Anna and the Apocalypse

June 2018
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STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
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 WHERE WE ARE

June 2018

The premiere for the film took place at Fantastic Fest in 2017 to
positive reviews and the film currently holds a 92% Fresh rating on
Rotten Tomatoes

Consumer awareness for the film in the UK is low, with the cast also
being unknown. However the screening at the Edinburgh Film
Festival will help to engage audiences.

The proposed three phase campaign will drive awareness, engage

potential viewers, and excite relevant audiences.
 WHAT THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS
This document contains a detailed campaign strategy for a fully
integrated on and offline campaign for the late November UK
theatrical release of Anna and the Apocalypse.

WHY FREUDS FILM?

freuds film has over 25 years’ experience in film publicity,
publicising a wide range of films, ranging from Hollywood
Blockbusters to much loved British Indie hits such. freuds have
previously worked on cult genre films such as Pride Prejudice and
Zombies and Sunshine on Leith

In line with the current media landscape freuds Film now offers a
fully integrated approach to campaigns, with it’s newest offering the
Digital Film & Entertainment team. The team provides online PR,
social content planning, and influencer activations.
We really loved the film and want others to love it too!
 What –
A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven--at Christmas--forcing Anna and
her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to
reach their loved ones.

Anna and the Apocalypse is a unique, fun and highly entertaining combination of two much
loved genres Horror and Musicals, with the added bonus of being set at Christmas

When –
Late November 2018

Who –
Male & Female (15-35) | Fans of Glee | Fans of cult British Film | Horror Fans | Musical Fans
 Strategy –
Positioning:
freuds will deliver a three phase campaign to increase awareness, engage audiences and create create buzz and excitement

freuds will position Anna and the Apocalypse as a unique, charming, quirky British dark comedy

Anna and the Apocalypse is the perfect date movie and alternative Christmas film

A specific focus will be given to the film’s soundtrack and the musical performances in the film, which are key selling points and set the
film apart from the competition

The campaign will be structured to allow time to build the profiles of the film’s talent and build on word of mouth

During all three phases a proactive social media campaign will be implemented to create a highly engaged community at the time of release

Careful consideration will be given to materials used to ensure the film’s themes are communicated giving the perfect mix of both horror
and dark comedy. Targeting specific audiences with the correct materials

An influencer programme will be implemented from an early stage, encouraging early adopters to take ownership of the film, giving it buzz
and cult status. We want people to brag about the fact they’ve seen the film!

Use the cultural calendar to create media worthy touch points throughout the campaign, the obvious being Halloween which falls in our
campaign window
 Strategy –
Strategy – Phase 1: First Bite
(July – August)
• Announcement, online presence and trailer placement. Launch social channels and online presence for the film ahead of the
UK trailer placement. We’d recommend a short window exclusive before a wide syndication of the trailer across a broad mix of both
mainstream and genre titles in the early summer. This early trailer placement will help position the film to media and increase
awareness, as we begin to encourage attendance to early preview screenings.

• Early adopter/influencer screening strategy. Begin to screen the film to both social media tastemakers and media influencers.
Word of mouth will be key in not only increasing awareness amongst our core audiences but also to get media buy in ahead of the
congested last quarter of the year.

• Winter previews. Actively sell in the film with preview images for features detailing the films to watch in later 2018. To bolster the
chances of inclusion freuds to offer access to the filmmakers for quotes.

• Profile raising talent placements. Begin to secure talent placements that specifically work to position the film’s cast as new and
exciting young stars of the future. These features would be with cool, stylish media that often arrange their own shoots and would run
immediately during the stage 1 part of our strategy, generating awareness and increasing their profile as we head into the latter stages
of our campaign.

• Positioning pieces. Secure early positioning pieces with filmmakers across online genre or film media to begin to build buzz
amongst our core audience.

