Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Collection Unveil FilmStruck
October 2016. New York City, 404 @ Hudson Yards
FilmStruck is a new streaming service for movie lovers from Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Collection. FilmStruck delivers a constantly-refreshed, curated library of arthouse, independent, foreign and cult films from critically-acclaimed studios around the world. Developed and managed by Turner Classic Movies in partnership with The Criterion Collection, FilmStruck is the exclusive streaming home to the world-renowned Criterion Collection of films.
Held at 404 @ Hudson Yards, a white space in New York City, the event hosted over 250 VIPs from the motion picture, television, digital and media worlds including Dawn of the Dead director George Romero, actress Rose McGowan, and musician Laurie Anderson.
To launch this unique service, FilmStruck called upon Empire to design and create a unique, experiential evening featuring immersive vignettes and experiences based on some of its iconic film titles, including Mad Max, Clerks, Moulin Rouge and The Seventh Seal.
Guests were able to become a part of Mad Max (1979), as Empire created a green screen production set where once in costume, guests could take the wheel behind Max’s Interceptor, manically drive and create their own trailer for the film. Guests immediately received a completed scene of themselves as Mad Max, which they could post to social media.
For the motion picture Moulin Rouge (1952), Empire created a French boudoir backstage of the famed Parisian cabaret. Cancan girls seduced guests with Absinthe cocktails and a caricature artist offered guests portraits created in the style of French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
To depict Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957), Empire reimagined the film’s iconic “chess match with death”. The brooding black and white sea was the backdrop as two actors embodying death and the knight played an infinite chess match. Guests were able to participate in their own game with an oversized chess board directly parallel to the deadly match.
In the Clerks vignette, Empire replicated the film’s iconic “Quick Stop”. Complete with a cash register, live security camera and an indifferent store clerk, everything behind the counter was up for grabs. A digital photo booth captured images as guests shoplifted and uploaded them to social media using the hashtag #FilmStruck.
Each vignette had its own custom cocktails and Turner, FilmStruck and Criterion Collection executives delivered brief welcome remarks in front of a 20’ LED wall displaying footage from some of the FilmStruck titles. Guests also utilized a series of tablets to navigate and explore the FilmStruck app in comfortable living room furnishings, driving home the message that these films are now available in the home.
Empire worked closely with Turner and FilmStruck to design and execute all aspects of the event and engaged media partner Shore Fire to assist with press outreach.
The resulting event generated substantial influencer awareness and media coverage for the FilmStruck launch and the event was highly enjoyed by all attendees.
During the same week, Empire also executed a presence marketing sponsorship for FilmStruck at the Walter Reade Theater at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, where guests attending the New York Film Festival could relax in a living room set and explore the FilmStruck platform.
Empire is honored to work with FilmStruck, Turner Classic Movies, and The Criterion Collection to launch this extraordinary new streaming service. To learn more about FilmStruck visit http://www.filmstruck.com