Our challenge was to make Plaza Las Americas, the most exclusive mall in Puerto Rico, relevant during the worst economic crisis of our times. We reversed the roles, instead of asking people to spend money at our mall; we spent money on the people. We joined forces with the best film school in Puerto Rico, to provide three students with a scholarship to produce their first film and put our advertising budget at their service. There was just one condition, everything they needed to produce their films, had to be from Plaza. We launched the project during Oscar season and provided the students with the mentorship of an Oscar-nominated director. Their search and production process became our TV campaign and everyone was invited to follow the process and view the finished films online. The public got to vote for the winning film, each voter was entered in a sweepstakes to win film-related prizes from PLAZA, including tickets to the grand finale: a sold-out premiere for the winner of the contest, at the largest movie theatre on the island, also at Plaza Las Americas.

Dec 2008- Jan 2009- Call for Entries at Sacred Heart University.Jan 2009- Three finalists selected by panel of judges.Jan 2009- Jacobo Morales, Oscar-nominated director signs on as spokesperson for PlazaStudios and offers free mentorship to finalists.Jan 2009- Caribbean Cinemas becomes official movie theater of PlazaStudios.Jan 2009- PR TV, channel 6, becomes official TV partner of Plaza Studios.Feb 2009- Project and Finalists launched with Press Conference at Caribbean Cinemas, Plaza Las Americas. Web site goes live.Feb 2009- 60-second introductory spot airs, featuring Jacobo Morales.March 2009- Contestant #1 TV Campaign, Webisodes, Media Tour and Film Launched.May 2009- Contestant #2 TV Campaign, Webisodes, Media Tour and Film Launched.August 2009- Contestant #3 TV Campaign, Webisodes, Media Tour and Film Launched.Sept.-Oct. 2009- Voting Period/ Sweepstakes Oct. 2009- Premiere at Caribbean CinemasOct. 2009- PRTV Programme dedicated to PlazaStudios airs.

The value of the free media coverage generated by the project almost equalled that of our media buy.PR TV aired a TV programme dedicated to the project and screened all three films.Plaza Studios has become a part of the university’s curriculum and a yearly scholarship commitment.Sales remained steady despite the crisis.Traffic to the mall increased 11%.

Web Traffic was tripled. Page Views were quadrupled.Time spent at the site increased 27%.