• Frightfest. freuds recommends an activation at Frightfest the UK’s largest dedicated horror festival. Ideally the film would be shown
as part of the festival programme and have cast and filmmakers in attendance. freuds would work with the festival press office to
maximise opportunities at the festival.
 Strategy –
Strategy – Phase 2: Infection
(September/October)

• Talker programme screenings. Continue to increase buzz and word of mouth by holding carefully selected talker screenings
amongst a core audiences, encouraging those that attend to share their thoughts on social media.

• Halloween Activations. Deliver a variety of activations across Halloween to communicate the film’s horror credentials. The cast
and well thoughts out creative executions will be key to cut through the noise at this time.

• Live performances. Identify key locations and events such as horror festivals, fresher's weeks and Halloween events for live
performances from the cast. During this phase we want our core audiences to adopt the film’s soundtrack.

• Talent placements. Continue to secure mid lead talent placements and public appearances that allow us to build upon the casts
profile in time for our core phase 3 broadcast opportunities

• Reactive social. Build momentum and engagement across the film’s social channels, tapping in to key dates (i.e. relevant festivals,
Halloween, etc) with engaging social assets. Respond to trending topics and phenomena using a suite of gifs and images, to ensure
Anna and the Apocalypse has a voice throughout the latter half of the year.

• Frightfest Halloween. Following on from the 5 day festival in August frightfest hold a one day only festival at Halloween. We’d like
to remind their core fan base of the film and recommend have the cast perform to open/close the event
 Strategy –
Strategy – Phase 3: Total Apocalypse
(November - December)
• Shortlead talent placements. Place the film’s cast and filmmakers across a wide variety of shortlead media opportunities including
broadcast both interview and performance opportunities, digital including social media take overs and podcasts

• Live performances. Continue to maximise opportunities for live performances by implementing a regional tour of key cities,
bolstered by interviews with local media

• Assets Placements. Utilise exclusive clips and music videos to secure broader reaching online media placements (with the likes of
national and entertainment outlets). Please these on strategically chosen key dates (i.e. cast / talent birthdays, or themed days).

• Media Tour/Desk Drops. Saturate media awareness by embarking on a media house tour with the cast to include live performances
and desk drops containing themed festive goodies with a Zombie twist

• Influencer partner screenings. Engage with target influencers to offer their own private screenings for their friends and fans with
themed snacks and merchandise to encourage social posts. We’d also actively encourage the cast to join the conversation at this time.

• Non-talent feature placements. Actively place additional feature content in addition to talent placements, further helping to
communicate the film’s themes and drive conversation. Features will also be used where possible to plug any gaps talent and assets
weren’t able to fulfil.

• Premiere. Unlike your traditional Horror film we believe the film lends itself to a premiere event delivered in an experiential style
featuring live performers and a performance from the cast. The event would deliver a spike in social and digital coverage at a key
moment ahead of the film’s release
Cultural calendar

The First Purge The Nun Goosebumps 2 Anna and the

4th July 7th September 12th October Apocalypse

Halloween 5th November

19th October Bonfire Night

4th – 7th October 12th November 15th December

2nd – 27th August Grimm Up North Festival Ryan McHenry Birthday Paul Kaye Birthday
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
23rd -27th August 22nd – 23rd September 26th – 28th October 16th November
Fright Fest Scotland Comic Con London Comic Con Mark Benton Birthday

24th – 26th August 11th – 18th October 23rd November

Reading/Leeds Festival Mayhem Festival Black Friday

28th – 29th August (likely) 6th October 31st October

Christmas
Notting Hill Carnival World Zombie Day Halloween

SUMMER HOLIDAY HALF TERM

July August September October November December

FIRST BITE INFECTION TOTAL APOCALYPSE

 Considerations –
Of our core audiences the younger teens will likely be excluded due to the films rating. freuds to use this
higher rating to actively demonstrate the authentic horror credentials to the older end of our target
demographic

Of the principal young cast there are no household names, talent placements across broad mainstream
outlets will be difficult, however freuds will work hard to establish their profiles in the run up to the film’s
release and maximise opportunities for the older more established cast

The younger end of the target demographic is challenging to reach with traditional publicity methods

November is a competitive marketplace with films being released the same week all targeting similar
audiences and themes (Escape Room, Second Act and Nativity Rocks)

We understand the film’s social channels are US based, therefore we’ll need to establish channels for the
UK audience
Sample Media Partners PHASE 1 – FIRST BITE

The following are a sample of

media targets for each phase
of the campaign, this is by no
means and exhaustive list
but an indication of our aims
for coverage

PHASE 2 - INFECTION

PHASE 3 – TOTAL APOCALYPSE

Influencers to target
freuds has identified a
number of influencers
relevant to the film’s themes.

