M I C H, Lu Te-Hsing

Amazon: The Wheel of Time

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‘We turned a phygital stunt into a global cultural moment. This is how you summon magic!’

Davide Bianca, Head of Entertainment, UNIT9

‘Time Square, horses, a beautiful set – incredible performers what an incredible way to launch a show. It was such an honor to work on this premium property. For UNIT9 it was a perfect storm of creative production, site specific performance, large scale set build AND live stream. Magic.’

Michelle Craig, Director, UNIT9

The background

Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of time” is regarded by critics and fans worldwide as a cornerstone of fantasy literature, and is one of the most highly anticipated original TV series events of 2021. Set in an epic fantasy world, “The Wheel of Time” follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers, and embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey to find the prophesied Dragon Reborn, the one who will either save or destroy humanity.

The execution

To drum up excitement for the original series premiere we teamed up with Amazon Prime Video and created a first-of-its-kind phygital launch event and activation. We scripted and directed an original film that served as an entry point into the world and narrative of The Wheel of Time, introducing the Aes Sedais as they march through New York City signaling the arrival of the forces of darkness descending onto the city.

The film was used as opening moment for an immersive livestream on Twitch, followed by a flock-to-unlock mechanic to allow fans worldwide to get a front row seat and actively participate. This gave us the ability to turn the phygital activation into a true global interactive cultural moment.

But the livestream, hosted by renowned Twitch partner and influencer @Negaoryx, was just the beginning; a fully scripted and choreographed stunt featuring an impressive 30+ actors delivered a jaw-dropping performance in the heart of Times Square, as the Aes Sedais summoned magic to defeat The Fade and evil forces right in front of thousands of live spectators and bystanders. As tension rose to epic highs the final climax culminated into a live watch party of the first three episodes of the series.

The results

Fans and press loved it. With tens of thousands of commands triggered and millions of global impressions, we didn’t just deliver The Wheel of Time to fans, we summoned true phygital magic, making it one of the most successful global interactive livestream premiere events of all time. The Wheel of Time launched on Amazon Prime Video as most-watched series premiere of the year.