OBJECTIVE
Our production team began by hiring an art team to transform one of the stages in our DMM Studio into “Squishmallows Headquarters.” The set build took about a week to complete and included two custom neon signs, a wood crafted cat ear entryway, purple and blue walls, custom wallpaper, velvet pipe and drape, neon acrylic merchandise boxes, vinyl flooring, and a fully dressed stage. Our art director worked closely with the Jazwares team to ensure all colors, branding, and creative decisions represented the brand in the best way possible.
Once the set build was underway, we began the casting process. Since the main audience for Squishmallows is Gen Z and Gen Alpha, DMM put out a casting call for two young adults around the 18 to 22 year old range to host the streams. To ensure a strong talent pool that was reflective of our target audience, we worked closely with a talent agency in addition to sourcing our own candidates. Each candidate was required to send in a self tape and reel, and after 2 careful rounds of casting, the final decision on our two hosts was made.
With casting locked away, we moved onto formulating the scripts for each of the streams. The first stream was intended to welcome fans from around the world to Squishmallows Day 2024, tease the upcoming merchandise releases, announce the first ever Squishy Awards, and introduce the newest mascot, Patty the Cow.
The second livestream was to reveal exclusive new merchandise and all of the winners of the Squishy Awards in categories such as “Squish Bestie of the Year,” “Traveler of the Year,” and “Photographer of the Year.” Each winner was to be mailed a golden Cam the Cat Trophy along with a shout out during the livestream. To make sure every beat was hit and all winners and nominees were announced properly, we went through multiple rounds of scripting before landing on the perfect scripts.
