In Theaters & On HBO Max
Throughout 2021, Warner Bros. and HBO Max made headlines and turned the theatrical release model on its head with the “In Theaters & On HBO Max” campaign. While executives (and lawyers) figured out the details at the top, my role as Senior Copywriter in Growth Marketing meant executing the campaign on the ground level all year long. This meant ironing out the messaging across social media and digital marketing, finding consistent language across the campaign that served the epic scale and encompassed the details, and gave each movie in the slate unique showcases.
As a lifelong movie lover, it was a blast to feature some of the biggest releases of the year with approaches that stayed true to their power, in the case of Judas and the Black Messiah, and legacy, in the case of The Matrix Resurrections. Managing multiple titles at once, along with the challenges of incorporating new information and legal guidelines throughout the year, kept it as fresh and urgent internally as we kept it for audiences signing up.
Social Media
The consistent messaging of “In Theaters & On HBO Max” was the compass point we followed across all the social media platforms — within that structure, each movie got custom messaging true to its story, tone and potential audience. As a Matrix fan since last century, it was a pleasure to plug into some references and terms the fanbase could respond to. Writing to fans as a fan is the core joy of the job.
Digital Ads
A challenge with copy and design alike was encompassing the specific contours of releasing a movie in theaters and on streaming at the exact same time, all within a concise package that could be fluid across all ad dimensions and placements. We also tied in new releases with library titles to get the scope of HBO Max across — if it’s a double feature of Space Jams (Spaces Jam?) you’re after, look no further.
Movie Landing Pages
Each new movie required specific summaries, messaging and campaigning with the campaign. I’d read pages of press releases, marketing briefs, and behind-the-scenes background to write for each title. Judas and the Black Messiah, for example, required a respectful and intentional hand with the subject matter in consideration; two months after this film premiered in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, a well-earned Academy Award gave further prestige to the filmmakers and even more attention to Warner Bros.’ groundbreaking campaign.
The Matrix Resurrections Snap Story
The last film released in the 2021 “In Theaters & On HBO Max” campaign, The Matrix Resurrections, brought a lot of fun creative opportunities with it. I concepted, scripted, revised, and copy-edited this video for Snapchat, and as a fan, I’m especially proud of how we were able to intersect the format and the narrative. The tap-through function was harnessed here in a “choose your adventure”-style structure, all while paying homage to the original Matrix to give the Resurrections teaser footage a creative wrapper. As Neo would say (and say again), “Whoa.”
The Matrix Resurrections TikTok Video
We restructured and reformatted the concept around the Matrix Resurrections Snap video, tightening the edit and function alike for TikTok’s unique specifications, while keeping the creative wrapper for the teaser footage in the universe of the Matrix narrative. However you choose, the Matrix (still) has you.
Social Media Impressions
Over 1 million impressions on Facebook alone, as per the site’s ad library, is portfolio-worthy in my book.