MSI 2021 OPENING CEREMONY:
DOCUMENTARY

With COVID 19 rampant during the 2021 League of Legends Mid Season Invitational tournament, the notion of a traditional opening ceremony for the finals was off the table. Riot Games turned to us with the task to create a short-form documentary that would air immediately prior to the finals; setting the stage for the biggest esports match-up of the summer. 

We knew we wanted this piece to be highly topical, so we carefully casted protagonists from four of the tournament’s top teams; RNG, DWG, PSG Talon, and MAD Lions, with the hope that one if not two teams would qualify for the finals. As the 3 week tournament progressed, we crafted our documentary in live-time, capturing the tournament narrative from a player-centric POV. We worked closely with the teams to tell an honest, raw story about what it takes to compete at the highest level of League of Legends. 

As we approached the finals day and the delivery deadline, we had hedged our bets well; the final matchup was set between RNG and DWG. There was approximately 16 hours between the conclusion of the last semi-finals match and our delivery deadline the following morning.

CLIENT: Riot Games
DIRECTOR: Carlos Vargas, Karl Richter | PRODUCER: Douglas Kerr, Nick Brown
SERVICES PROVIDED: Development, Casting, Production, Editing, Color, Sound
Locations: Reykjavík, Iceland