Whistle

SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT IN COLLABORATION WITH TEAM WHISTLE LAUNCHED GLOBAL COMMERCIAL AND CORRESPONDING EPISODE OF DAYS OFF FEATURING JA MORANT TO PROMOTE SPIDER MAN NO WAY HOME

Innovative Collaboration Built Around Brand Integration and White Label Production, Both Featuring NBA Superstar, Ja Morant Aligning Film to NBA Calendar Season

NEW YORK – (May 10, 2022) – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in collaboration with Team Whistle, the global sports media and entertainment company and its “MAGNET” Social Content Studio, launched an original spot for TV and digital, and a corresponding episode of Whistle’s original ‘Days Off’ series, for a social first campaign to promote the release of Spider Man: No Way Home on Digital, Blu-ray™ and 4K Ultra HD ™. This cross-functional digital campaign features All-Star Point Guard NBA player, Ja Morant, in an effort to align the Spider-Man home entertainment release with the NBA calendar season, culminating with the playoffs. The widely distributed :30 spot, combined with a custom long form episode of Whistle original ‘Days Off’, and native creative assets for TikTok and Instagram, look to speak to a Gen Z and Millennial audience and encourage them to engage with the film and recommend it to friends and family.

“Our analytics team surveyed our audience in the build up of the collaboration, and roughly half of our viewers had seen Spider-Man: No Way Home. We knew there was potential to attract both new and repeat viewers,“ said Corey Radel, VP of Brand Partnerships at Team Whistle. “We were really excited to get Ja on board. Not only because he's breaking into an elite tier of NBA players, but also because our series, Days Off, allows our fans to connect with him in a down to earth way.”

In the :30 spot, Ja Morant is in his living room, littered with crumpled up sheets of paper, dirty dishes and empty water bottles, obsessively looking to unearth easter eggs no one has uncovered yet. After watching Spider-Man: No Way home for the 30th time in a row, he has created a full conspiracy board, connected with red string covering the entire living room wall, with multiple easter eggs, promoting how the home entertainment release offers new value for fans. In addition to the spot, Whistle created an episode of its original series ‘‘Days Off,’ following Ja Morant, a longtime franchise fan, as he breaks away from the court to focus on an off-the-court passion, Spider-Man! As he unwinds, he talks about how he grew up with Spider-Man, shares new film easter eggs available from the home release, and puts his Spidey sense to the test with a few physical challenges. ‘Days Off’ is a series that profiles athletes and entertainers as they enjoy a day off with their favorite activities and hobbies. Other native creative assets were created for TikTok and Instagram to ensure the message is translated for native platform audiences.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment:

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly-owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, Sony Pictures International Productions, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html

About Team Whistle:

Team Whistle is an Eleven Group sports and entertainment media company built to engage and activate today’s generation, wherever they consume content globally. As a pioneer in data-driven content creation and distribution, Whistle has a positive and relatable original content slate of 50+ shows and a creator network that generates over four billion views per month across social platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Team Whistle owns Whistle TV, its free ad-supported digital network available on The Roku Channel and other OTT platforms including: Samsung TV Plus, Vizio, TCL, Plex, DistroTV, STIRR, and LocalNow, which currently reaches over 70M US households. With these deep ties to social and streaming platforms, “MAGNET”, Team Whistle’s internal agency provides social first content strategies to brands, leagues and platforms to reach untapped audiences and create revenue opportunities.



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Contact:

Stacey Richman

srichman@teamwhistle.com

973-219-5872