SEMI Workforce Development

Behind the world’s $480 billion semiconductor industry is SEMI, the trade organization representing more than 2,000 member companies around the globe. Their unique challenge? To attract the next generation of highly skilled engineers, scientists, and mathematicians to careers in chip manufacturing. Instead of producing a typical corporate video about semiconductor manufacturing, we dreamed up a big screen science fiction thriller about a deadly virus.

Our three-minute movie trailer, Contact Protocol, takes viewers inside the highly-secretive, highly-advanced clean room, where a brilliant team of dedicated, young engineers, scientists, and mathematicians must find a way to save humankind.

Or die trying.

With a five-language social media push on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youku and YouTube—and propelled by industry influencers—the campaign grew to over 5 million impressions, over 2 million trailer views, and more than 46,000 page views on yourewelcome.org in just 30 days.

What’s a movie without credits?

So many people poured their hearts into this project, starting with our intrepid clients at SEMI, led by CMO Peter Gillespie and CEO Ajit Manocha. We absolutely loved working with our creative partners: Producer Matthew Morgenthaler and the film production house Happy Little Guillotine Studios. (Director: Yuri Baranovsky, DP: Juston Morrison and Editor: Dashiell Reinhardt).

The production was shot over five days, using anamorphic lenses, with a cast and crew of more than 40 people, in Northern and Southern California. Many thanks to everyone who made this project possible.