Lionsgate LIVE: A Night At The Movies

OBJECTIVES

Our key objectives in supporting this digital movie-going experience across both Lionsgate Brand and the Catalog Pages for the movies being screened were to create buzz and excitement for this initiative, all leading up to establishing a two-screen experience where fans could enjoy the film while also following along on our socials for exclusive and engaging content in the week leading up to and during the live-streams.

ANNOUNCE

We launched the surprise announcement of Lionsgate LIVE with a Twitter thread in which the Lionsgate Brand page asked “Anybody else miss going to the movies? :(“, followed by a plethora of Lionsgate Catalog titles, including Knives Out and La La Land, jumping in to engage ultimately leading to the big announcement of Lionsgate LIVE.

WEEK OF SUPPORT

From creating highly-stylized promo videos for each Catalog title to sharing promotional partner assets from over 20+ partners including Popcornopolis and Fandango, we coordinated joint Lionsgate LIVE Brand and Catalog content to support each of the 4 weeks of streaming to make sure awareness and conversation were at a high before the stream began. 

Our content strategy included never before seen behind-the-scenes photos and videos dug out of the archives, original re-cuts of the movie trailers, sourced fan-content, engaging Twitter threads, and trending memes to help create excitement for the week’s stream.

TALENT

To kick off the first night of Lionsgate LIVE presenting “The Hunger Games”, we collaborated with one of our talent clients, Elizabeth Banks, to coordinate social engagements throughout the stream between her accounts, Lionsgate Brand, and The Hunger Games Twitter pages to not only engage with each other but invite fans to participate in the conversation. Throughout the other streams, Lionsgate tapped their top talent from previous and upcoming films to promote on their socials, including exclusive conversations with Jennifer Grey, Keanu Reeves, the filmmakers of La La Land, and hosted across all four streams by Jamie Lee Curtis.

LIVE TWEETING

During the span of four weeks, we scripted out time-sensitive live-tweeting strategies to sync up with the live stream of the film. Both Lionsgate Brand and the Catalog title tailored their content to each respective audience and brand voice while also engaging with fans in real-time.

Within our two-screen experience strategy, we included a 360 approach to live-tweeting for fans to follow along starting with the initial moments of the pre-show, then followed by iconic reaction moments using gifs and memes, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos, challenging trivia questions, and even scripted Twitter conversations with partners such as IMAX. In the midst of our live-tweeting, we also ramped up our community management replies to create authentic conversation with fans during their most favorite scenes.

RESULTS

We were able to successfully raise awareness and build excitement for this at-home movie initiative. Over the course of this campaign and across all platforms, Lionsgate LIVE generated over 850,000 viewers, 250 million potential audience reach, 140 million impressions across all social platforms.

With our unique two-screen experience, we brought the movie theater experience to our fans within the comforts of their own homes, creating a digital space where we could all be together watching our favorite movies. By streaming some of Lionsgate’s most beloved films while also supporting the Will Rogers Pioneers Foundation which was able to raise over $200k for local theater workers who are currently out of work.