These have been identified Joe Charman Gabriella Lindley Anto Sharp Daniel J. Layton
on account of their interest Combined Social: 1.7M followers Combined Social: 2.0M followers Combined Social: 1.6M followers Combined Social: 207K followers
in the film’s themes (i.e.
some love music and
musicals, others share make
up tutorials (both
mainstream and special
interest), others comedy
influencers or special effects.
Klaire de Lys Dodie Clark Sophie Elizabeth Leslie Wai
Ideas within the document Combined Social: 952K followers Combined Social: 3.4M followers Combined Social: 15K followers Combined Social: 208K followers

explore activations relevant

to these, but we’ll also look to
engage a variety of
influencers throughout the
course of the campaign at
screenings and events.

Joe Tasker Riyadh K Sophie Craig Jahannah James

Emily Canham
Combined Social: 868K followers Combined Social: 3.1M followers Combined Social: 132K followers Combined Social: 1.2M followers
 OWNED SOCIAL STRATEGY

Launch
freuds believes, should there be budget available to support social channels, that Anna and the Apocalypse
channels would be preferable. This provides the opportunity to really focus on this content, amplify the
activities in this proposal, and post without fear of offending any Vertigo followers (though with some
support on these channels from time to time)
Channels
Should we proceed with channels, freuds would recommend launching Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr
channels, with gifs also shared on Giphy to encourage further use of these assets

Twitter enables us to tap in to Opportunity to share imagery and The natural home for an
conversation around films and utilise Story function to deliver in-character blog for Steph – with
horror on the platform dynamic content that invites scope to seed out gifs from the
followers to engage film
 SOCIAL CONTENT STRATEGY
Target
Ensure all content and copy speaks to the heart of our core audience of young adults and horror fans – be
‘out there’ with content and identifiable at the same time
Originate
freuds will deliver a series of gifs and stills for use throughout the campaign, which make our content both
engaging and sharable
Engage
Invite followers to play with our content, inviting them to respond to questions, take part in polls, and
consider a series of gamified content pieces
Amplify
Use channels to support all publicity activities by sharing all talent pieces, features, influencer activations
and promotions, in addition to supporting any events
React
Respond to trending topics and any conversations that arise either out of the film or on related topics, in a
quick and direct way
Social Relatable
Reactive Content

In order to maintain conversation from Edinburgh

International Film Festival up to release, deliver a social
calendar that connects the dots with relatable content pieces
tapping in to key dates we can plan for.

Reactive
Keep abreast of social conversation and trends, and have assets
in place and ready to tap in to trends. freuds will be able to
schedule some of these (i.e. around Halloween, Black Friday,
Christmas lights switch on and so on), while recommending
posts when topics trend.

Relatable
Despite an unusual situation, our characters have relatable
story arcs (i.e. learning how to fit in at school, navigating social
groups, and so on). Our content should connect with
identifiable moments for this age group (i.e. around exams,
going back to school, holidays), and should look to speak to
them in their language…
Relatable Content
Opportunities
In terms of talking in the vernacular of
our audiences, identify relatable
content strands regular used on social
channels alongside our asset suite

Hiding from my
responsibilities like…

Racing everyone to the

discounted Halloween
chocolate like…

Friend: Don’t be extra

Me: This is fine.
 Other Social
Opportunities
Zombie Run App
Consider paid spend
opportunities with the app

Hijack viral or trending

moments by cutting
zombie footage into video
clips and sharing on
Twitter and Instagram
with the relevant hashtags

‘Survive a Zombie attack’

Gamified Instagram Story illustrations – create
Content (i.e. tap to crack sharable Christmas card
the screen, tap to focus assets illustrating what to
the image, etc) do in a world-ending
disaster
 Talent Placements

Our talent placements will mirror the three phases of the campaign to
help maximise opportunities throughout the campaign and run up to
release.

