HBO: Case study

Credits & Description:

Brand HBO
Entrant HBO NEW YORK
HBO New York, USA Entrant Company
HBO New York, USA Idea Creation
BROWN HILL PRODUCTIONS Culver City, USA Idea Creation
HBO New York, USA Production
BROWN HILL PRODUCTIONS Culver City, USA Production
REWIND St. Albans, United Kingdom Production

HBO Marketing HBO Producer and Owner
Brown Hill Productions Brown Hill Productions Creative Production
Rewind FX, Ltd. Rewind FX, Ltd. Creative Production
Chris Spadaccini HBO Marketing Strategy
Sabrina Caluori HBO Marketing Strategy
Sohyung Kang HBO Production
Tanner Stransky HBO Creative
Dana Flax HBO Marketing
Meaghan Wilson HBO Campaign Production
Jake Taylor HBO Design
Sean Gardner HBO Production
Jim Marsh HBO Marketing
Catherine Lee HBO Design
John Manthos HBO Design
Eleanor Laurence HBO Content
Janelle Myers HBO Production
Sarah Milik HBO Production
Kathryn Allen HBO Marketing
Adam Weiss HBO Marketing
Lisa Chan HBO Campaign Production
Yana Homutetski HBO Production
Allison Cohen HBO Campaign Production
Lisa Schomas Brown Hill Productions Creative Production
Mike Judge Creative Production
Alec Berg Creative Production
Clay Tarver Creative Production
Jim Kleverweis Creative Production
Amy Solomon Creative Production

Implementation
Authenticity and attention to detail was key. All elements were bespoke, created from the ground up to ensure consistency with the show’s aesthetic and branding.
Placement
The free experience launched with the premiere of Season 5 of Silicon Valley on HTC’s Vive via the Viveport platform.
Scale
The experience is currently only available in America, but further territories are being considered. The experience has toured to international events.
Brand relevance
Silicon Valley lampoons startups and tech, and therefore using VR, an emerging technology, to extend show/brand engagement was entirely fitting.
Touch points
A supporting webpage was created on SiliconValleyVR.com and news of the release was pushed out via the show’s social media channels and in relevant media.
Materials, style elements, design choices
A fully explorable virtual 1:1 representation of the Hacker Hostel was created in Unreal Engine. Simplified controls make it easy for users of all experience levels to explore the Hacker Hostel.
Methods and process
Unreal’s built-in systems, married with the studio’s own in-house VR template - specifically designed for convincing physics-based interactions - ensured a faithful replica was created.
Highly detailed blueprint designs were used to model all of the Hacker Hostel’s floors, walls, and ceilings in 3DS Max and Maya, ensuring a perfect replica. From the set, thousands of photo references were captured, including 360º captures of each room, so every last detail—even the lighting—was exactly matched.
There is original scripted content from the show’s principal talent, created in collaboration with the show’s writers within the experience.
Special attention was paid to ensure textures for the likes of books, bottles, cans and all other interactive objects were bespoke and consistent with the show’s aesthetic and branding.
Timeline
Production ran over 12 weeks, with an on-set capture session a month before production.
Campaign Description
Silicon Valley: Inside the Hacker Hostel is a captivating real-time VR experience inspired by the Emmy®-winning comedy series, Silicon Valley. The ambition was to produce a faithful recreation of the show’s iconic homebase and an interactive experience that would appeal to both die-hard fans and those who’d never watched Silicon Valley. Modelled, textured, and lit from photo references, blueprints, and 360º room captures, the experience provides the most highly detailed and realistic VR recreation of a TV set ever made. In addition to more than 750 moveable objects, there are many iconic show elements you can fully interact with, from the Not Hot Dog app to the ‘Always Blue’ ball. The Hacker Hostel gives users firsthand one-on-one encounters with show characters—find a secret message from Jared and help Richard out of a coding crisis. The experience is a hilarious virtual playground, bringing users into the heart of Silicon Valley.