MOSCOW, OCTOBER 11, 2017 — Promos for RT’s #1917LIVE Twitter project, a large-scale re-enactment marking 100 years since the Russian Revolution by recreating the events “in real time,” are among finalists at the 2017 Clio Entertainment competition. RT is the only non-American TV network in the running for the Best TV Promo Campaign award.
RT will compete with promos for such TV shows as The Simpsons (FX Networks), The Eighties (CNN Worldwide), Ozark (Netflix), Westworld and The Leftovers (HBO) in the Television/Streaming: Teaser category.
In late 2016, RT launched one of the biggest historical re-enactments ever on Twitter. Brought together under a flagship feed called the Russian Telegraph (RT), a fictional media outlet, the innovative project consists of dozens of Twitter accounts set up as the voices of key historical characters of the time period. These range from the last Russian tsar Nicholas II and revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin to common workers and soldiers. The project includes a series of specially produced promos recreating the events that took place 100 years ago, including the abdication of Nicholas II, the starvation in Petrograd, and Lenin’s famous speech.
Historians from the US and UK have taken part in the project, as well as Paulo Coelho, world-renowned Brazilian author of The Alchemist, Veronika Decides to Die, and The Zahir. Coelho runs the Twitter account of Margaretha Zelle, a famous double agent during WWI known by her stage name, Mata Hari. There are over 80 accounts in total, tweeting in real time. Nearly 200,000 people are now following the project’s accounts, and the #1917LIVE hashtag has been used in over 170,000 tweets.
RT’s project sparked interest in audiences across the world and inspired many followers to join in. Any Twitter user can create an account to participate in the project under #1917CROWD.
RT’s #1917LIVE historical re-enactment on Twitter caught the eye of various public figures, journalists and members of the academia in the US, Europe and Latin America. #1917LIVE participants or followers include British and Italian MPs, the Spanish ambassador to Russia, the British ambassadors to Estonia and Ukraine, and the Russian Mission to the UN. Journalists at The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and France 24 are following the project, while stories about #1917LIVE have been published in more than 10 languages.
