‘American Vandal’ creators on its future and esports show ‘Players’

Creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, best known for “American Vandal,” are turning to the world of e-sports in their latest show, “Players.”

Premiering Thursday, June 16 (Paramount+), “Players” is a mockumentary similar to thier Netflix hit “American Vandal” (2017-2018). But where that series was a parody of the true-crime genre, “Players” pokes fun at sports documentaries. It follows a fictional pro “League of Legends” esports team as they pursue their first championship — after years of just missing out — with star players “Creamcheese” (Misha Brooks), 27, and 17-year-old rookie “Organizm” (Da’Jour Jones).

“Tony and I have always been fascinated with documentary and mockumentary filmmaking, but specifically sub genres of documentary like the sports doc,” Perrault told The Post. “We were coming off of ‘American Vandal’ and true crime, and we thought, ‘Is there a version we can do with our favorite documentary sub genre?’”

Yacenda said that neither of them were entrenched in the world of esports, but as they learned more about it, they became interested in building a series around it.

“Truthfully, there was just curiosity, like ‘I can’t believe they’re selling out the Staples Center with kids watching other kids play video games.’ That seems insane to us,” he said. “And we started doing some research. And it clicked for me as a series when we were talking to these former pros … I’m like, ‘It’s not this super-technical video game show, it’s a show about the aging vet and the young hotshot rookie.’ It’s a classic story, but in this fresh new world, and in this mockumentary format. I don’t think the story has been told quite like this.”

Perrault said that as the two looked into this fast-growing world, they got ideas for “Players” — especially when they saw how young many of the stars are.  

“There’s no character on the show that’s specifically based on one real life person. But one thing that fascinated Tony and I is how young the world is, and how quickly these kids rise to fame – and don’t always stay there long,” Perrault said. If you’re 17-18 years old, you might be one of the best players in the world. If you’re 25 or 26, you may be on the way out. It’s dramatically interesting, and we touch on it in the show — how one character can be so famous in one bubble, but outside of that bubble, it’s not quite the same.

“Esports is … a massive bubble, outside of which some people like parents and certain friends from home don’t get it. We found it interesting to see what is life like on the verge of returning back to that life.”

The creative duo cites “Cheer” and “F1: Drive to Survive” as inspirations, since they uncovered subcultures in those docuseries that audiences might not have known much about. 

“We love documentaries un-ironically,” said Yacenda. “‘The Last Dance’ was the highlight of our summer. I’m surprised that the rules of the mockumentary haven’t really changed much since [the 1984 heavy-metal rock spoof] ‘Spinal Tap,’ but documentaries have changed so much. So, we feel like there’s fertile territory there.”

As for “American Vandal,” which was axed in 2018 after two seasons, Yacenda and Perreault said there might still be a future for it on a different platform. 

“We don’t know if and when it will happen, but we absolutely have a third story that we’d love to tell, if given the right opportunity,” Perrault said.