CIRCA SURVIVOR
Bringing the drama of one of football’s biggest contests to life through animation
WHAT THIS IS
Circa Survivor is a high-stakes professional football survivor contest from Circa Sports, where entrants select one winning NFL team each week.
That combination of huge stakes, strategy and unpredictable moments provided the perfect backdrop for a series of animated sequences.
OUR
ROLE.
I was brought onto the Circa Survivor series to create animated sequences that bring key stories, scenarios and memorable moments from the competition to life.
Working from briefs and story ideas, I developed each sequence from initial concept through to the finished animation — designing characters, environments and visual gags before bringing everything together through animation, compositing and sound.
A big part of the challenge was taking stories that were often rooted in betting strategy and NFL results and turning them into something immediately visual, entertaining and easy to understand.
BUIDING THE
CIRCA WORLD.
Rather than treating the animations as isolated cutaways, I wanted them to feel like they belonged within the world of Circa.
That meant recreating recognisable locations such as the Circa Sportsbook and casino, while developing a cast of stylised human characters that could carry the humour and drama of each story.
Across the series I've created everything from nervous contestants watching potentially life-changing games, to Thanksgiving dinners inside the sportsbook, million-dollar winners, cash cages and increasingly elaborate scenarios inspired by events within the competition.
The result is a growing animated world that can shift between comedy, tension and spectacle depending on the story being told.
DEVELOPING THE
ANIMATION.
Returning to the project across multiple episodes has also given me the opportunity to develop the visual language of the animations.
Characters have become more expressive, environments more detailed and the scale of the sequences has grown — particularly when recreating Circa Resort & Casino itself.
Each animation needs to work as a short piece of storytelling in its own right, while also fitting naturally into the live-action programme surrounding it.
CURRENTLY
AIRING.
The latest season of Circa Survivor is currently airing, with my animation appearing throughout the series.
Episodes and coverage can be watched through VSiN Live on YouTube.
You can also learn more about the competition at Circa Sports – Circa Survivor.
