Uniting the States

March 26th, 2008 —

Behavior Design, in collaboration with HBO.com, launches the John Adams website (http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/), the online component to HBO’s epic 7-part miniseries event. Based on David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of the same name, John Adams explores American history through one of its greatest founding fathers.

Behavior created an immersive interactive experience layered with rich content, including behind-the-scenes features with the film’s creators, exclusive interviews with Paul Giamatti (John Adams), David McCullough (author), and Tom Hooper (the film’s director).

The site is organized into the seven parts of the miniseries. Visitors can explore related content within each of the seven sections of the site, including recap videos, special interactive behind-the-scenes features, a timeline of key events related to that period, as well as characters that appear within that segment of the mini-series.

The timeline itself contains a discoverable wealth of content that reflects upon the historical period and its events through slide shows and audio commentary from the film’s cast and crew.

Continuing the evolution of HBO.com’s signature deep-dive, special online features, Behavior crafted an interactive experience that highlights scenes in the film’s historical span and interweaves insightful commentary on relevant themes and topics raised within the scene. A curated “extras” area allows visitors to further examine sketches, set stills, and additional audio.

“As the 2008 presidential election nears, the timeliness of John Adams presented us with both a challenge and an opportunity within the website, to present the film’s historical and contemporary significance in a compelling way,” says Jeff Piazza, a Principal at Behavior Design. “Our goal was to encourage site visitors to delve into a multi-faceted investigation of the roots of the American political system and its founding principles as presented in the film.”

John Adams is the newest in a series of online features Behavior Design has created for HBO, including websites for the new series In Treatment, special features for films such as Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Addiction (winner of the prestigious Governors Award by The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its multi-platform campaign, which includes the film’s website).

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