JAMES PATTERSON X SKY MEDIA
CORNERSTONE | PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE UK
BACKGROUND
James Patterson is one of the world's most successful crime writers, having sold more than 400 million books. He's published by Penguin Random House, and while his fiction is a fixture on bestseller lists, Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK wanted to build his profile in true crime specifically, a genre where his non-fiction had room to grow. The opportunity came through a partnership with Sky Media, where James Patterson sponsored Sky Media’s Crime + Investigation channel. The idents featured two new true-crime titles, timed across three bursts over the year and paired with Sky's own true crime programming.
IDEA
Sky Media’s Crime + Investigation channel's audience were already true crime obsessives, they just weren't necessarily Patterson readers yet. The idea was to put Patterson’s name directly in front of people already watching true crime, on the channel built for exactly that appetite. Gunpowder House created the idents that carried this into the channel itself, connecting the two.
EXECUTION
Gunpowder House produced seven idents for this sponsorship. Every one opened on a reader lost in one of Patterson's books, then moved into the crime scene itself, staged exactly as the passage described it. That shift let a viewer see the pull of the book in a few seconds.
ROLE, RESPONSIBILITIES & PROCESS
DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Led the project from brief to delivery.
Managed client communications across Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK, Sky and the distributors.
Directed the seven idents.
Worked as one of the producers on the production.
Cast all actors, including the readers and the crime scene characters.
Sourced the location.
Handled hiring for the crew.
Acted as post-production producer, overseeing an edit team of two editors across the offline and online phases.
FILMS
STILLS
PRESS
Penguin Random House Teams Up With Sky For James Patterson True Crime Campaign
Creative | LBB Online
Havas Play launches Penguin Random House’s First TV Channel Sponsorship For James Patterson On Sky Crime + Investigation
News | European Sponsorship Association
Watch: Sky Crime And Investigation Names James Patterson As New Sponsor
by Hayley Guest | Marketing Beat
I really enjoyed working with Gunpowder on our TV sponsorship campaign for James Patterson's true crime publishing on Sky's Crime + Investigation channel. They were a great creative team, taking our brief and expanding on it, as well as being agile and super responsive, managing our quick turnaround times and ensuring the process went smoothly. All parties involved were really pleased with how everything turned out!
SOPHIE SHAW
Head Of Marketing & Brand Manager To James Patterson | Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK
