CASE STUDY

THE WAR AT HOME

THE PROBLEM

Glenn Silber premiered his 1979 documentary The War at Home as a 4K restoration at the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival in 2018. Curt Doty was in the audience and like many over the years, found the film to be an inspiring reminder of the necessity of protests, then and now.

THE OPPORTUNITY

EMPOWERING NEW AUDIENCES TO TAKE ACTION THROUGH A MULTI-PLATFORM CAMPAIGN

Glenn and Curt met and discussed ways to get younger audiences reinvigorated for the film. They co-developed a new take THE WAR AT HOME: THEN AND NOW, as a way that the younger demo can bridge the generation gap and tie the 60s protests to the protests happening in the streets of America today. After Rugged Entertainment picked up the film for distribution on Amazon Prime, YouTube and the other streaming platforms, Glenn’s company, Catalyst Media Productions, hired Curt to create the social marketing campaign.

THE SOCIAL CAMPAIGN

DIGITAL STRATEGY

With the release timed just a month prior to the 2020 election, Curt presented the digital roadmap and strategy centered on an awareness campaign. that tied closely to the 2020 election on November 3rd. The campaign that included building a new digital ecosystem inclusive of a new website to be used as a content hub, a YouTube Channel and Facebook, Instagram and IGTV channels to promote organic and paid promotions.

The Website

The website Curt designed and built became a hub for the social media campaign, housing all the content marketing, press materials and credits for the film. The streaming platforms are presented throughout the site allowing easy access for the consumer to buy or rent the film from their favorite platform.

“Curt Doty is a masterful social media strategist and designer who can elevate and independent documentary or drama combining the essence of a film or TV series with graphic clarity to capture the movie-watching public’s attention of the title - and the message behind it. He’s a font of creative ideas and a joy to with whom to work.”

— Glenn Silber - Co-Director

Social Video Campaign

Catalyst Media editor, Phil Raymond, created a clip library that Vertuoso molded into a content marketing strategy. Showcasing the plethora of vivid archive footage: from the early small peaceful demonstrations against the bombing of Vietnam, to more confrontational tactics, like non-violently blocking Dow Chemical recruiters that escalated into police brutality, The myriad of clips showed similarities to today’s police brutality. The various themes of the film were explored including reviews and critical acclaim, amplified on social.

Mini Podcasts

The campaign was sustained pre and post-election with targeted newsletters featuring Glenn’s messaging, as well as mini-podcasts, 4-6 minutes long, that showcased interviews with the filmmakers. Placed on social and the website, this ongoing series, The War at Home: Then and Now, ties the backstory of the film with the activism happening today on the streets of America.

“Working with creative director Curt Doty, his design, social media strategy and creative energy made this classic documentary come alive today. Curt is an idea machine. His inspired use of video and graphic elements created a new look, burnishing the film’s image in social media postings, newsletters and ads. He’s been a huge contributor to the film’s re-release.”

— Glenn Silber - Co-Director

“Curt and his team understood our needs and redesigned the website, modernizing it for today’s audience. Their social media strategy seemed right on target with who and how we wanted to get the word out about the release.”

— Peter Spirer - Rugged Entertainment

Yo, Spike!

Spike Lee posted on Instagram to his 1.9M followers. The grassroots effort included outreach to influencers like Spike Lee, filmmakers and alumni from the University of Wisconsin. Co-director Barry Alexander Brown has been Spike Lee’s long time editor on most of his films.

The 3 week paid media campaign created 75,000 impressions with Google Ads and reached over 45,000 Facebook fans. The content marketing spots included over 20 unique snippets that covered the various themes of the film. The targeted audience spanned Millennials to Boomers with a tri split focus on upper mid-west states centering on Madison and East Coast and West Coast. Psychographics included affinity for protests, documentaries, BLM and Vets for Peace.