(A Spirited Life.com wrote about this last week, but here are the official details from Lionsgate by way of Superherohype.com)
Lionsgate, a leading next generation filmed entertainment studio, today announced that it will partner with nine prestigious art schools nationwide in THE SPIRIT Art School Program, which will present nine student-designed advertising campaigns for the upcoming film THE SPIRIT, written for the screen and directed by Frank Miller, creator of 300 and SIN CITY. The campaigns will be unveiled throughout the summer in the individual cities that are home to the nine schools. THE SPIRIT Art School Program will launch this weekend at the annual Comic-Con convention in San Diego, when The Art Institute of California-San Diego introduces its campaign. The announcement was made jointly by Lionsgate Co-Presidents of Theatrical Marketing Sarah Greenberg and Tim Palen, and Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker, co-principals of Odd Lot Entertainment and production partners with Lionsgate on THE SPIRIT.
“We are very excited and proud to be partnering with these nine superb arts educators on this innovative program,” said Greenberg and Palen. “Will Eisner and his masterpiece, THE SPIRIT, were great influences to me. THE SPIRIT Art School Program gives students at these nine institutions a terrific showcase for their work, and it’s also a wonderful way to continue the cross-generational exchange of ideas that is so important to every art form.” said Frank Miller.
The college-level facilities participating in THE SPIRIT Art School Program are: The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise in Los Angeles; School of the Art Institute of Chicago; The Art Institute of New York; The Art Institute of California – San Francisco; The Art Institute of California – San Diego, Miami Ad School; The Art Institute of Washington; The Art Institute of Philadelphia; and The New England Institute of Art. The schools were provided with creative assets from the Lionsgate marketing portfolio, and were given wide artistic latitude in interpreting THE SPIRIT to design a campaign that was pertinent and unique to their cities. The program is spearheaded by Danielle Della Corna, Director of Media and Promotion for Lionsgate.
The first of THE SPIRIT Art School Program advertising campaigns will be unveiled at this weekend’s Comic-Con, the annual celebration of all things comic-oriented. The Art Institute of California – San Diego has created a series of specially designed SPIRIT cups, which will be used at all the Comic-Con concession stands. The cups bear the unique signatures of the films four femmes fatales: Silken Floss, Sand Saref, Ellen Dolan and Lorelei Rox. And San Diegans will learn that they are now being protected by the masked crusader as SPIRIT Neighborhood Watch signs are posted in strategic locations around the city.
