Clearly, we\u2019re obsessed.
Not surprisingly, Hollywood has taken note. Exclusive emojis now accompany film releases and TV show premieres as part of studio and network marketing campaigns, and an emoji movie is scheduled for release by Sony Pictures Animation in the summer.
\u201cAs storytellers, we\u2019re always trying to tell stories that really connect with people,\u201d said Tony Leondis, director and co-writer of \u201cThe Emoji Movie.\u201d
\u201cWe have this immediate connection to these little yellow guys that we send out as versions of ourselves. Billions of emojis are sent every day to share their love, their frustrations, their happiness, their lives with each other. It seemed like such a perfect landscape to tell a story.\u201d
Casey Affleck talks about the way Kenneth Lonergan uses everyday language to convey deep emotion in \u00ab\u00a0Manchester by the Sea. \u00a0\u00bb
For her role as Jackie Kennedy, Natalie Portman says, \u00ab\u00a0It’s not a fashion story,\u00a0\u00bb but the clothes do tell a story.
Joel Edgerton talks about staying truthful to the real-life story of \u00ab\u00a0Loving. \u00a0\u00bb
Director Nicolas Winding Refn and composer Cliff Martinez discuss their \u00ab\u00a0Neon Demon\u00a0\u00bb collaboration.
\u00ab\u00a0Manchester By the Sea\u00a0\u00bb director Kenneth Lonergan discusses writing a quiet character and working with actor Casey Affleck to bring him to life.\u00a0
It also helps that\u00a0no one owns the rights to them. Because emojis are considered a font or a language, that means that anyone, including movie studios, can use them for any purpose at any time (MoMA acquired DoCoMo\u2019s emojis through a licensing agreement). \u201cYou don\u2019t have to get the rights to emojis,\u201d Leondis said. \u201cYou just have to create your own version of emojis.\u201d
For Leondis, who called it the \u201ceasiest sell I\u2019ve ever made,\u201d the movie is an opportunity to capitalize on our interest in these icons. He enlisted James Corden to voice the central character, Hi-5, and noted that Corden said yes right away. That\u2019s possibly because Corden\u2019s talk show, \u201cThe Late Late Show,\u201d has a recurring segment called \u201cEmoji News,\u201d which recaps headlines using emojis for comedic effect.
While most people are familiar with the emojis included in Apple\u2019s keyboard , which was recently updated to include an avocado due to overwhelming demand, other tech companies also have their own. Twitter, in particular, continually partners with movie studios and TV networks on exclusive emojis that are activated with specific hashtags. For \u201cRogue One,\u201d the new \u201cStar Wars\u201d film released by Lucasfilm and Disney on Dec. 16, a \u201cStar Wars\u201d Twitter emoji will automatically appear when you tweet any of the following: #RogueOne, #DeathStar, #StarWars and #StarWarsRogueOne.
\u201cWe know there’s a massive, engaged audience of movie fans on Twitter who are tweeting about upcoming films,\u201d said Jennifer Prince, who deals with media and entertainment at Twitter. \u201cStudios who recognize that opportunity leverage Twitter during the film promotion process \u2014\u00a0 it has become a core part of studios\u2019 playbooks, whether it is with a custom emoji, exclusive trailer or cast Q&A. Emojis are a new way for people to connect and express their excitement and passion for films with a community of fans.\u201d
Twitter has worked on more than 50 exclusive emojis for films since its first campaign in April 2015 for \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens.\u201d A \u201cBad Moms\u201d emoji was mentioned more than 103,000 times, leading to 63 million organic impressions and 169 million total impressions, according to Prince, and \u201cSuicide Squad\u201d earned \u00a0 1 million tweets between March 1 and May 26 thanks to a Joker Twitter emoji with the hashtag #JokerWasHere.\u201d
Skype debuted its own set of icons, dubbed Emoticons, around the November release of Marvel\u2019s \u201cDoctor Strange.\u201d The digital communication app had created similar partnerships for \u201cCaptain America: The Winter Soldier\u201d and \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy.\u201d
\u201cOur fans are extremely engaged, so we try to provide them with as much content as possible for them to express their fandom,\u201d said Mindy Hamilton, senior vice president of global partnerships for Marvel Entertainment. \u201cSkype\u2019s \u2018Doctor Strange\u2019 emoticons provided users with exclusive content to add personality and their love for pop culture and Marvel\u2019s \u2018Doctor Strange\u2019 to their Skype chats. Anything that can bring people closer to our characters and our universe is key, especially if it\u2019s something as fun and creative as what Skype did here.\u201d
Cartoon Network\u2019s Adult Swim released its own emoji keyboard over the summer; it includes 150 custom emojis themed around characters from popular shows like \u201cRick and Morty\u201d and \u201cRobot Chicken.\u201d The free keyboard has since seen 320,000 app installs and 2.6 million sticker uses, said Jim Babcock, vice president\u00a0 of consumer marketing at Adult Swim. The Cartoon Network offshoot\u00a0 will soon roll out more animated stickers for iOS 10.
\u201cWe want to give our fans a way to drop an Adult Swim GIF, sound clip or sticker into a conversation with a friend that will make them laugh or question the course their life has taken,\u201d Babcock said. \u201cIt\u2019s less about a transaction and more about engaging and sharing a joke. We\u2019re thinking about emoji for every show and for any sentiment where we think we can add something funny or weird.\u201d
The emojis, although generally for entertainment and fun communication, can also make a statement. Around the theatrical release of \u201cLoving,\u201d\u00a0 the real-life story of a couple\u2019s historic legal fight to have their interracial marriage recognized by the state of Virginia,\u00a0 Focus Features unveiled its own set of icons via the Love-Moji app.
\u201cIt came about through social insight,\u201d said Josh Kornblit, senior vice president of digital marketing and media at Focus. \u201cIn August 2016, Apple announced they were planning to add more gender-diverse emoji in iOS 10, something that was done in response to negative social feedback they had received. But we noticed that interracial couples were still absent from the update. The [app] helped fill a void for something that wasn\u2019t previously available, and people got behind it in a big way.\u00a0
\u201cIt was great to see how excited people were to see themselves represented that way. It\u2019s meaningful \u2014\u00a0 which is why it took off so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n