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.

Venue
ANB Arena, Riyadh

Role
Creative Lead and Senior Producer, for Possible Productions

Year
2025

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