conan at the apollo

The folks at tbs asked us to create a string of animation promos that would help announce Conan O’Brien’s dramatic, and much anticipated, return to NYC at the famed Apollo Theater.

Conan’s return to The Big Apple was a huge deal at the time, so these promos needed to scream NYC in as many ways as possible. Using an existing VO track as the base of the storyline, and with a limited amount of assets, we were tasked with encapsulating the essence of New York City in a way that felt very Conan.

The Apollo’s iconic marquee became our muse, serving as the basis for lines and patterns we created to utilize throughout each piece. We chose to keep the animation simple via After Effects and focus more on the design side, building out a unique duo-tone look reminiscent of screen printing, designed in Photoshop. Using these quirky-cool visuals to complement the VO and comedic SFX tracks, we were able to create three solid promos that embody the very soul of Conan, NYC, and The Apollo Theater.