Alongside the summer 2024 release of House of the Dragon Season 2, Max’s LGBTQ+ platform Human By Orientation set out to develop a unique approach to event coverage that deepened the connectivity between the Max brand, our one-of-a-kind planned activation celebrating the series’ return, and our rapidly growing queer community on social. We hoped to tap the talents of a singular creative to use the storytelling language of social media to make these connections in a way that was less traditional interview/Q&A and more improv/sketch comedy, leaning into the talents of the drag artists that would be the heart of our activation and sharing them with our social audience.
To meet the undeniable hype surrounding House of the Dragon Season 2 from fans hungry for more adventures in Westeros, we tapped the geniuses at Fagtasia – a drag-meets-theatre show with live singing and choreography – to create an original piece of drag theater called "House of Drag", which recapped season 1 and setting up our live Brooklyn audience for the premiere episode screening of Season 2 to follow. Fan favorite characters Queen Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent would feature prominently, representing warring factions in the ongoing plot, with both serving as strong inspirations for queer audiences with ample potential for drag tributes.
To take full advantage of this event, we aimed to harness the cultural love for these characters and the unique powers of drag artists to turn drama into comedy. We’d shoot an on-site “mock interview" piece to highlight several standout components of Fagtasia’s production in a style that would be both a fantasy tribute and a distinctly modern example of social media storytelling.
We tapped author and cultural commentator (and longtime Max partner) Sesali Bowen to star in this video as a Max correspondent working to “mediate” the rift between Team Black (under Queen Rhaenyra, played by Baby Love) and Team Green (under Queen Alicent, played by Beaujangles). She’d bring her distinct social-native voice to the decidedly absurd plot, which provided her with ample material to pitch to her subjects. Using improv methods with experienced drag artists Baby Love and Beaujangles, we employed a simple production style on-site during the activation itself, which led to a live-wire piece of content with lots of personality and a fast-paced editorial style.
We strategically posted this content during the peak conversation window in the 36 hours after the House of Drag activation (and the premiere of House of the Dragon season 2), taking full advantage of the series' social moment.
In this engaging, hilarious, and culturally relevant piece, queer fans of House of the Dragon enjoyed seeing the return of their favorite show collide with unpredictable comedy that only drag can generate, deepening the connection between the Max brand, the series, and its online community.
Our focus on creating something genuinely different and authentically connected to our audience insights led to an impressive performance success and a true creative benchmark. The final product leveraged all the right elements, including the big personalities of our talent and the best practices of social media formats, becoming a piece that is truly emblematic of Human By Orientation’s commitment to community-driven storytelling to drive excitement, affinity, and tune-in to Max titles.