Phase 1:First Bite – Profile raising

During this first phase we’d aim to raise the profile of core young cast
seeking opportunities in young/stylish publications for ‘ones to watch’
features.
For Ella specifically we’d investigate red carpet opportunities for her to be
photographed such as film premieres
Complete positioning pieces with the filmmakers across film and
entertainment media

Phase 2: Infection – Build upon awareness and introduce older

cast
Focus on our older more household names such as Mark Benton and Paul
Kaye to complete mid lead media such an national supplement Q&A’s,
Comedy podcasts and national radio

Phase 3:Total Apocalypse –fast breaking press for all cast and
filmmakers
Shortlead fast breaking junket with the core cast in pairs
Live and pre-recorded broadcast opportunities such as Sunday Brunch,
This Morning, Global and Bauer radio
Investigate the opportunity for the cast to present an award at the BAFTA
Scotland awards on the 4th November
 Asset Placements
Consider a mix of wide syndication + exclusive placements for
asset breaks in the UK campaign:

Trailer Break
Given a trailer for the film already exists online, freuds
recommends securing an exclusive partner for the UK trailer,
with a broad reaching media partner such as a national (i.e.
Metro.co.uk), or an entertainment partner (i.e. MTV). Look to
ensure that the chosen partner provides a strong social offering
in return for the exclusive, to maximise reach to young adults
with this key asset.

Enhance the reach of the trailer with select talent interviews

(above and below the line), to secure broader reaching
placements for the UK trailer launch. With this, we’re keen to
supply outlets with exclusive content to ensure our coverage
really stands out to launch the campaign here.

In addition, freuds would look to secure further interest across

social media with a series of assets (i.e. shorts gifs or character
cards), for use on talent profiles, owned channels or to place
with social media partners to drive as many placements as
possible.
 Asset Placements
cont…
Clip Placements
During our ‘Total Apocalypse’ phase, utilise exclusive clips to
secure broad reaching online placements with national (i.e. The
Mirror Online, Express Online) and entertainment partners (i.e.
Comedy Central, Digital Spy, NME, Vice’s Noisey, etc). Within
this strategy, utilise a selection of film clips that demonstrate
the humour and heart of the film, versus music videos which
showcase the skill of our performers and writers.

Ensure an integrated approach across the clip strategy, allowing

for a totally seamless broadcast and online placement plans.

Suggested clips include:

Celebrity – where the cast discuss which celebrities are now
zombies (inc. Ryan Gosling, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift)
Marry, Shag, Kill – who would you do, out of Zombie Miley,
Zombie Rihanna, or Zombie Beyonce?
Empty Ball Pool – where the characters escape the bowling alley
under the inflatable pool
Everything’s Fine / New Day – the music video where Anna
walks away from her house ignoring the apocalyptic scene
behind her
 Non-Talent Features
The themes of the film lend themselves to a variety of non-
talent features. Some sample ideas below:

Alternative Christmas Films – a feature to position

AATP alongside alternative Christmas classics such as The
Gremlins franchise, Die Hard etc

Bonkers Horror Weapons – listicle on the weird and

wonderful weapons used in horror movies including
Anna’s soon to be iconic candy cane

Scotland on film – from Trainspotting, Sunshine on

Leith to Outlander a feature exploring the popularity of
Scotland as a filming location

Musical popularity – Underscore recent musical box

office successes and investigating why the genre remains so
popular

Playbuzz quizzes – Place quizzes online tapping into

character traits and Zombie survival – What would you do?
Tastemaker Screenings
Word of mouth will be key for the film’s awareness and media
engagement, therefore we recommend a robust tastemaker
screening programme, targeting our core audience bases.
Where possible we’d invite filmmakers and cast to be present
at these screenings. These early screenings can also be used to
capture VoxPops

