For its flagship series’ milestone 10th season, AMC sought to reinvigorate audience excitement with a full-cast shoot, the first since early seasons. But beyond featuring the beloved characters, how could we hook fans and first-time viewers alike with what’s unique about this season? By teasing how human nature is just as big of a threat – if not bigger – than hordes of undead walkers.
We had two goals: bring to life the season’s core theme of paranoia with a heightened, cinematic vision, and do it by featuring all 19 cast members in a single-day shoot.
We approached the shoot with a modular concept, capturing footage for a longer hero launch spot while easily breaking things into character and social assets. Having the cast perform character-specific gestures & dialogue while wielding their fan-favorite weapons, we captured moments that hit different target audiences. We also wanted to keep it the teaser realm, hinting at a season full of new stakes, tense allegiances, and a brewing cold war between factions while being vague as to whether that confrontation was against zombies or each other.
And it worked: viewer comments on social clearly showed the campaign reinvigorated fans that had grown tired of the series while also intriguing new viewers. Our favorite quote? “Can I marry a trailer? Cuz I want to spend my life with this one.”