Elastic Teams Up With ESPN and Disney for NBA and Indiana Jones Crossover Spot

What does it take to engineer a collaboration between two legendary entities like Indiana Jones and the NBA? A lot of creativity, and even more easter eggs. The team at Elastic was honored and excited to work with ESPN and Disney to bring this fantastical story to life for these two iconic franchises. Here, three key players in the creation of the campaign— ESPN Senior Producer Jeremy Edney, Elastic Creative Director Paul Mitchell, Elastic Art Director Kirk Shintani, and 3D Lead Lee Buckley give us a look behind the scenes of this partnership.

Tell us how this collaboration began. Where did the idea to connect the NBA and Indiana Jones originate?

Jeremy: For their Western Conference Finals promotion, Disney promoted Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, so our goal was to make something that would resonate with NBA fans watching the WCF, something that could combine the worlds of Indiana Jones and the NBA Playoffs. Rather than a typical live-action shoot, the idea to push the creative envelope with a piece that felt like an opening title scene à la Game of Thrones originated with Walt Disney Studios VP Evelyn Livermore, who had the vision for a concept based on the iconic map travel scenes from the Indiana Jones franchise. Our ESPN Creative Studio team – Chris Mantzaris, Genta Nakahara, and Justin Swiderski – ran with the idea, turning the quest for the championship trophy into an Indiana Jones adventure. Mantzaris and I knew the perfect partner to collaborate with to bring it to life: Elastic, the company that actually built all the Game of Thrones title opening scenes. It goes without saying that their work is amazing.

This campaign has many clever visual crossovers, like the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” boulder reimagined as a basketball. How did you draw parallels between the world of the NBA and the Indiana Jones universe? 

Jeremy: We’re all big Indiana Jones fans over here (and obviously big NBA fans), so trying to find those connections and figure out where they landed and how they fit together was a lot of fun for us. It was very important to make sure this campaign was a mix of Indiana Jones iconography as well as an NBA storyline. I think the great thing about the campaign is as an NBA fan, you get to see your team blended in the world of Indiana Jones. Our team at ESPN Creative Studio gave inspiration to the Elastic team, and they really ran with it. 

Paul: The initial kickoff creative conversation started with how to leverage this unique opportunity of weaving the iconic Indy moments within the NBA western conference final teams. We looked at all the films and created a small list of easter egg moments that we could cleverly weave into the transitions, some obvious and some not so obvious. I wanted the campaign to echo the adventure and thrill ride of an Indiana Jones movie, with parallels to the excitement and drama of the Western Conference too. We tried to find interesting parallels with the city location for each team, like incorporating Denver’s hidden caves into the mine cart sequence or using the Golden Gate Bridge in the boulder scene. It was also very cool to get to work with the iconic "Raider's March" theme in a new context, which added to the emotional thrill and connected us even more to the film franchise.

What about this collaboration was most inspiring and exciting to you?

Jeremy: The opportunity itself was the most exciting part. Indiana Jones and the NBA Playoffs — how cool is that? Getting the chance to work with so many talented, creative people to bring this to life was a thrill. The response to the final creative has been positive, and the most validating part is that our partners at Disney are so pleased. Evelyn proclaimed that this is her favorite project she’s ever worked on, and she’s worked on hundreds of these. To me, there’s no higher praise.

What stands out to you most about the final campaign? Is there a particular moment that is your favorite, and why?

Jeremy: It’s so hard to pick just one as a favorite. Our colleagues over at Walt Disney Studios love the basketball boulder rolling off the Golden Gate Bridge — Walt Disney Studios’ Jordan Franke had the idea to get that scene in there. Another great one is the Lakers cave — it’s so beautiful and has so much detail. Getting to fit in the Beam in Sacramento was a fun nod to the Kings’ incredible season. 

Lee: All of the animations or effects work together so well that for me, it’s hard to pick out just one sequence that is the most emblematic of the project. It really is more than the sum of its parts — we focused on trying to capture a sense of adventure with each effect we created.

