Stranger Things Production Analysis

Who Produced Stranger Things?
21 Laps Entertainment was the company that produced and published Stranger Things, led by Shawn Levy (The Director).

- The Duffer Brothers created the story and narrative.
- They are an American film and TV production company run by Shawn Levy.

How Much did the Drama cost?
Season 1 had a budget of $6million per episode (season 2 increased to $8million).
Above the Line costs - Teenage actors supposedly made $20,000 per episode in season 1.
- The Cast (and some crew) were well known actors from prior hit films in the 1980's, however the younger cast involved were yet to be under the spotlight.

Pre-Production:
Stranger Things is an original story created by Matt and Ross Duffer (along with other co-writers).

Production:
Season 1 was filmed at the beginning of 2016 (finalising by June). It premiered worldwide on Netflix July 15th that year.
Filming took place in Atlanta (Georgia) - majority took place in a town called Jackson. The Duffer brothers handled directing of each episode.
Filming took 6 months with 7 days worth of filming for each episode.

Release dates:
The show was simultaneously released across all Netflix supporting countries on July 15th 2016 - This includes the majority of Europe, America, Australia and some areas of Asia. Each season (1, 2, 3) was released as an 8 episode collection instead of one episode per week. (Netflix original owning all rights to the drama).

- The only platforms with available streaming of the show are Netflix and 'Netflix branded' dvd box sets on Amazon.

- HDR (High Dynamic Range) is used to provide a more immersive experience (4K camera used with 80's lenses/colour grading).

Audience:
Target audience is 18-49 as middle age generations would've grown up during the contextual time period that the show is set in. Younger audiences are commonly attracted to the 1980's time period as a result of society trends.

Advertising
Stranger Things has a box set which is being sold on Amazon for $30.95.
The show is in collaboration with LEGO, NIKE and COKE (along with other leading companies) to produce further merchandise and provide a conglomerate like Stranger Things brand.

Marketing
Marketing campaigns began June 2016 - consisting of trailer and poster releases globally. Social media was crucial to promoting the drama to as many ages within the target audience as possible.