ESPORTS WORLD CUP OPENING CEREMONY
The Esports World Cup Opening Ceremony was conceived as a cinematic, large-scale spectacle that fused live performance, broadcast storytelling, and immersive design to launch the tournament on a global stage. Serving as Creative Lead and Senior Producer, Lisa Renkel guided the creative vision and execution for a lineup featuring Post Malone, Alesso, Tina Guo, Duckwrth, Dino of SEVENTEEN, and Telle Smith of The Word Alive. The result positioned The Esports World Cup as a cultural event blending music, movement, and narrative into a singular ceremonial moment.
Esports World Cup Foundation: Ralf Reichert, Faisal Bin Homran, Christoffer Melin, Ariel Horn
Executive Producers: Nick Troop, Roy Chung, Ryan Chung, POSSIBLE
Creative Producer: Trevor Burk, Visual Noise
Broadcast Director: Sam Wrench
Creative Leads: Lisa Renkel, Joyce Hu, POSSIBLE; Trevor Burk, Phil Kong, Visual Noise
Executive Director: Michael Jobson, MDLBeast
CEO TAIT MENA: Soren West
VP, Global Projects: Matt Richman, TAIT
Project Co-Leads: Simon Haddad, MDLBeast; Diana Hagerbaumer, TAIT
Executive Producer, Broadcast: Ian Stewart, Done+Dusted
EIC, Broadcast: Rachel French, Done+Dusted
VNC Project Coordinator: Lindsey Webb, Visual Noise
CONTENT:
Content Producer: Kerry Brown
Associate Producer: Amanda Young
Content Director: Luke Tanaka
Senior Content Manager: Ismael Zendejas
3D Artists: Scott Peters, Farid Ghanbari, Felipe Sampaio De Queiroz, Ewan Davidson, Ron Monahan, Trevor Kerr
2D / Compositing Artists: Ismael Zendejas, Ali Say, Nico Schiavone, Shawn Wagner, Emma Bittman, Blake Manns
Storyboard Artists: Manon Carrier, Etienne Fagnere, Nona Zieba
Previz Lead: Jake McPherson
Systems Engineer: Geordy van Es
PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Set Designer: Florian Wieder & Cuno Van Hahn, Wieder Design
Art Director: Ellen Jaworski
PRODUCTION:
Production Partner: MDLBeast
Coordinating Producer: Allison Roithinger, Waterwood TV
Project Manager / Coordinator: Izzy Hughes
Project Assistant: Suhailah Almamy
Associate Lead: Yasmina Raidan
Production Coordinator: Ziad Elias
EVENT OPERATIONS:
Logistics Manager: Vic Hazell
Office & Hospitality Manager: Roaa Alzagha
Supplier Advance Coordinator: Rema Khalil
Catering Manager: Lea Horii
Site Manager: Louisa Stormont
Assistant Ops Coordinator: Mo Shaat
Shipping Logistics Manager: Matjaz Longar
Government Relations Officers: Talal Othman, Abdullah Mohammed, Mohammed Alzahrani
HSSE Management / Event Control: Rob Wagensveld
Security Director: Dominique Smith
Health & Safety: Bruce Cawood, Steven Baird
Engineering Lead: Michael Bransfield
TECHNICAL PRODUCTION:
Sr. Technical Director: Jeremy Shand, TAIT
Technical Director: Daryl Payne
Associate Project Lead: Kim Akester
ATD Producer: Troy Morgan
Scenic Manager: Brendon Poole
Draftsperson: Meghan Bauman, TAIT
Artist Production Manager: Andy Head, MDLBeast
Assistant Production Manager: Juliette Baldrey
Production Director: Jonny Gaskell, MDLBeast
Scenic TDs: Todd Uzel, Shannon Gobell
Rigging Director: Steve Porter, Unusual Rigging
Senior Rigger: Sam Carter, Unusual Rigging
Special Effects Lead: Grant Sellers, Strictly FX
LIGHTING:
Lighting Designer: Jon Kusner, 22 Degrees
Lighting Director: Will Gossett
Lighting Tech Supervisor: Chris Nye
Lighting Director / Programmers: Kirk Miller, Ryan Tanker
Lighting Project Manager: Dan Hughes, Creative Technology
Lead Lighting HODs: Sam Connolly, Grigory Matveev, Creative Technology
MUSIC & AUDIO:
Ceremony Music Director: Miguel Gandelman
