The crew at Minneapolis studio Pixel Farm hits the hardwood to boost their hometown NBA team’s city edition branding in this vibrant film focused “on the intersection of court, culture, and community.”

From the team at Pixel Farm: “The Timberwolves’ creative team developed a dynamic and colorful art direction for their 2022-23 City Edition uniforms and creative campaign of the season. 2D graphics motivated by players’ movements formed the foundation of the piece, while a 3D ball and textures added depth and threaded scenes together.

“This year’s theme ‘Own Every Canvas’ celebrates the uniqueness and vibrancy of the creative communities throughout Minnesota. To reflect that, each individual uniform is a one-of-one, featuring different color blocks and patterns. We expanded on the theme by using the key design element as a recurring graphic that connects from scene to scene.

“With only twelve minutes per player and two sets to shoot, we had to maximize efficiency from every angle. With a strict eight and four-minute split between sets, we quickly nailed down a process to get the shots we needed while players flowed in one after another. Players put in long hours on Media day, so we set the scene with music from DJ Sota and energetic one-on-one creative direction.”
 

 
Client: Minnesota Timberwolves
Executive Creative Director: Jen Zanatta
Creative Director: Max Morlock
Director of Game Entertainment: Sheridan West
Manager of Game Production: Keri Thien

Production: Pixel Farm
Creative Director: Jeff Stevens
Art Director/Sr. Motion Designer: Ben Pimlott
Designer: Shun Matsuhashi
CG Artist: Aaron Loeks
Editor: Joel Swierenga
Color: Dave Sweet
VFX/Cleanup: Kurt Angell, Josh Allard, Tom Doeden
Producer: James Lindeman
Line Producer: Bob Medcraft
Executive Producer: Kathy Yerich
Managing Director: Paul Sadeghi

Music: Lazerbeak, Dwynell Roland