The first quarter of 2025 was a celebration of SNL50. To commemorate this historic moment, four separate specials/events were produced across NBC and Peacock. To start, SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night was 4-part documentary series streaming on Peacock January 16th. Shortly after, Questlove produced the documentary special Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music, highlighting musical guests – which aired on January 27th. On February 14th Peacock hosted their second live event (the first being New York After Dark), SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, a musical special featuring a wide range of artists. And last on February 16th, NBC hosted SNL50: The Anniversary Special, back in Studio 8H, hosted by Steve Martin, with many guests reprising classic sketches.
The challenge of working on any SNL50 campaign meant we needed to take into consideration the design language of the global SNL50 style guide – all of which ran through many executives, up the chain, with Lorne Michaels himself providing final sign-off. I worked across both the documentary series and the live Homecoming Concert. Starting way back in January 2024, we quickly discovered Radio City Music Hall was very protective of the venue and how it’s represented in any form of media, marketing, or even photographs (similar to how Paris protects the illumination of the Eiffel Tower at night). It may have been bumpy, but with the help of internal creative design, Art Machine, Trailer Park, Adolescent, Broadway Video, and NBCU Television we eventually found a direction that made all parties happy.
Skills Involved
Key Art Static Design, Motion Graphics Animation/Direction, OOH Art Direction
Agencies / Studios
Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels, Peacock Creative (Internal), NBCU Television, Adolescent, Art Machine/Trailer Park
When
January 2024 – February 2025
Hero Trailer
The final hero trailer was designed and edited outside of our team’s purview. After attempting to lock the two directions below (Alt 01 and Alt 02), the delivered edit strayed pretty far from the approved art. This had more of grunge/paper textured look. It’s worth noting the musical guests’ names were not available/locked until moments beforehand.
Title
The Homecoming Concert – ALT 01
Tools
Ae, Maya, Premiere Dynamic Links
Summary
The first direction we pushed for was a dynamic spot that brought the viewer into Studio 8H and back outside to Radio City Music Hall. Once I found a detailed 3D model of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, we worked with Adolescent over the holidays on the motion. Unfortunately, even after they signed off on the storyboard, it was shot down because NBC favored a more practical approach and not something that “looked animated” (note this was temp VO).
Title
The Homecoming Concert – ALT 02
Tools
Ae, Maya, Premiere Dynamic Links
Summary
Our second attempt was done internally with a three-day turnaround. The desire was to keep it simple and not alter or change any aspect of Radio City Music Hall. I animated/edited musical guest star names over a busy city backplate with temp VO and mix, ending on a title card that matched the logo used in the keyart. The idea was to replicate the simplistic direction created for the SNL40 Anniversary show. But unfortunately this also was shot down in favor of the spot above.
Key Art
Two details we were told upfront: This event may be on February 14th but it’s not associated with Valentine’s Day (no abundance of red and pink). Second, how can we find a way to make it feel like SNL without copying the typography and design used in the show? Initially I was advocating for a 30 Rock New York style (art deco) premium/gold interpretation of an award show (similar to the Academy Awards keyart we frequently see from ABC). We did some explores with Art Machine but unfortunately they didn’t make it all the way up the chain of approvals.
As mentioned above, Radio City Music Hall was very protective of its likeness. When using a licensed photograph, the building itself must not be altered (inside or out). “RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL” is stacked on the side of the awning, showcased below. Luckily they were flexible enough to allow for “SNL 50” and “The Homecoming Concert” above and below RCMH. However, the more practical the building became, the wordier the title (visually).
HERO ART
CINEMAGRAPH
DESIGN
Navigating Multiple Directions
The SNL50 style guide was created while the campaigns were still being designed. Due to multiple events/specials being produced across many networks, with a variety of executives weighing in with conflicting feedback, the SNL50 “brand” became somewhat mismatched. Notably, we had two conflicting logos for “RCMH The Homecoming Concert”, “Ladies & Gentlemen…” seemed to be using a Helvetica-like font, and it was never quite clear whether we should be using the Bold “50” or the Thin typeface.
OUT OF HOME
Dynamic Duo
The Dynamic Duo are two Silvercast boards in close proximity to Penn Station. I worked with Art Machine to bring these to life. As you can see with digital out-of-home boards, the conflicting visuals became more apparent. First we see the animated scribbled on elements of the AV spot followed by the photorealistic cinemagraph (with two different logos). Regardless, they definitely caught the eye.
OUT OF HOME
LA Live – Plaza
LA Live (or Peacock Plaza) is a unique placement that showcases many interconnected oddly shaped screens with a lot of foot traffic. Because the audio is sometimes completely muted (it’s never a guarantee), these flashy boards with artists names and faces drew attention. When resolving to the cinemagraph, I wanted the red neon lights to flicker on with the blue spotlights shooting into the sky.
OUT OF HOME
New York City
OUT OF HOME
Times Square
This :15 placement replicates the visuals of the Dynamic Duo and LA Live (above), transitioning from the artists to RCMH Homecoming Concert keyart. I worked with Art Machine who helped rescale/repurpose everything for horizontal, vertical, and square aspect ratios.
OUT OF HOME
Urban Panels
”A PEACOCK LIVE EVENT” was the messaging we established in place of the “Peacock Original” eyebrow. The only other time we used this messaging was for the live event Colin Jost and Michael Che Present New York After Dark.
SOCIAL
“Add It To The Board”
This was clever social concept that I Art Directed, creating the illusion of being in the SNL writer’s room and each artist is a post-it note on a bulletin board. I wanted the camera to feel hand held with quick swish pans that drew your attention from one artist to the next. The music is reminiscent of the SNL opening title sequence.
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OUT OF HOME
Roosevelt Hotel
OUT OF HOME
Roosevelt Hotel
Although iconic, because this board is relatively small I advocated we keep the GFX and messaging simple, focusing solely on the RCMH key-art animation.