The Continental – Andrew Cortesi

Overview

The Continental is a 1970s era prequel to the John Wick franchise. It tells the background story of how Winston Scott came to his position as proprietor of the New York branch, a safe haven for professional assassins, on the grounds of which no business may ever take place. The IP was slated to stream on STARZ (Lionsgate’s streaming company at the time), but was later acquired by Universal and distributed on Peacock as a “Three Part Event” spread across three consecutive Fridays. This was a big title for Peacock and therefore it had a massive marketing budget behind it.

The Continental was brought to the Peacock Films team, as each “episode” was about the length of a movie. As an Art Director on this title, I lead the design of the Key-Art and Trailer GFX, working closely with internal executives and external vendors/studios such Lionsgate Television, Bond, Leroy & Rose, The Refinery, Concept Arts, Inside Job, Midnight Oil, AV Squad, and MonsterXP. Below I have broken up this campaign into four phases that closely coincide with how the creative was produced and distributed for a little over a year – “The Tease”, “The Foundation”, “The Exposure”, and “The Activation”.

Skills Involved

Key-Art Art Direction and Design, Motion Graphics Art Direction and Design, OOH Art Direction and Design, Full 360 Campaign

Agencies / Studios

Lionsgate Television, Bond, Leroy & Rose, The Refinery, Concept Arts, Inside Job, Midnight Oil, AV Squad, MonsterXP, Peacock Creative (Internal)

When

November 2022 – December 2023

Breadcrumbs

Because this was an acquired title, principle photography had completed with a marketing shoot conducted by Starz. Therefore on the Peacock side, we received terabytes of creative (footage, statics, etc.) which we used to piece the campaign. Starting off, we wanted to build hype and anticipation for John Wick fans. These included minimalistic “breadcrumbs”, digital takeovers, hero tease art, and a teaser trailer. The three statics below were posted in mid-April across all Peacock social handles with no context outside of the recognizable imagery/props of the John Wick universe. The number “9” is selected because this title launched September 2023.

4/11/23

4/12/23

4/13/23

Tease Art

After the three breadcrumbs the tease art was posted live. While we clearly see The Continental building (a 3D model provided by Lionsgate) it still maintained a level of mystery and intrigue with young-Winston’s back to camera. We also see the dirty/grimy underworld of 1970’s New York, which we leaned into going forward. The flat mustard yellow color of “The Continental” was an aesthetic choice that also draws back to the 70s. Eventually, the blue and gold color palette was embraced across the campaign.

The title itself did have a fair amount of influence over how the series was branded in Peacock’s favor. Peacock executives wanted to include “From The World of John Wick” to attract loyal fans of the franchise – and Keanu Reeves was not involved. We weren’t allowed to say it was a NEW FILM or a NEW SERIES so Lionsgate and Universal agreed upon “A THREE-PART EVENT”, which needed to be present at the top of all art and AV that mentioned “John Wick” and “Peacock Original” – right down to the small 320×50 banner ads. Needless to say, these negotiations lead to a relatively wordy title (in some placements).

The art on the right shows Winston inside the lobby of The Continental. While it was never officially published live, the gold lighting and atmosphere was compelling. But ultimately, it was important to the team that the building itself was showcased – almost as a character in the mini-series. Albert Hughes was an executive producer on the title, but he was not involved in the Starz marketing shoot. He strongly disliked the red coat Winston was wearing so we asked Bond to crush the blacks whenever it was visible (this adjustment is more obvious in the hero art below).

HERO TEASE ART

(NOT PUBLISHED)

Teaser Trailer

Often times the right track is what helps an edit come together. We explored two versions, one using Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” and the other featured Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”. Both were strong contenders but we ended up moving forward with “I Feel Love” as it better fit the time period.

Post-Production had not yet completed when the screener was released (there were several blue-screen shots). Using pieces of the marketing shoot in tandem with abstract action heavy moments from the series, we placed textured in-world GFX to help set the stage for what was to come. On the Peacock brand side, we wanted to push the boundaries a bit and create custom IP driven logos (later featured in the hero trailer) – the less messaging the better.

For the title card, we continued to use The Continental logo over the filigree design that is seen in the movies, but elevated it a bit. Working with Bond, we established a revised version, turning “The Continental” from a flat mustard-yellow to 3D gold with a blue light source moving across the backplate. We later stylized the beveled Peacock logo to match the IP design. This 3D title treatment was featured in the final key-art (below).

Skills Involved

Art Direction, 3D Animation, After Effects

Agencies / Studios

Bond, Peacock Creative (Internal)

When

April 2023

Title

Teaser “New York, New York”

Tools / Skills

Art Direction, 3D Animation, After Effects

Summary

As mentioned above, this was a similar edit to the Donna Summer’s track but had some great see-and-say moments. “Start spreading the news” as the elevator door opens, and the “Welcome to The Continental” VO are some of my favorites. I worked with Bond and team to provide the same GFX package and art direction.

Title

Comic-Con Date Announce

Tools / Skills

After Effects, Art Direction, Versioning

Summary

Working closely with Bond under a very tight deadline, we needed to put together social first GFX-forward date announce that also premiered at Comic-Con (while we were still working on the trailer itself). We used a sonic approach, with gun-fire SFX in the background. I provided some of the in-world GFX that we previously used in the Teaser. This was then versioned out across all aspect ratios/platforms.

Title

The Continental – Sneak Peek

Tools / Skills

Motion Design, Art Direction

Summary

John Wick: Chapter 4 had just been released in theaters and Lionsgate Home Entertainment wanted to include an exclusive Sneak Peek of what was to come on the JW4 DVD release. While this scene-pull initially started as an internal effort at Peacock, it later expanded outward to Lionsgate who put on the finishing touches. I created/designed internal title card GFX.

DIGITAL

IMDB Takeover

April 2023, the same time we dropped the breadcrumbs, The Continental took over three different sites before going dark. IMDB allowed for some creative user interactions that expanded to the video teaser.

DIGITAL

Rolling Stone Takeover

For one day we turned back the clock on the Rolling Stone site, swapping out the logo for the 1970s design. The Continental teaser static and AV went full-bleed.

DIGITAL

IGN Takeover

The third and final takeover was IGN, which allowed us to showcase the art and trailer on the header. The color palette of the site was also adjusted slightly to match the campaign. Then the campaign went dark until the next phase: the hero trailer/key-art launch.

STATIC

Record Album Art

While I did not work on this album cover directly, it was the result of many different design explorations the static design team at Bond put together. It had a much more green tone, which wasn’t approved for the hero art.

Hero Trailer + Cutdowns

After a few too many creative differences, the Peacock team turned to AV Squad to help finish the edit for the hero trailer. “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind & Fire lead the track, with a compelling opening featuring recognizable visuals (such as the infamous John Wick car and the untraceable coins). I worked with Bond to help design some of the title cards and worked internally to art direct bespoke reflective “gold-stylized” Peacock top tags and end cards that helped connect the IP with the brand. This represented a departure from Peacock’s strict brand guidelines (at the time) and was repurposed across the campaign.

Skills Involved

Art Direction, Motion Graphic Design, Branding

Agencies / Studios

AV Squad, Peacock Creative (Internal)

When

August 2023

Title

“Check In” :30

Skills / Tools

Art Direction, After Effects

Summary

This :30 second cutdown was a “big event” spot that emphasized the three consecutive Friday release schedule. It plays with the red-light alarm SFX we hear when The Continental is on lockdown and something is about to go down. This was repurposed for several digital OOH placements (LA Live linked below).

Title

“Daddy” Pre-Launch :30

Skills / Tools

Art Direction, After Effects

Summary

Another 1970’s callback, featuring Boney M.’s “Daddy Cool”, this is a fun pre-launch :30 that showcases the action and energy. Before and after the release of the trailer, testing showed Mel Gibson did not perform well from a marketing standpoint. While we tried to steer clear of his likeness going forward, he was one of the few big names attached to this title.

Hero Key Art

– mention looks like batman, mention bond’s attempts, mention darkening coat, mention positioning of car, mention Leroy & Rose’s world building they had to create with a wide mismatch of assets. We needed to create a concept from no initial sketches prior to a shoot. Mention the wide range of executive, producers, and studio approvals.

PRIMARY ART

SECONDARY ART

STATIC

Character Portraits

As a MoGraph Artist and an occasional Designer, Tech Supervisor, and Editor, I work under the umbrella of ACMP (Apple Care Media Production), an in-house production team of writers, producers, animators, editors, and videographers.

DIGITAL

Interactive Takovers

This was an explainer video that extended over the course of many months and lives on the Apple Support YouTube page, acting as the “face” of the channel. Through many rounds of revisions and approvals, this video really allowed me to flex some creative thinking, from an extremely detailed storyboard to the final delivery file.