Ceremony Audio Team Lead: Jonathan Stewart, Clair Audio
Ceremony Playback Programmer: Joe Callister, Auditoria
EWC Music Composers: Noah Gladstone, Adam Michalak, Hollywood Scoring
EWC Music Executive Creative Director: Viranda Tantula, POTION PROJECTS
SCREENS & VIDEO:
Screens Director: Dirk Sanders, Visual Noise
Server Engineer: Rich Porter
Projection Mapping Engineer: Andy Coates
Server Programmer: Zak Haywood
Pipeline Producer: Zach Peletz
Screens Switcher: Sam Hayes
Video Project Manager: Croft Clinton, Creative Technology
COSTUME & WARDROBE:
Costume Designer & Lead Stylist: Athena Lawton
Wardrobe Producer: Rachel Shull
Lead Patternmaker: William Ramseur
Lead Tailor/Project Manager: Ruby Turner
Wardrobe Supervisor: Madison Miller
Costume Illustrator: Barbra Araujo
Stitchers: Anne Szeliski, Collin West, Ariel Brickman, Oberon Alexander, Soyoung Shin, Iggy Soliven
Wardrobe Shoppers: Lily Pickering, Blaine Shin
Wardrobe Dressers: Lydia Mikulka PA: Will Jacobus
Hair & Makeup by: GameFace Makeup & Design
Hair & Makeup Lead: Chelsea Allen
Dancer Hair & Makeup Team: Ar’Tavia Harris, Alli Elizabeth, Hannah McBride, Anne Juliette, Nakia Rachon, Sergio Alvarez Gonzalez, Constance Foe, Tron Harris, Flo Witherspoon, Marcela Osegueda, Diamond Magee
Hair & Makeup – Tina Guo: Chelsea Allen
Grooming – Duckwrth & Telle: Alli Elizabeth
Grooming – Alesso: Aga Jakubowski
CHOREOGRAPHY & DANCERS:
Choreographer: Jay Revell, Black Skull
Choreo Assistants: Lianne Lee May, Oliver Andrews, Josh Denyer, James Lamber
Dance Team: Alexander Thompson, Anders Nielsen, April Habkouk, Armando Cruz, Charlotte Lee, Chloe Simons, Dalvin Sollberger, Daniel Blessing, Enej Jurečič, Federico Milan, Hannah Sofia Millott, Jacob Manning, Jade Monteban, Jamie Bell, Joe Jarrett, Joshua Okonkwo, Kieran Curtin, Maikolo Fekitoa, Matteo Paoli , Mezack Sahetapij, Molly Hincks, Nicey Belgrave, Reuben Williamson, Ruby Hood, Samara Tong , Sanilson Monteiro, Sebastian Carnwell, Shay Barclay , Summer Villiers, Toby Winfield Robinson, Tom Selas, Tyresse Hare, Victor Allen
BROADCAST SERVICES:
Broadcast Partner: Done + Dusted
Broadcast Producer: Camilla Cheales
Line Producer: Holly Enness
Production Manager: Millie Bishop
Production Coordinators: Felix Kong, Imogen Dwyer
Travel Manager: Beth Baxter
Production Assistant: Ruth O'Leary
Associate Director: Emily Aldous
Script/ Timing PA: Rachel Somers
Vision Mixer: Chris Whiterod
Edit Producer: Nick Johnson
Editor: Reg Wrench
Camera Supervisor: Brett Turnbull
Trinity Operator: Martin Kitchen
Trinity Focus Puller: Ben Worthington
Camera Operators: Rob Kar, Ben Frewin, Dean Clish, Mike Forde, Steve Lintern, Matt Ingham, Floor Berkhemer, Timotheus Johannes Van Der Voort, Dennis Hartog, Young Eager
Floor Manager: Roger Dempster
Stage Managers: Emily Asher, Stan Kingsbury
Assistant Stage Managers: Javan Miller, Careen Rust, Sian Thomas
OB:
Tech Manager: Bolke Burnaby Lautier, SR Films
Operational Manager: Roger Kalkhove
Media Manager: Geert Willem Jonkmans
Cue Pilot: Erik Elgersma
TALENT & EWC MUSIC:
Artist Booking & Management: Panos Ayassotelis, Rayan AlRasheed, MDLB
Project Manager: Ieva Irbina, The Event Verse
Artist Liaison Manager: Miriam Hegazi, The Event Verse
Creative Producer: Nathan Romero, POTION PROJECTS
Producer: Josh White, POTION PROJECTS
Music Coordinator: Victoria Granger, POTION PROJECTS
UNIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Photographer: Christophe Viseux
FREIGHT:
Freight: Rock-It Cargo
SPECIAL THANKS:
Johnny “Natural” Najera
Scott Willsallen, Auditoria
Chuck Crampton
Caroline Babington