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The Confetti King of Super Bowl: Noah Winter’s 30-Year Legacy Behind the Celebration
Noah Winter proudly claims he’s attended more Super Bowls than legendary quarterback Tom Brady. While Brady has played in an impressive 10 championship games, Winter will mark his 30th consecutive Super Bowl appearance this year – not as a player, but as the mastermind behind the iconic confetti celebration that caps each championship.
As the owner of Artistry in Motion, Winter has transformed post-game confetti drops into one of the most recognizable moments in American sports. His company crafts celebratory confetti not just for the NFL’s biggest game, but also for rock concerts, movie productions, political conventions, and Olympic ceremonies.
“It’s become an iconic moment,” Winter reflects from his Northridge, California, office and confetti factory. The post-game confetti shower has evolved into more than just visual spectacle – it’s become an integral part of the championship experience.
Jane Gershovich, a photographer who worked for the Seattle Seahawks during their 2014 Super Bowl victory, describes the childlike joy the confetti brings to everyone on the field. “Just seeing the players and their kids engage with it at such a wholesome level, it brings a lot of joy,” she notes. Players and families have been known to toss handfuls skyward or make “confetti angels” amidst the colorful blizzard.
The logistics behind these celebrations require meticulous planning. For each Super Bowl, Artistry in Motion transports 300 pounds of team-colored confetti to the venue. As the game enters its final minutes, crews position confetti cannons around the stadium perimeter, ready for deployment the moment the clock hits zero.
“It’s always better to be late than early,” Winter explains, emphasizing the importance of timing. “Over the 30 years, we never have launched the wrong color or launched too early.” This precision is essential, as launching confetti prematurely or in the losing team’s colors would be a major faux pas on sports’ biggest stage.
The confetti itself demands careful engineering. Winter’s team has determined that rectangular shapes deliver the optimal “flutter” effect, turning on their axis as they descend to maximize airtime. The color mixture requires experimentation to ensure the right visual impact on television broadcasts, as certain hues can dominate on camera.
Massachusetts-based Seaman Paper has manufactured the tissue paper for Winter’s Super Bowl confetti for 25 years. Jamie Jones, one of Seaman’s owners, notes that while the Super Bowl order is prestigious, it represents just a fraction of the company’s daily production of 150,000 pounds of tissue paper, primarily used for gift wrapping and food service.
What many viewers don’t realize is that Super Bowl celebrations actually feature two distinct confetti moments. The initial drop occurs when the game ends, while a second shower accompanies the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation. This second wave features specialty confetti cut in the silhouette of the championship trophy, adding another layer of visual pageantry.
Environmental considerations haven’t escaped Winter’s attention. His company uses U.S.-sourced, 98% post-consumer recycled material that is biodegradable. Artistry in Motion prepares confetti in the colors of all four conference championship teams, with unused material being recycled after the game.
Winter’s journey into the confetti business came through an unexpected route. After studying lighting design in college and working with pyrotechnics at venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Disney approached him to recreate falling leaves for a live “Pocahontas” show in the mid-1980s. This led to creating confetti for Disney’s daily parade at Disneyland.
The rock world soon took notice. In 1986, Mick Jagger spotted Winter’s work at Disney and commissioned confetti for a Rolling Stones concert at Dodgers Stadium, subsequently bringing Winter’s team on tour. Other high-profile artists like U2’s Bono followed suit, expanding the company’s reputation in entertainment.
Winter’s first Super Bowl came in 1997 when the Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots at the Louisiana Superdome. The previous year, he had worked the game as a pyrotechnician, making this year’s Super Bowl his 30th consecutive championship event.
While Winter maintains professional neutrality regarding team preferences, he did reveal that his two brothers are devoted New York Jets fans. He’s promised to bring them to work a confetti cannon if their team ever returns to the Super Bowl – something that hasn’t happened since Joe Namath led the Jets to victory in 1969.
With over 127 million viewers expected to watch this year’s championship game, Winter’s colorful creations will once again serve as the visual exclamation point on the NFL season, cementing his unique place in Super Bowl history.
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10 Comments
The article paints a really fun picture of the confetti drop – the “childlike joy” it brings to everyone on the field sounds amazing. I can imagine the players and coaches just reveling in that moment of triumph, with the confetti raining down around them. Must be an incredible feeling.
I agree, the confetti drop really seems to capture the spirit of the Super Bowl as a major celebratory event. It’s cool that a single company has become so closely associated with that iconic moment.
The confetti drop at the Super Bowl is such a fun and iconic tradition. It must take a lot of planning and logistics to pull off something like that on a massive scale. I wonder what kind of specialized equipment and techniques they use to get the confetti distributed just right over the entire field.
From the article, it sounds like the company behind the confetti has been doing this for decades. That experience and expertise really shows in how polished and coordinated the whole celebration comes across on TV.
The article mentions the confetti is used for all kinds of major events, not just the Super Bowl. I’m curious what the process is like for designing custom confetti for each client – do they have a catalog of different styles, sizes, and colors they can draw from? Or do they create unique confetti from scratch for every job?
Good point. The company must have developed a pretty robust catalog and production process to be able to handle such a diverse range of clients and events. Providing that kind of turnkey confetti solution is probably a big part of their business model.
Wow, 30 consecutive Super Bowl appearances by the confetti company owner is really impressive. That level of experience and dedication shows in how seamless the confetti drops come across on TV. I bet the players and fans absolutely love that moment of celebration and joy at the end of the big game.
It’s interesting to learn that the same company handles confetti drops for all sorts of major events, not just the Super Bowl. I guess they’ve really perfected the craft over the years. I wonder what kinds of special confetti formulations or distribution methods they’ve developed to make each event unique.
The article mentions they use confetti for political conventions too. I wonder if they have to tailor the designs or colors for different events to match themes or branding. Definitely an underappreciated part of major event production.
It’s impressive how the confetti drop has become such an integral part of the Super Bowl experience over the years. I wonder if the company has ever had any major mishaps or failures with the confetti, or if they’ve really dialed in the process to make it flawless every time.