CHALLENGE

Entourage has a very large following within the Fuel studio. The groundbreaking HBO show is frequently popping up at lunch conversations and around the coffee machine. It's not hard to imagine, then, how excited we were to have an opportunity to create content that more greatly extended the show's presence onto the web.

STRATEGY

One of the main themes of HBO's show is the precarious nature of fame, most accurately embodied by Johnny "Drama" Chase, the has-been actor whose attempts to regain the spotlight provide some of the show's biggest laughs. In order to reach out to the fan base, we wanted to create a mock launch surrounding a cult part of the series that true fans would immediately recognize: Viking Quest, the very vehicle that allowed Drama to achieve his tenuous fame of days past.

CREATIVE AND EXECUTION

This show-within-a-show features Johnny Drama as Tarvold, a Northumbrian hero on a quest for freedom and vengeance. With a generous supply of original assets and artwork from HBO, our design team was able to build a site announcing two milestones for Viking Quest fans: a video game and the the entire series in a DVD box set.

The game allows players to step into Tarvold's shoes, and battle their way through two levels of side-scrolling action, featuring power-ups, special moves, and boss battles. For the game's audio, our Fuel Sounds team performed voice overs, and created an original score to channel the ancient Viking spirit. Our resident viking metal expert, Mike White, composed a heavy and epic track featuring intense guitars, pounding rhythms, and an orchestral section that could heat the blood of even the most frostbitten viking raider.

Even with the interactive component completed, HBO generously facilitated another of our dream additions to the project to life: a viral video featuring Kevin Dillon himself, as Johnny Drama, denouncing the game for its unflattering digital portrayal of his character.

With both the online live-action video to drive awareness of Viking Quest, and gaming and Entourage fansites gobbling up the toungue-in-cheek references and wildly entertaining gameplay, the project has fans and newcomers alike anxiously awaiting the premiere of the new season of Entourage.