Highbridge 2020 At Home Watch Party Event

Held annually at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, Highbridge Film Festival is a showcase of student films that has grown into a nationally recognized collegiate film festival delighting sold-out audiences and attracting wide ranging interest from the film industry. The festival weekend comprises an array of workshop sessions, a panel of judges representing different facets of the film industry, and the culminating showcase and awards show event. The festival is promoted and produced solely through the efforts of Asbury University students in a non-profit endeavor to engage culture in the community through the art of filmmaking. Each year Asbury University depends on the support of donors to help the student team produce this unique and highly anticipated event.

The primary purpose of the overall branding and promotional communications campaign for Highbridge Film Festival is usually to drive ticket sales of the live event with key audiences. The April 25, 2020 event was put in limbo by the coronavirus pandemic, when Asbury students moved to remote learning in mid-March, just six weeks prior to the event. The social media campaign was charged with developing and incentivizing home viewing parties after the Festival was redesigned as a livestream video event. The goal was to create a celebratory and participatory at-home experience that would give the audience a sense of connection to the University community during the early lockdown phase of the pandemic. A major component of this strategy also was informing the audience about how to have the best viewing experience, connecting to Facebook Watch or YouTube Live using smart TV devices.