Peak Energy & GM
Announcing a new
era of energy.
/ About the project
Peak Energy builds sodium-ion batteries, a domestic alternative to lithium and a technology at the center of the next energy shift. This brand film announced the company's partnership with General Motors. It places sodium-ion on the timeline of human energy and frames Peak Energy as a leader in the next phase of power. I led the central animation sequence, developing the storyboards, directing the visual language, and building a precise line-based system that could carry both abstract concepts and product detail.
/ INDUSTRY
Technology
/ SCOPE
2D Motion, 3D Motion, Social Media
/ Credits
Client: Peak Energy
Featured Partner: General Motors
Creative Lead: Micah Hoang
2D Animation & Compositing: Micah Hoang
3D Animation: Jonathan Kusnadi, Wesley Ching
Sound & VO: Peak Energy Team
/ Year
2026
The Brief
Sodium-ion is an emerging category, and the film had to make it feel like the obvious next step. The brief was to build public and investor confidence in the technology and position Peak Energy at the frontier of rising power demands from AI and automation.
My Role
I led the central sequence from storyboard pitches through client reviews and visual development. Two 3D motion designers and I built out the scenes from there; I handled compositing and timed the edit to the voiceover.
The Tension
The film had to move between two registers: abstract ideas such as grid stability and energy density, and a technically accurate view of the battery itself. Both had to live within the same sleek, line-based world and transition smoothly between scales.
The Solution
We chose a line-based language to signal precision and engineering. To keep it from feeling cold, I layered in subtle grain, film chatter, and shake, tying the film to the older eras of energy it traces and giving the technical work some character.
The team modeled in Blender and C4D with Redshift toon shaders. I composited those passes with hand-built animation in After Effects, using a consistent stroke treatment so the conceptual sequences could resolve into the exploded battery view.
What Shipped
Our sequence anchors the center of the film and carries the GM reveal. Using the same system, I built the closing logo animation, which continues to serve as the signature for new posts about the partnership.