_monday night football rebrand

Project summary:

During my time as a Supervising Animator at ESPN, I got to be part of one of the biggest projects of my career: the complete rebrand of Monday Night Football.

Our team built a brand-new motion graphics package from the ground up for the primetime Monday broadcast.

Beyond Monday nights, the scope extended to new graphics for studio shows and custom packages for alt-casts like The ManningCast and pre-season Fantasy Football coverage.

It was a massive lift across the board. On the project management and direction side, I helped keep production running smoothly, handling scheduling, collaborating with outside agencies, reviewing deliveries, providing feedback to our internal animators, and setting up file structures and workflows to keep the team efficient.

But I also had the chance to jump on the box to design, animate, toolkit, and versions some elements. A few that helped shape the broader look and feel of the package.

Ultimately, my role was just a small part of an extraordinary group effort spanning the entire ESPN Creative Studio team and three external studios.

Projects like this only come together through collaboration and teamwork across every department. I’m thrilled and grateful to have been a part of the team and this effort. It will undoubtedly be a tough project to top!

Deliverables:

• Opening NFL Presenter Animation (in collaboration with Already Been Chewed)

• Rejoin Animations

• Player Frontends

• Team Matchups (in collaboration with Motion Force)

• Background loops

• Cloth simulation elements

• International game logo 3d modeling

Role:

Supervising Animator / Designer / Animator

• Leading & Managing: Oversaw internal animators, reviewed work, gave creative feedback, and handled day-to-day production planning.

• Agency Partnering: Worked closely with external partner studios (Already Been Chewed, Sibling Rivalry, Motion Force) to review deliveries, keep creative aligned, and make sure assets hit broadcast standards.

• Workflows & Technical Setup: Set up file structures, graphic mapping, and software workflows to help the team move fast and stay organized across hundreds of assets.

• Cross-Team Communication: Acted as the bridge between the animation team, sales, and live production to handle custom graphics requests.

• Hands-On Animation: Designed and animated core elements that helped guide the visual direction for other parts of the package.

Credits:

• Art Director: Thomas Maloney

• Producer: Matt Bernabeo

• Manager: Matthew Tucker

• Supervising Animatiors: Adam Konyndyk & Brian Cantore

• Designers & Animatiors: Dmitry Anisimov, Brian Cantore, Adam Konyndyk Alex Davidson, Amanda Enright, Joe Kerivan, Patrick Leung, Luis Llanes, John Lucidon, Chris Monaco, Matt Ryan, Jeremy Simches