recalled. “When you’re living it, you don’t really grasp the emotion, but especially last year with how the year went and the struggles we had…you just relive all of that emotion.” When the team got to watch each episode, Finnegan remembered everyone piling into one hotel room to watch together. “To be able to go back and revisit some of those moments that we got to share with our teammates was definitely really special.”
As people started to share their thoughts on social media, both Lamonte and Clark were pleased not only with the amount of eyes that were on the show, but with the evolving opinions of the team in the process. “People come up with their own preconceived misconceptions about every program. I [wanted] people to see the way our team pours into each other [and that] it’s something we spend time on. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect at it, but there’s a lot of effort and intentionality to it,” Clark said. Lamonte agreed, adding that he was surprised to be the person that broke those barriers between the gymternet and the team.
Once the season was over, Lamonte was ready to move into prepping for the 2024 season. Then, a coworker asked if she could submit The Climb for an Emmy. One thing led to another and in December, Lamonte found himself on stage accepting the award. It was a moment that didn’t fully sink in until he was backstage. “I was having flashbacks to the late nights editing, all the interviews…and all the things that, in the moment, kind of suck to do. But, in that moment, I was like, dang, it’s all worth it.”
When Finnegan heard that Lamonte had won, she immediately called him to let him know how proud she was. “What he does is no joke. For other people to see how much work that he puts into this product…I [was] so glad he got the recognition he deserves, [and] I hope he knows how appreciated he is.”
A series that started out as a behind-the-scenes look took on a life of its own and now serves multiple purposes. Besides being on LSU Gold, season two also airs on ESPNU, giving additional opportunities for fans to watch it outside of the paywall. This season, other teams have followed the trend and created docuseries of their own. It’s a time- and labor-intensive effort, but Clark hopes to continue to see other universities invest in it.
“It’s another arm in an ever-growing awareness of our sport. Universities have to commit a lot of money and resources to it, [but] whether you’re a fan or maybe somebody who’s curious about gymnastics, or a recruit, there’s something in it for everybody.”
Finnegan loves how the docuseries trend is showcasing more than just the six athletes that compete on each event, too. “The other athletes that go in, the managers, the coaches…it takes a village and I’m really glad that other teams are able to progress towards this new [era] of social media,” she said.
As for Lamonte, he has eight episodes planned for this new season of The Climb–depending on how the Tigers’ season goes—and he’s switched to a more team-centric view of telling the stories, as the storylines have been slower to develop than last season. Regardless of how this season unfolds, he hopes he continues to be a dynamic storyteller. “The best thing to hear is that you made someone feel something. To put something on the screen for 20 to 30 minutes…and have them genuinely feel for the character and plot, that means a lot to me.”
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Article by Savanna Wellman
