Italian Grand Prix Winner Daniel Ricciardo Stars in New Content Series for EA

Headed up by Italian Grand Prix winner, Daniel Ricciardo, 'After the Apex' is a new content series for F1 2021. In the first of four films featuring the Australian racing driver, viewers get up close and personal with Daniel's need for, and love of danger. Detailing Daniel's thrill-seeking behaviour all the way back to his childhood, the film gives viewers insight into what makes Daniel Ricciardo so good at what he does but through a lens you have never seen before, an extreme, abstract, psychedelic world.

'After the Apex' aims to show viewers the 'person behind the athlete', whilst pulling some F1 enthusiasts into the world of gaming. Shows like 'Drive to Survive' have started to create a mass appetite for the sort of content. But communications that create an intimacy between fans and athletes has always been ambition for games company, EA Sports. 

Alex Wilde, athlete relations director at EA Sports, says: "Daniel Ricciardo has been a long time member of the EA Sports family. As you can see in the content we learn about his love, and study of other sports which is at the heart of what we do. The content series will stretch beyond film and traditional media, with assets that will live in the real world, and integrate into the game itself. We can't wait to continue to see this come to life."

In the first episode Daniel talks about his love, and study of other sports, and how he seeks to turn insights he gleams from them into a competitive advantage on the track.

Elliott Starr, head of copy ay 20something, says: "An athlete like Daniel Ricciardo is hot property. As a result, a quick search on Youtube and you'll see him getting up to all sorts of branded content mischief. One of my favourites let viewers in on Daniel's love of Schnitzel. We knew we wanted to do something that looked different to the sea of content that was out there. We pursued a direction that mixed live-action and animation. What's more, we brought creative elements from the game into our work, and elements from our work, into the game."

The team was joined by Daniel himself who helped with initial concepting. A strong visual identity was created, there was a strong desire to move away from typical racing graphics. The resulting work shows speed and aggression, but also depth. An eye-watering, clashing, and contrasting of graphics and colours. As far as F1 athletes go, Daniel is bit of a unicorn, in terms of his talent, personality, and creativity. 

Jack Goodwin, executive producer at Kode Media, says: "Collaborating with EA Sports and 20something again has been a joy. Will Thacker and I hunted high and low and found an excellent animator in Chicago. Anthony Schepperd, who brought his distinctive and trippy style to the first film in tis series. Kode director Otis Dominique also stepped up to the plate bringing his vision and direction to all four films in the series and it's thanks to the brilliant team at Echoic, who we also worked with previously on our EA Sports FIFA21 series, for crafting an epic soundscape for the world we created."