Psyop directors Marie Hyon and HANZOHANZO amp the excitement ahead of the League of Legends 2023 World Championship this week with a four-minute ode to grit and determination powered by vocals from K-Pop phenom NewJeans.

Marie Hyon: “The film is a beautiful collaboration with Riot who created such an amazing story. The Psyop team on this were quite literally an amalgamation of mega anime fans, NewJeans lovers, and LoL addicts. We were all so honored to celebrate a young player as the protagonist of his own story.

“What was most important for us and Riot was that the heart of Deft’s journey break through. We had our goals set on building an artistic, elevated expression of his story’s most powerful truths – emphasizing his unbreakable heart, his courage to fight on despite getting knocked back and having the conviction and perseverance to never give up.“
 
 

 
Client: Riot Games

Production: Psyop
Director: Marie Hyon, HANZOHANZO
EP: Jen Cadic
Producer: Amy Fahl, Tessy Diaz, Codey Lombardi
Design Director: Winnie Mai
Character Design: Vincenzo Puglia
Designer: Tin Artwichai, Samantha Ballardini, Caroline Goehner, Marie Hyon, Emily Mai, Winnie Mai
Modeling: Keyring
Animation Supervisor: Jean-Dominique Fievet, Ryan Moran
Lighting: Keyring
2D Lead: Bruno De La Calva
Storyboard Artist: Ben Chan, Chris Mauch, Kim Nguyen, Hans-Christoph Schultheiss

Post/VFX: Psyop
Compositing: Bruno De La Calva, Kevin Kim, Emily Mai, Galo Gutierrez, Matthias Bauerle
Editor: Loren Christiansen, Hans-Christoph Schultheiss, Rachel Webster

Music: Riot Games Music
Featured vocal artist: NewJeans
Writer: Alex Seaver of Mako, Sebastien Najand
Producer: Sebastien Najand, Alex Seaver of Mako
Additional production: Jayson DeZuzio, MADS
Mixer: Serban Ghenea
Master: Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound