Over the years Oscar-winning (A Beautiful Mind) director Ron Howard has been “disappointed by movie scripts” he’s read about Albert Einstein–perhaps in part because in a two-hour or so time frame they couldn’t capture or do proper justice to the full story of the iconic genius. Still, Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner, producer Brian Grazer, remained fascinated with the prospect of delving into Einstein, whom Grazer described as “the modern progenitor of disruption, curiosity and genius.”
Grazer read Walter Isaacson’s bestselling book "Einstein: His Life and Universe" and subsequently found that his friend, Gigi Pritzker, owned the rights to the biography and was looking to bring it to fruition as a feature film. Grazer then said a suggestion from Francie Calfo, who heads Imagine’s TV operation, hit home for him. Calfo saw the story playing out best as a limited series. This led Grazer to his collaborators at Fox, including Peter Rice, chairman/CEO for Fox Networks Group, who oversees all programming, creative and business aspects for varied platforms including National Geographic channels and brands. Nat Geo was looking to extend its storytelling reach–a scripted limited series on Einstein being perfectly aligned with that goal.
Other key elements then fell into place–Howard agreeing to become involved as a director, the securing of showrunner Ken Biller who ended up directing the last three episodes, and of course the writing and casting. On the latter score, Grazer said that Howard was instrumental. Grazer described Howard as “an immediate bridge to talent,” in this case Oscar winner (Shine) Geoffrey Rush who wasn’t thinking about limited series fare but became interested due to the subject matter and being able to work with Howard. Additionally, Imagine put out a wide casting net for an actor to portray Einstein as a young man, eventually finding Johnny Flynn.
Thus was born Genius, a 10-part series set to premiere on Nat Geo on April 25. With multiple installments, the series sets out to introduce “the man behind the mind.”
Howard and Grazer shared backstory and other aspects of Genius during a featured keynote conversation at Variety’s MASSIVE Entertainment Marketing Summit, held on Wednesday (3/22) in Beverly Hills. Both Howard and Grazer said that from a marketing standpoint, there’s much to be said for the creative product, Genius, and the platform on which it will play being simpatico. Grazer and Howard are well versed in National Geographic, having worked with that platform before (i.e., the limited series Mars). Howard assessed that Nat Geo’s attributes and its profile–defined by authenticity, history, fascination, mystery, science, adventure, immersion and an incredible visual sense–dovetailed with those of Genius. Howard noted that he knew they had found the right home for Genius when he saw Nat Geo’s marketing materials for the show. Howard affirmed that the marketing perfectly reflected “the aesthetic” of the series.
Part of that marketing was a Super Bowl commercial. The promo spot from McCann New York–and directed by Ivan Zacharias of Smuggler–won the Super Clio, a special creative award honoring the best Super Bowl commercial as decided by a panel of industry creative leaders. The original trailer, a :45, featured Rush as Einstein playing Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” on the violin in a nod to the artist’s Big Game halftime show. Rush also in character stuck out his tongue to the camera, adding to a refreshing departure from the film clip promo norm.
Howard added that he and Grazer are already talking about a possible season two of Genius–which would delve into the mind and life of another luminary to be determined.
Marketing insights
During the course of the daylong MASSIVE Summit, assorted marketing insights were shared by panelists and speakers, including:
♦David O’Connor, EVP, global franchise management and brand marketing, Universal Pictures, cited the Symphony initiative whereby the resources-including the varied NBCUniversal media outlets–under parent company Comcast are marshaled to help attain certain defined goals. O’Connor noted that some 16 networks, 40 digital platforms, and dynamic talent can be brought to bear in order to give high-profile exposure to select marketing campaigns. He noted that Comcast has “cultivated this camaraderie” which has proven advantageous in the marketing of films. O’Connor credited Symphony’s cross-promotion wherewithal with playing a key role in Universal’s animation success, in particular that of Illumination Entertainment which made its first major splash with the Despicable Me franchise (of Minions characters fame), and the films The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing.
♦J.P. Richards, EVP, worldwide digital marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures, observed that during the course of a marketing campaign, the data revealed can prove invaluable, underscoring the need for marketers to be flexible and responsive. What you learn about consumers during a campaign can inform strategies deployed later during that same campaign–or in future campaigns.
♦Jonathan Helfgot, president of marketing, Open Road Films, said that film promotion has to tap into wherever the right audience is, in some respects being media agnostic. He noted that the current TV vs. digital conversation relative to motion picture marketing is akin to the broadcast network vs. cable competition of some 25 years ago–it ultimately doesn’t matter.
♦Jenny Wall, SVP and head of marketing at Hulu, shared that in a high-tech world, Hulu went a low-tech route at the recently wrapped SXSW Festival, hiring 30 costumed hand maidens to walk about and say nothing. Coverage of the marketing stunt helped to generate buzz for the drama series The Handmaid’s Tale which streams on Hulu next month. Based on the best-selling novel of the same title by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted religious fundamentalism that treats women as property of the state. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world. In this terrifying society where one wrong word could end her life, Offred navigates between Commanders, their cruel Wives, and her fellow Handmaids—where anyone could be a spy for Gilead—all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.
♦Melissa Waters, VP of marketing for Lyft, recalled the power of a branded content project, Undercover, launched in concert with Major League Baseball in 2015. It all started when Lyft connected with third baseman Chris Bryant, before he was a star and became Rookie of the Year for the Chicago Cubs. Bryant was in disguise and filmed as he drove Lyft passengers around, garnering from them opinions on the Cubs, him as a player and other topics which yielded good humor. Undercover generated tremendous earned media, and millions of impressions, spawning a series based on these kinds of passenger and driver experiences–with famous drivers being incognito.
♦Joseph Matsushima, co-founder and co-creative director, Denizen Company, affirmed that the entertainment value of branded content looms large. He hearkened back to the MASSIVE session earlier in the day with Howard and Grazer discussing Genius. Matsushima observed that the Super Bowl commercial promoting Genius played like a piece of finely tuned branded entertainment as Einstein goes Gaga with the violin.
♦Nick Bartle, chief marketing officer for music discovery platform Pandora, reflected on the most important lessons he learned over the years during a career which included his being in a sr. role at BBDO, sr. director of marketing communications for Apple, and VP of member marketing and communications for LinkedIn. Bartle recalled that during his Apple tenure he got the valuable advice not to market the marketing, to not get lost in the story of the marketing. That has served him well, though it only applies, he stressed, if you have a great product to market. Ad agencies sometimes have to market for products that aren’t so great or that different from their competitors, meaning that they have to resort to marketing-centric tricks to gain attention in a bid to somehow connect with prospective consumers.
♦And Doug Rozen, chief digital and innovation officer, OMD, observed that he would like to see VR evolve into being more participatory, bringing people together for a shared experience. Currently the VR norm is a highly individualized experience. While it opens up new worlds for the user, paradoxically it separates the solo participant from others. Mike Yapp, founder and chief creative officer for The ZOO Americas creative group at Google, concurred, citing the ongoing value of the shared “water cooler experience.”