We’ve identified the following opportunities to reach our core

demographic, in addition to the below we’d recommend a
media partnership with the likes of Total Film, Radio X or The
Hook for additional screenings and awareness:

Horror Fans: FrightFest (23rd – 27th Aug)

An ideal opportunity to engage the horror community towards
the start of the campaign, ideally the film would form part of
the festival programme with talent and filmmakers in
attendance. The FrightFest event at Halloween also provides
an additional touch point closer to release

90s kids: Britney Spears (24th – 26th Aug)

Specifically targeting pop music fans we could look to flyer fans
as they arrive/dept the Britney Spears gig at the 02 with the
opportunity to download tickets to a free preview screening
Tastemaker Screenings
cont..
Cult Cinema Fans: Den of Geek preview screening
Have the site for hardcore film fans select a relevant selection
of readers to see the film early, and to spread positive word of
mouth. Enhance the event with film talent (above or below the
line) to intro / take part in a Q&A post the screening.

Early press ‘influencer’ screenings

Targeting media opinion formers with early preview screenings
will form a key part of our campaign. With limited household
names we want media to buy into the film’s concept and the
music. Therefore we’d give a specific focus to radio dj’s within
this outreach in additional to traditional film and
entertainment media. Consideration will also be given to the
media’s social footprint.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival Screening

Maximising the film’s Scottish connections, we propose a
screening of the film during Edinburgh’s Fringe festival (2nd –
27th Aug). Edinburgh will be saturated with comedy
influencers, comedians and comedy journalists, the perfect
audience for an early preview screening.
 Website – Character Blog

In the film, Steph is an aspiring journalist. To build

anticipation and a dedicated following, freuds suggests creating
a website for the school, including teacher and student profiles
(i.e. character cards), and a blog section that gets regularly
updated to build upon the narrative with ‘news’ stories.

The blog would be updated in line with the campaign, and

become increasingly more frantic, revealing details about the
Zombie attacks as time goes on.

The blog can also be populated with images and video content,
alongside the asset strategy for the film.

This could be hosted on Tumblr, with posts tagged to hit

relevant keywords and to encourage sharing, and so will be in
place to capture genre and YA fans in the platform.
Halloween Activations
Get your Zombie Halloween Look
Working with a team of special effects make-up artists we’d work
with select influencers and complete a media house tour giving
tutorials to media on the perfect Zombie Halloween looks in
association with Anna and the Apocalypse.
Target outlets and influencers include:
Female Offline (i.e. Closer, Reveal)
Youth / Entertainment Online (i.e. MTV, Heatworld)
Influencers (i.e. Emily Canham, Joe Tasker)
Zombie Look generic tutorial
In addition to the media house visits we’d create a generic ‘get the
look’ asset cut with film footage, to syndicate to media for
Halloween features, with a specific focus on targeting student
media
Fright Fest Halloween
Following on from their 5 day festival in August, Fright Fest holds
one day event to celebrate Halloween (27th Oct), which a
performance from the cast could open or close
Shocktoberfest
Challenge journalists and influencers to take on the terrifying
mazes of Shocktoberfest with the film’s cast (consider takeover
opportunities here too)
Media Tour
As part of our media engagement we’d tour media houses with one or
more of the following concepts

Cast Carol Singing

Position the cast in lobby's of media houses singing traditional Christmas
carols mixed with songs from the film. The cast would be wearing
branded t-shirts with the release messaging

Zombie Father Christmas desk drop

Have Zombie Father Christmas deliver beautifully wrapped presents that
when opened inside feature bloody brain cakes! (previous heart example
opposite)

Christmas Survival pack with a twist

Tapping into the evergreen talking point of ‘how to survive a zombie
apocalypse’, freuds would coordinate a desk drop to share with media and
influencers in the run up to release, but with a twist…

To land in amongst the Christmas festivities, the pack will be a Zombie

themed Christmas survival pack – like the film, the perfectly alternative
guide to getting through the festive season.

