Whether a movie fanatic or not, Oscar season is the time when all eyes shift towards Hollywood. However, leaving behind the glamorous red carpet and non-stop predictions, Cinemoz chooses to concentrate on a different aspect of Oscar season.
The Arab world’s leading video-on-demand website celebrates the special occasion through different methods. However, this year, the website has clearly managed to spread its philosophy and convince many social media users to follow its lead and welcome the Oscars with an Arab-fuelled fiesta.
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Arabs Crash Hollywood was Cinemoz’s artistic medium to celebrate the films that were nominated for the prestigious awards while reviving the region’s old heritage of iconic film posters.
In an interview with Daily News Egypt, founder and CEO of Cinemoz Karim Safieddine discussed the campaign, the art and design skills invested in it as well as the public’s reaction.
What was your main inspiration behind the campaign? What did you aim to achieve through it?
The charm and design of old Arab film posters has somehow been forgotten over time. We aimed to make the Oscars accessible and relatable to an Arabic audience while preserving and reviving our own cinematic heritage through creating Arabic posters for the films that were nominated.
Who worked on the designs/artwork?
Michel Achkar, Cinemoz senior graphic designer, re-created the official movie posters. He did not simply translate the copy; but, instead he went for a full-on re-adaptation in order to create posters that are reflective of the Arab region and its legendary film industry.
How long did your implementation process take?
It took Michel one month of serious work to finish drawing the posters. He first did his research on the original posters and scenes from the films. Then he worked on the layout and sketches of each film. Finally, he drew the characters along with the titles and blended them together, forming a reminiscent feel of old Arabic/Egyptian film posters.
How would you evaluate the feedback?
The campaign created a buzz for several days with an outstanding and impressive feedback. This Facebook awareness campaign received thousands of shares and likes and a huge number of people interacted and commented on it. We felt quite proud to have started a lively conversation across the Middle Eastern cinema aficionados. We realised the organic success and impact when renowned bloggers, social media influencers, and leading Arabic media outlets reposted our work and kept the conversation thriving.
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Are you planning to continue the campaign after the awards are announced?
This campaign is part of our yearly effort to build conversations around the Oscar season, a sort of tradition we follow fondly as one of the Arab World’s leading video-on-demand providers.
Tell us more about the main concept behind Cinemoz.
Cinemoz is an online video on-demand service provider from and for the Arab world. It allows viewers from across the world to watch free Arabic films, documentaries and short films by simply checking: www.cinemoz.com . Cinemoz releases three new films every day and is in the midst of launching its Hollywood and Bollywood film selections in spring 2016. In addition, Cinemoz has also got the green-light for the production of its own original fiction series, built on a true “on-demand” experience. Our viewers will dictate the content they desire.
