Watchmen
A Limited Series from Damon Lindelof, Watchmen was unique in its relationship to its source material. A sort of sequel to the graphic novel, the campaign needed to speak to the super-fan while also letting newcomers know they were welcome – whether they had read the comic or not.
Utilizing my expertise in the details and nuances of both the series and the graphic novel, my work on the campaign included developing the in-world microsite Peteypedia, scripting and conceptualizing behind-the-scenes content, including on-the-ground work on set, and overseeing the creation of a compelling Instragram profile.
Remixing Reality in the Watchmen Campaign
The campaign sought to allow fans to experience the series’ unique setting by extending its narrative into our world. HBO wanted to engage fans of the source material and newcomers alike by creating immersive experiences that were accurate to the pre-established world, while embracing the series’ voice, to use technology to tap into themes and storylines, and mirror the show’s use of masks as a form of self-expression.
Video Content
With the goal of using long-form videos to speak to the many different audiences of the series, we created content to explain and elaborate on the show to newcomers, while giving nods to moments we knew the graphic novel fans would love and appreciate.
Peteypedia
MICROSITE
This custom microsite paid homage to the original graphic novel with its use of letters memos and more to provide additional information about the Watchmen universe. "The Petey Files", or "Peteypedia" as we also called it, was launched in response to a request from the showrunner to build a home for extra content ideas. I proposed this in-world website "written" by Dale Petey, one of the characters introduced in the series, who was very much a super-fan of the character's origin stories himself.
As the content was drafted by the show, I oversaw the development of the pages, in collaboration with our Design and Production teams, and watched as fans and media returned each week for more easter eggs, insights, and reveals – including the answer to a question not even the show provided.
Custom Social AR Filters
The Watchmen AR filters are just one example of the unique, innovative approaches we took to connect with audiences and create engaging experiences. Designed for social platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, we sought playful ways to immerse the fans, and had show talent use to help promote.
Red Carpet Premiere
I interviewed talent on the carpet with pre-premiere-friendly questions, the coverage of which was filmed and edited by the HBO Creative Services team and released on various social platforms.
Additionally, In partnership with photographer Mark Leibowitz, ARwall, and Radley, we used technology to track camera movement, creating depth in the background scene, crafting an in-world window.
