In an effort to bring filmmakers and fans together during the pandemic, the Academy began "Watch with the Academy" - a series of Twitter watch parties where the cast and crew of each film live tweeted comments and stories from the making of the film. #WatchWithTheAcademy
Coordinated with the cast/crew of each film, each respective studio and streaming platform to cross-promote and engage during the live event to create a fun and unique experience for the participants. Each filmmaker was encouraged to prepare in advance and pull on-set photos and videos, pre-production documents, and simply to share fun and interesting stories from the making of the film.
Each watch party was announced about a week in advance on all Academy social media and we coordinated with talent to share the news of the watch party on their social channels.
Participating talent included names like Chris Evans, Kumail Nanjiani, Taika Waititi, Edgar Wright, Olivia Wilde, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Jillian Bell, and Wesley Snipes. Streaming platforms and studios like Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Annapurna Pictures, HBO Max participated.
#WatchWithTheAcademy trended on Twitter during the "Scott Pilgrim vs the World" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" watch parties.
The campaign as a whole received over 116 million organic impressions and 51,000 mentions on Twitter.
#WatchWithTheAcademy won the "Get School-ed" Award from Twitter, presented during their Entertainment Summit.