What was the most challenging part of this project, and how did you overcome that challenge?

Kirk: The biggest challenge was making sure each scene seamlessly blended an NBA city with the sense of adventure that the Indiana Jones franchise is known for.  Paul worked with the amazing team to find key moments within the Indiana jones franchise and build our NBA cities around them. 

Paul: With any collaboration that has multiple partners, there are numerous voices that need to be heard and folded into the final spots, There were so many elements that had to be layered into each spot; the office, the map, the city locations, the NBA teams, the Dial of Destiny film moments, along with iconic callbacks to the franchise, with room for two end cards — that’s a lot to pack into a 30 second spot. We had to work through the design process and find the thread that could bring it all together, and ultimately trust the process. To make it all work and retain a cadence that allows moments to breathe and register was really challenging, though it definitely added to the thrill of creating the final product.

Harrison Ford expressed interest in being part of the project and ultimately provided a voiceover. What was it like to work with him on this?

Jeremy: Harrison is a true icon, and he couldn’t have been a nicer person. Being at his stature he could have easily just read the lines once or twice and called it a day, but he was the utmost professional, who took the project seriously and committed to making it the best it could be. He gave suggestions on the lines and even asked for additional takes. We could not have asked for more, and we’re so grateful to him for having taken the time to voice this. It’s his voice that ultimately gives the piece its gravitas and impact.

Which moment in the campaign are you the most proud of?

Paul: There are many moments I’m proud of in this campaign. The Indiana Jones action model is really special — seeing that come to life was amazing. I’m proud of and grateful to the whole team for being able to pull this off and deliver a beautiful campaign.

Watch “Quest For Larry” below.

ELASTIC CG Production - “Quest For Larry”

Design Studio: Elastic

Creative Director: Paul Mitchell

Art Director: Kirk Shintani

Storyboards: Vince Wei

3D Designers: Min Shi, Lusine Arakelyan, Nadia Tzuo

2D Designers: Lynn Kim, Jean Hwang, Sky Bird

3D Lead: Lee Buckley

3D Artists: Gryun Kim, Gabriel Perez, Daniel Moreno, Jun Kim, Miguel Salek, Jason Gaines, Caleb Ollivant

Modelers: Joe Paniagua, Jose Limon, Mike Dupree

Rigger: Jared Eng

Nuke Artists: Maciek Sokalski, Shahana Khan

Editor: Jessica Ledoux, Teddy Gersten

Flame Artist: Corey Martinez, Samantha Muzljakovich

Associate Producer: Hannah Rowswell

Head of CG: Andy Wilkoff

Head of Production: Paul Makowski

Executive Producer: Kate Berry

Managing Director:  Jennifer Sofio Hall

Lime - “Quest For Larry”

Sound design and mix: Peter Lapinski

Associate Producer: Cassie Underwood 

Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

ESPN Creative Studio Team - “Quest For Larry”

VP ESPN Creative Studio: Carrie Brzezinski-Hsu

VP Creative Director: Jay Marrotte

Creative Director: Jamie Overkamp

Sr. Creative Director: Chris Mantzaris

Creative Director: Genta Nakahara

Assoc. Creative Director: Justin Swiderski

Sr. Director of Production: Kyle Wright

Sr. Producer: Jeremy Edney

Walt Disney Studios Creative Team  - “Quest For Larry”

VP Integrated Marketing & Synergy: Evelyn Livermore

Director Integrated Mktng & Synergy: Jordan Francke

Sr Manager Integrated Mktng & Synergy: Whitney Toretti

Integrated Mktg & Synergy Specialist: Marissa Marcone

Disney CreativeWorks Solutions - “Quest For Larry”

VP, DCW and MCI Solutions: Christina Carey Dunleavy

Director, Client Activation: Katie Kornstein

Sr. Manager, Client Activation: Colin Ryan

Sr. Manager, Client Activation: Alyssa Yamane