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Winner Story
Kiff Virtual Premiere Experience by Little Cinema
Experiential agency and creative studio Little Cinema won five w3 awards last year for their project with Disney: a virtual, interactive experience to promote the premiere of animated musical comedy series, Kiff. Little Cinema and their digital agency, LCDigital used their proprietary event tech Flux to develop and host a fully branded and interactive digital event attended by hundreds of children and their families from around the world. Disney continues to use the framework they developed for subsequent branded virtual events. Read on to learn more about the project, which won 2023 Best in Show in Virtual & Immersive Features – Best Interactive Design.
What inspired the creative direction for Kiff?
All of our events begin with a deep dive into the IP, so the show and characters are always at the heart of our inspiration. With Kiff specifically, the show is all about adventure, so we wanted to create a digital experience that was dynamic, evolving, full of energy and action throughout every touchpoint.
Tell us about the first brainstorm session you had about the digital experience.
Since we had a decent runway and a client willing to let us innovate, we set out to push the boundaries of our templates and pull out all of the stops. In our first creative meetings we shared our existing interactive functionality and brainstormed ways to do even more with it. For example. we had created buttons that trigger animation overlays, confetti cannon actions, and pop-up text-notifications with calls to action – all of which we worked into the storyworld of Kiff.
We always try to do at least one new thing for each digital project, so for Kiff we built content-level tools that allowed us to create 3 distinct ‘acts’ within the event by refreshing the branding and interactive features several times throughout the event.
What are some of the creative risks you took during the creation of Kiff?
This was the first time we used our custom action triggers, firing off confetti cannons and call-to-action notifications in real time during the event. To do this correctly, we had to really understand the plot of the episode, so that each notification and button laddered up to what the characters were doing during the episode. It was a really fun way to get attendees to participate not only in the event, but also in the episode unfolding on screen.
Describe your biggest obstacle or challenge for the project.
We employ rigorous QA and testing as part of our service. Doing as much as possible to simulate the live event environment and “rehearse” can be time consuming and requires coordination among several team members to action thoroughly.
What made this partnership special?
A really fun IP to play around with creatively, and a client that gave us the freedom to introduce new features and functionality to amplify and compliment the story of the series. There are no boundaries to what we can do. The digital experiences we create are not linear and we get to provide an environment where everyone can experience things in their own unique way.
How does this piece represent Little Cinema’s creative ethos?
We specialize in reimagining content and IP for different mediums, and weaving interactive elements into the experience. With our digital experience tool (now called Flux, formerly known as Backstage), we’re able to intentionally bring fans into the action. The Kiff digital premiere experience featured a scalable fan-forward screening, interactive audience elements, downloadable / printable art, app download elements, and an augmented-reality photo booth – all existing within a single environment that was customized with client branding & key art and designed with responsiveness across devices and screen sizes.
What does winning a w3 Award mean to the team at Little Cinema?
We were invited to enter the w3 awards by a partner email from the Webbys. It caught my attention that w3 is dedicated to honoring digital creativity and the projects that help shape the future of our increasingly digital lives. It’s a no-brainer that LCDigital – the digital team arm of Little Cinema – would be a candidate for these awards. We’ve been shaping the future of digital experiences starting with the very first call we received in 2016 from a WarnerMedia executive asking us to create a set of standout digital experiences for their upcoming titles in the face of COVID shutdowns. We quickly became the de facto behind-the-scenes partner on hundreds of digital events for Hollywood, building our technology to meet the highest standards of artistic excellence, content security, and interactivity.
Since that time, our reach has expanded, and our digital experience tool Flux is now being used across multiple industries (entertainment, gaming, food & beverage, health/pharma, retail). We’re delighted to have our hard work elevated & honored!
Are you developing creative ways for people to connect with each other, like Little Cinema?
The Final Entry Deadline is June 21st, 2024. Enter your work before time runs out.