Independent Film Campaign

Are You There? (2024)
Directed by Kim Noonan
Distributed by Dark Sky Films

As the Account Manager for our team at Golden Eagle Marketing, I was responsible for the overall vision and execution of the campaign. From researching, writing, and editing account reports, to guiding and executing campaign objectives, I repositioned the brand for success in achieving new viewership and lasting audience connections.

A multi-phase marketing initiative designed to generate buzz, draw in audience engagement, and drive viewership for the independent psychological thriller Are You There? with social media, in-world participation, and content creation.

Immersive Experience

Our Ritual Candle Experience was a guerilla marketing activation. We surprised students on the Cal State LA Main Walkway and invited them to perform the candle ritual from the movie themselves. The experience forged meaningful connections with participants and allowed us to create several month's worth of social media content.

I wrote, illustrated, and aged ritual book pages so participants could encounter the film's story as soon as they walked up. I also hand-fabricated a candle holder in the style of the one in the film.

At the activation, two Paranormal Psychology Researcher characters invited students inside the pop-up to conduct research on making contact with spirits in the afterlife. They told participants about the ancient ritual and how to use the candle to ask a question. After asking “Are You There?” and asking their own personal question, they were instructed to ask if the spirits were friendly–at which time the tent began to shake and the researchers prompted the participants to run.

After the candle ritual, participants were briefed about their experience, asked to take a photo for the study’s records, and left with a key phrase from the film: “The ghost is in your head.” Participants took home an instant photo at the branded backdrop, a branded ritual candle of their very own, and some select participants got their own movie poster.

We exceed our target of participants by 4-5 per hour, for a total of 18 quality participant interactions. While participants walked away with an instant photo, they were also told to follow the social media to see the digital copies. That way they would continue to build their relationship with the brand far after the event was done.

In-Universe Website

Delivering so many participant photos on the same backdrop posed a challenge. We knew posting each one individually would feel repetitive social media users and likely result in poor analytics. The solution was to post several photos in a collage and prompt users to visit a third-party website to collect their individual photos.