Netflix at LVL UP Expo & Anime Expo (2025)
2Heads

2Heads Casestudy Page

Director of Brand Experience, Brad Tennesen - LinkedIn

Netflix wanted to award an agency with a contract to design and build a booth that would go to both LVL UP Expo Las Vegas in March and then to Anime Expo Los Angeles in July. 2Heads stepped up to bat.
Working with Director of Brand Experience Brad Tennessen, we executed the Netflix Funhouse to great success; incorperating half a dozen different IP’s into a cohesive, functional, and FUN booth for fans to enjoy! As the lead designer, I was fortunate enough to be able to design all iterations from initial pitches to final execution at Anime Expo.

With the tight deadline of only 6 weeks from award to execution, we had to move fast to create a memorable booth that would represent Netflix in an impactful and unique way they had seldom shown up with before. Every week I refined the design, worked with specialty fabricators to create assets, and implemented feedback from the awesome team at Netflix to get this made for LVL UP Expo. The LVL UP expo booth was 50’ x 50’, nessecitating a different layout from the later 45’x 80’ booth at Anime Expo. We had to be able to resuse most of the assets in this new configuration, so from the beginning I had to think about both footprints.

In this project I was able to grow my capabilities in leading design, themed entertainment design, fan-focused convention design, interactive branding, project management, fabrication, and concept design.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Anime Expo 2025 had over 410,000 attendees from 65 countries.

The Netflix Funhouse was covered live by Jasmine Simpkins on
KTLA 5 News.

4,435 people went through the Netflix Funhouse over the 45 hours of operation.

The booth featured Meet and Greets with guests like: Sykkuno, Lilypichu, Vinnie Hacker, Masaki Watanabe & Genki Ito, and Khleo Thomas.

Influencer Meet and Greets reached an estimated 33.6M followers through posts across multiple social media platforms.

The Sakamoto Days retail store saw over 700+ transactions.

Netflix Booth at Anime Expo

APPROACH: The Sakamoto Days retail store and "street" activities, and the Squid Game Funhouse Exit.

COURTYARD VIEW FROM THE RETAIL STORE: Looking at the Spirit Crossing Demo Lounge and Squid Game Funhouse exit.

COURTYARD VIEW: Sakamoto Days retail store, photo op, and shooting gallery on the left. Street Fighter tournament play in the center, and Spirit Crossing Demo Lounge on the right.

AERIAL VIEW: Red lanterns and telephone polls completed the Sakamoto Days "street". For an even more dynamic skyline, we added a giant floating Mr. Sakamoto, jumbotron, and Netflix N to fully populate the air and act as a beacon to the rest of the hall.

BACK OF THE FUNHOUSE: Relevant anime posters and decals decorated the back of the funhouse, where we wrapped the ever-long line.

BOOTH ENTRANCE VIEW FROM COURTYARD: Meet and Greets packed the booth every time! Here, people gathered to meet the creators of Sakamoto Days.

Netflix Funhouse

ENTRANCE: Funhouse entrance with "Netflix Rain" curtain

FIRST SECTION: A "Rain" swirl entrance tube & Devil May Cry inflatable obstacle course.

FIRST SECTION: Rico Nasty fights through the demons' grasp.

FIRST SECTION: Guests face twisted roots from a floral Demon before they can escape.

SECOND SECTION: Guests find their way through a hazy maze where a Sakamoto assasination scene bounces around them.

SECOND SECTION: The Sakamoto Days Mirror Maze.

FOURTH SECTION: Squid Game dolls watch over the piggy bank money pit.

THIRD SECTION: Squid Game stair climb to the piggy bank DEATH jump.

FOURTH SECTION: Guests fell backwards into the pit to prepare for a photo op.

FOURTH SECTION: Upon climbing out of the pit, guests face one more trial where they have to slide down to escape!

FOURTH SECTION: The photo op takeaway (featuring me!) - a top down shot in the foam money pit with a cute Squid Game Unleashed boarder.

Promo Renders

Team Netflix wanted some stills and video renders to be able to share on social media and hype up attendees for the booth design. I was happy to fire up Unreal and get them some killer hero shots!

Hero Shots: