Netflix approached Whale with a brief to grow awareness for a brand German original title, Barbarians in 2020.
The initial brief was to create an experience at the site of the historically famous battle of Arminus in the Teutoburg Forest. Netflix wanted a sculpture garden throughout the forest of statues from the characters in the show. The idea was to blend pyrotechnics and projection mapping to lead the audience through the experience and end at an orchestra.
Throughout the process Whale advised Netflix on feasibility and cost-effectiveness. With the onset of Covid, it did not make sense to request a live crowd so we pivoted to create the statues in CGI and integrate them into the trailer.
Working with Mocean in Los Angeles and The Forge in London, we developed the initial teaser for the show, viewed millions of times within days of its release, recreating the shows characters as Roman-style sculptures.