03 06 2015 - Industry news

Partisan campaign hits one million views

The Partisan marketing campaign created a compelling and original mystery that saw it reach over one million views.

Using Tumblr, blogger ‘Sean’ shared objects that he claimed to have found in a locked chest that he’d bought online. Over several weeks Sean revealed the chest’s increasingly unsettling contents: video tapes of eight-year-old kids talking about how to kill people and what to do if blood gets on their clothes, and a gun. Sean also shared intriguing items like karaoke tapes, a gold microphone, an animal mask and children’s drawings. The internet was abuzz.

In the week prior to Partisan’s theatrical release, the A Curious Find Tumblr was on the Reddit home page and shortly thereafter, amateur sleuths uncovered the blog's connection to the film. Following the discovery, the film’s official communication channels, including the trailer, got a boost in audience views.

Partisan producer Anna McLeish says the A Curious Find Tumblr dropped bigger hints in the lead up to the film’s release. “Our goal was to build the mystery up to a crescendo … The timing of the discovery couldn’t [have been] more ideal as we [headed] into release week,” McLeish says.

The Partysan Records’ (a made up record label specialising in reissuing undiscovered gems) website features dated karaoke videos for original songs recorded for the Partisan soundtrack. Videos featuring musicians Jarvis Cocker, Jason Buckle, Metronomy’s Joseph Mount and Sebastien Tellier are available on the site.

Warp Films, Madman Entertainment and Partisan’s creators came up with the campaign, which received support from Screen Australia. Playmaker Digital carried out the campaign.