Singularity has become part of the contemporary social zeitgeist. As humans increase their dependence on technology, the line between man and machine is continually blurred.

We sought to create an experience that would allow audiences to explore the concept of singularity in real life. By putting Ava on Tinder, she’d immediately connect with festival goers in a familiar way, asking questions and creating dialogue surrounding the film’s themes en route to driving them to the premiere.

The execution was more than just creating a profile. In order to stay true to Ava’s artificial nature, we had to create automation functionality that not only matched users to Ava but also interacted with them via a series of programmed questions and responses.

The automation functionality could also be toggled on and off, allowing us the opportunity to have actual conversations with matches. Obscuring the boundaries between human and robot, this was a real life Turing Test.

Within minutes of launching Ava's profile, the matches started rolling in. 400+ unique conversations were executed over a 3–day span, many of which resulted in trips to the premiere. Once word got out that Ava's profile was tied to the film, publicity coverage and Twitter response spiked as audiences recognized the clever, yet morally polarizing marketing initiative. The activation was one of the most discussed topics at SXSW, standing out as a triumph amongst the convention's myriad of ads and stunts. A resounding success, the effort garnered numerous write–ups in top–class publications including:

AdWeek, Wired, Time, Newsweek, Fast Company, Buzzfeed, The Guardian, BBC.com, People, Huffington Post, MSN.com, Yahoo Movies, The Hollywood Reporter, Mashable, Vulture, Endgadget, Indiewire, Tech Crunch, Daily Mail, Bustle and The Verge.

When released in theaters, Ex Machina posted the highest grossing opening weekend ever for distributor A24 and has since, surpassed critical and box office expectations everywhere.

For work to be deserving of an Entertainment Lion, it must inspire the next generation of creative advertising. These projects stand as a testament to the power of creativity, risk-taking and storytelling. When done well, these campaigns have the potential to challenge us, they force us to rethink our self-inflicted boundaries.

We believe Ava's Turing Test exemplifies a campaign deserving of a Lion, because it elegantly and effectively challenges the status quo. When an interesting idea is brilliantly executed, the result has the power to turn a small, potentially overlooked film into a global phenomenon.

We started by surveying the landscape of current tech trends and considered the behaviors of SXSW attendees in order to create a perfect storm that would propel this stunt from personal anecdote to global headline. With mobile dating apps on the rise and tech-savvy (mostly male) professionals in attendance, placing Ava on Tinder at SXSW felt like a perfect fit. Not only would we be able to interact with fans on their terms, we would be able to target individuals this film would most appeal to. By rewarding select participants with tickets to the premiere, we could maintain a positive sentiment amongst participants and ultimately raise awareness for the film’s debut.

Ex Machina is a film that explores the relationships between humans and artificial beings, raising questions about whether or not an AI can be capable of having a relationship that is genuinely human.

The film’s SXSW premiere was a key opportunity to generate audience awareness and garner momentum leading up to the theatrical debut. We were tasked with creating a social activation that would maximize the film’s presence at the festival and if successful, amass publicity and positive word–of–mouth amongst moviegoers.