Background & Objectives

In the outskirts of what was once known as downtown Los Angeles, amongst old factory ruins, the Deadfellaz resistance has reclaimed a basecamp for themselves…welcome to The Deadzone LA. In October 2022, our team worked with NFT giant Deadfellaz to create the ultimate Halloween community event, Deadzone LA. We were tasked with producing an epic Halloween event that featured fashion, art, food, and entertainment. Deadzone LA would be an opportunity to be immersed in the extensive Deadfellaz world as their tight-knit, hyper-engaged community (aka The Horde) and extended web3 family partied for an unforgettable night that highlighted the benefits of being in this inclusive community.

Deadfellaz, the global NFT ecosystem that has rapidly become one of the most culturally prominent projects born from the Web3 space, hosted their biggest live event yet. The one-night, ticketed event was the must-attend Halloween event of the season. Deadfellaz is a digital art and NFT project that combines zombies, 90s animation, and streetwear into its collection. With the zombie nature of Deadfellaz, Halloween is the perfect holiday for the brand to showcase what it does best. During last year’s Halloween season, the Deadfellaz team threw their first event in NYC entitled DeadZone13. Deadfellaz had the goal of owning the Halloween space and creating an unforgettable, shareable experience for The Horde and partner communities.

Guests walked through an epic post apocalyptic entrance, where costumed performers and actors brought the lore of the Deadfellaz to life. Once through the haunted maze, guests entered a multi-sensory experience, with DJs, immersive theater, live art, gallery art, food & beverages, and more. The evening’s music was curated by world-renowned DJs Emo Nite, who performed throughout the night along with special guests So Tuff So Cute.

Deadfellaz gained blue-chip status after its launch and is a favorite among celebrities, including Reese Witherspoon, Lionel Richie, Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, Lil’ Laby, Pusssy Riot, and Gary V. The brand has shown a dedication to providing valuable benefits to its holders and has been a staple in the NFT ecosystem. The ethereum-based collection has 10,000 NFTs with roughly 6,300 collectors. The project has amassed $51 million to date.

The value of being in the Deadfellaz community is the community itself, along with access to limited edition merch, mini games, metaverse platforms, live events, partnership opportunities, and other added perks. Betty and Psych, the husband-and-wife co-creators of Deadfellaz, founded the brand because of a deep passion for NFTs, creators, and creators' rights. Betty is very hands-on and an extremely prominent figure in the world of NFTs.

Execution

We dug deep into existing and yet-to-be-revealed Deadfellaz lore along with the brand’s creative team to create the deadzone concept - a post-apocalyptic rebel base. We chose The Row in Downtown LA as the setting for this event, due to its large footprint but most importantly, because the space was set in front of the abandoned and condemned American Apparel building, which is a haunting sight in itself that towers 10 stories above the event space and plays right into the brand’s lore. We used creative lighting effects, holograms, and even a laser to display unique branding and integrate the surrounding buildings.

The exterior was patrolled by uniformed guards, and the perimeter was surrounded by worn-down scaffolding with weathered plastic sheeting and silhouettes inside. Guests walked through an epic multi-level scaffolding entrance maze, where costumed performers and actors brought the lore of Deadfellaz to life. DeadZone LA used tokenproof, which token gates real-world events based on NFT ownership, weaving an additional Web3 technology into the evening.

Once inside, guests were transported into the post-apocalyptic rebel base camp of DeadZone LA with every element being an Instagrammable photo op - smoldering rebel vehicles, rusted out burning barrels, an exploded smoking Humvee, 3D futuristic holograms, live art, and of course, Betty the Horde Mother’s famous pink throne. Other activations included casino games, a custom Deadfellaz pool table, food trucks showcasing local food, bars, and merchandise, including early bird opportunities on collaborative pieces from Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak brand and NFT wallet brand Ledger.

We brought the Deadfellaz digital world to life in the physical world. We provided experiences that unfolded in front of guests’ eyes, with scaffolding breaking up the space and creating new discoveries around every turn. We adorned the event space with tires, tumbleweeds and overgrown shrubs, and weathered each element within the space. We had live visual artists tagging set pieces throughout the space with Deadfellaz and partner art.

Every element inside was true to the lore and Deadfellaz world, such as selling merch out of Humvees with cones and caution tape forming the line, oozing radioactive waste barrels as tables, heavy machinery used as set pieces, pyrotechnic elements, and a wide cast of costumed characters and performers, including a sway pole artist, fire breathers, stilt walkers, contortionists, acrobats, and a masked figure in a trench coat “flashing” guests with a coat full of Ledger Nano giveaways. The event space was always changing and coming alive in new ways, with acrobats utilizing the scaffolding throughout the space as their climbing stage, and live artists creating art on every surface throughout the night.

Our entertainment was also inspired by the lore - with an all-night DJ set from Emo Nite, whose logo is literally a gravestone - and a surprise appearance from So Tuff So Cute. The Horde Mother, Deadfellaz founder Betty, got on stage and DJ’d to the thousands of excited guests in the crowd.

We ensured that all elements of the event were in-line with the Deadfellaz cultural staples as well. We paid special attention to creating everything in a gender-neutral forum that was also queer-friendly. The environment was positive and welcoming while still remaining exclusive to The Horde community and fostering unique experience for brand and community partners.

Results

Our goal was to create a real-life version of the Deadfellaz metaverse where its community could come together to celebrate Halloween, while having access to exclusive merch opportunities from sponsors and partners, and we were able to do so in resounding fashion. We highlighted the best parts of being in this community, all together in a live event, while still aesthetically and thematically staying true to the Deadfellaz lore.

Brand partnerships with Gala Games, Wrangler, Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak, and Ledger were announced leading up to the event, and were then showcased in an authentic way on site, leaving guests with a clear understanding of the positioning. We also provided guests exclusive opportunities to purchase some of these items ahead of their wide release.

The Deadfellaz brand, as well as The Horde, were all ecstatic about the event itself, as there was an overwhelmingly positive reaction on site and via socials about how well the event brought Deadfellaz to life while staying true to the lore. The community members were singing and dancing all night, the food trucks sold out, and the gaming tables were filled from start to finish. In addition to the 1,500 attendees, a complementary metaverse activation allowed users to be their Deadfellaz in Worldwide Webb, a pixel-based metaverse platform.

On Twitter, the primary social media platform for NFT culture, the event was trending all night among the NFT communities. People shared countless photos and videos, and it became the most sought-after event within the NFT community during the Halloween season.

Outside of the NFT community, the experiential tentpole publication Event Marketer featured the event on its front page, highlighting our ability to bring this digital world and complex lore to life in a physical space for its community. It featured interviews with Betty, photos from the event, and a full recap. Following the article’s release, the event trended again on Twitter as people shared the writeup and reshared photos from the event.

Ultimately, this was the first time Deadfellaz had a presence in LA, and based on the response, it will be the first of many Halloweens spent together for this community. We solidified a new tradition for the brand and its community, and curated countless shareable moments that engaged existing fans and created new ones.