Sample outlets and influencers to send to include Kiss FM, Empire,

Digital Spy, Yahoo! Movies, Jahannah James, Sophie Craig

Blow up Candy Canes

Send blow up Candy Canes to key media encouraging social posts
replicating the key imagery/art
 Live Performances

The music is what sets this film apart from the rest and the
soundtrack really delivers, having the cast perform will be key
to creating buzz around the film, below are suggested locations
and touch points for performances

Thorpe Park Fright Nights

We’d like to explore opportunities for the cast to perform during
one of the many Fright Night events at Thorpe Park. Thorpe
Park attracts a perfect demographic for the film

Broadcast Media Opportunities

Secure broadcast opportunities for the cast to perform live
across TV, radio and live stream. These performances should be
staggered through phase 2 & 3

Regional Horror Festivals:

Mayhem – 11-18th October - Nottingham
Grimm Up North – 4th – 7th October- Manchester
Abertoir – 13th – 18th November- Aberystwyth
 Christmas No: 1 – LIVE TOUR

There are a number of original songs in the film that are real
‘ear worms’. freuds would launch a campaign to get a song from
‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ to Christmas number 1! We’d look to
work with music streaming services such a Spotify and Apple
Music to make the songs available to fans

The campaign will be driven by live performances at shopping

mall locations, clubs, HMV stores, local radio stations and
fresher's weeks in the run up to release, encouraging fans to
share videos on social channels

In order to drive interest for relevant influential supporters,

freuds would look to coordinate a special screening of the film
to radio presenters and music entertainment journalists to drive
support.

In addition, freuds will coordinate a specific social campaign to

drive listens to tracks from release in the lead up to the number
one being announced (i.e. with social shares of tracks on our
Story content on Instagram, and seeking support from relevant
music influencers).
 BBC Radio One

Radio One is a priority target for the campaign due to it’s

demographic and reach, however traditional coverage method
could be a challenge due to the profile of the young cast.

Therefore we’d meet with the film editor to discuss creative way
to access their on air and online spaces.

As with other broadcasters and online outlets we will look at

creative ideas that showcase the films themes and talent of the
cast.

As always we would aim to make these as fun and engaging as

possible to ensure views and share ability.
 Ryan Gosling + Ryan McHenry

Anna and the Apocalypse script writer Ryan McHenry was

famed for his hilarious YouTube videos called “Ryan Gosling
Won’t Eat His Cereal” which went viral. In a tribute to Ryan
McHenry, Ryan Gosling filmed a video simply eating a bowl of
cereal.

Ryan Gosling is referenced in Anna and the Apocalypse, freuds

suggests cutting this clip specifically for Ryan Gosling’s social
channels, asking him to post a reference to the film being
released.

Further, look to place a feature with a ‘cult’ publication

exploring Ryan’s YouTube / Vine content, and positioning the
film as an homage to the creator. freuds believes his birthday
falls in the lead up to the film’s release, so also consider clip
placements, or featurette content where film makers talk about
their memories of Ryan.
 ROWANS:
LIVE PREMIERE
Host a Secret Cinema Style
screening at the iconic
North London bowling alley
– Rowans.
The premiere would be
a live event where
during the film certain
moment would be
replicated before their
very eyes
Invite guests to jump in the
ball pool planted with
Zombies before the
screening to win prizes
We’d invite media and
social influencers to create
a media moment ahead of
release
Should screening the film
be prohibitive, Rowans
would provide a great
location for an after party
Campaign Overview

Zombie /
Xmas Drop

Interactive
Alley Event

Quiz Content
Live

Promotions

Release Date
30th November
Live

Short Lead Talent Live

Frightfest Screenings /
Influencer Content Live
Activations

Early Talent Positioning Halloween Christmas #1 Christmas #1

Live Performances
Pieces Activations Campaign Campaign

Early Asset Christmas

Tastemaker screenings Preview features
Breaks

Launch Social Ongoing reactive content opportunities Amplification of positive word of

Channels across social channels mouth and influencer activations

July August September October November December

FIRST BITE INFECTION TOTAL APOCALYPSE