Matt Costa

About Matt Costa

I’m a storyteller. My career experience has all been about finding new ways to deliver deep, meaningful story driven experiences.In my current role as a Principal Creative Director on the League of Legends Marketing team I write, direct and develop storytelling content for League of Legends. I’m always looking for ways to tell relatable stories about our champions that enrich the game experience for players. This starts with the notion that champions are people too and is amplified by setting them in the rich fantasy world of Runeterra. I’ve implemented this mindset while working on some of the largest scale creative pieces and expressions of the IP that Riot has delivered outside of the game. Most notably I\'ve led our Season campaign, including the cinematics, multiple times and the launch of Senna, one of League’s most resonant champions. On these projects I led the team as the creative director and also did hands-on work, developing, writing and directing the story pieces.In some of my previous experiences, like my work with SIGGRAPH and my Master’s Degree from CMU, I focused on expanding my knowledge of technical tools that would give me more options as a creative. This knowledge has also helped me to become a more effective leader by strengthening my ability to communicate with individual contributors through a better understanding of craft. As a leader I strive to create a healthy collaborative environment by first developing a clear vision for the project and then communicating it to the team. This allows each team member to be creative while still contributing to a cohesive story experience for our audience.My passion for storytelling, technical expertise and leadership abilities are the tools I rely on to deliver experiences that I hope are as meaningful to the audience as they are to me.See my work at

Experience

1. Principal Creative Director

   Riot Games

   Mar 2022 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

   Recognized within Riot as a creative leader for the internationally beloved League of Legends IP.Responsible for mentoring and helping other creatives develop their projects in all stages of development and production.Developed the creative identity for League of Legends Season Start moment then continueed to build it into one of the fanbase\'s most beloved moments each year.Developed the strategy for, then co-wrote and co-directed Riot\'s fastest animated cinematic to reach 100 million views. Still Here achieved this in only 5 days.Responsible for building processes and leading crossteam collaborative efforts between IP creative, Game development and Marketing teams.Regularly entrusted with multi-million dollar budgets with the goal of creating resonaant creative experiences.Created marquee animated cinematics that have collectively amassed over 500 million views and resonanted with audiences all over the world.Responsible for selecting animation partners then working with them to build a sustainable relationship that suits everyone\'s needs.

Education

• Carnegie Mellon University

  Master's degree, Entertainment Technology

  2010 — 2012

• The University of Pittsburgh

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Film Studies

  2005 — 2008

Skills

• Creative Developement
• Nuke
• Technical Documentation
• Final Cut Pro
• Writing
• Maya
• Film Production
• Visual Effects
• Layout
• 3d Animation
• Editing
• Producing
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Storytelling
• Compositing
• Film Editing
• Premiere
• Creative Writing
• Animation
• Storyboarding
• Computer Animation
• Film
• Video Production
• Video Games
• After Effects
• Script Coverage
• Photoshop
• Short Films
• Multimedia