Toronto International Film Festival - Year-Round Attraction

Project Brief

Partnering with TIFF's Visitor Experience team, we were asked to help them imagine a strategy around their under-performing travelling exhibits space, and support a mission and desire in transforming casual movie-goers into film buffs.

Process

We engaged their loyalty members and staff in a series of co-creation workshops, framed around the Hero's Journey of their customer segments (Film Seekers and Film Lovers), to pinpoint the motivations and expectations of their visitors from home to theatre.

Results

We created a concept visitor experience, illustrated via storyboard and animatic, that allowed their visitors to step into the mind of the storyteller. TIFF used the concept images to gain buy-in from public stakeholders for further funding following an initial pilot project.

The Hero's Journey

Through focus groups with their Storytellers (Employees), Film Seekers (Customers), and Film Lovers (Members), we collaboratively mapped out the various moments and touchpoints and Hero (visitor) would have engaging with TIFF's platform and entering the space. While we were scoped to look at the temporary traveling exhibit space, we considered the space in the context of their overall business model and program offerings to determine how one experience leads into another, and ultimately builds on a transformational experience for our 'Hero'. The outcome of this journey mapping exercise started to establish where WOW moments would occur, and where crush space may be needed to decompress from the visitor experience for reflection.

The Hero's Journey

The Hero's Journey was used as a framework to understand the transformation a visitor would have with TIFF's programming, and where the threshold into the exhibit space would be.

A detailed visitor journey was outlined in relation to the intended modes of experience and education. A more simplified in-gallery journey to show the differences of their Film Seekers and Film Lovers.

Where Are They Now?

TIFF implemented Picture Palace, a pilot project based on work done prior to our engagement. Their learnings from the first iteration of Picture Palace are being combined with a vision of the future in order to pitch for further and continued seasonal funding.

Final Artwork completed by Jonathan Davis.