General information
Client: Universal Pictures International Germany
Sector: Film distribution
Media: Linear TV
Time period: May 2025
Format: Ad Special “KI-Stagemorph” (“KI” is German for AI); presented as a further development of Movesplit
Programme setting: Let’s Dance (German prime-time dance show; the moment is built around its studio stage)
Context
This campaign promotes a film by changing the look of a well-known TV studio during the ad break, so the show setting becomes part of the idea.
Universal Pictures International Germany supported the live-action version (made with real actors) of How to Train Your Dragon, based on a well-known animated franchise. The ad special ran in Let’s Dance, the German version of the shiny floor prime-time dance competition “ Dance with the Stars”, well known for its specific stage, lighting style, and studio layout.
The viewer stays in that same studio space when the break starts. Then the stage “morphs” into a themed fantasy scene described as a dragon arena. Thanks to the use of AI and because the stage shape remains visible, the change feels like something happening to the show’s world, not a cut to an unrelated scene.
Campaign objectives
The objective was to build the brand image by turning a normal commercial break into a moment made for the show and for the film release.
The campaign also set out to combine entertainment with generative AI, using the technology as the main tool for the on-screen set change. Under the AI-Stagemorph label, the partners positioned this execution as the first AI-created TV Ad Special.
In practical terms, the aim was clear: place the film’s world onto a stage that is already familiar to viewers, and keep the show’s look readable while doing it.
Creative minds
This campaign combined a broadcaster sales house, a film distributor, and a media agency in one production. Ad Alliance developed the format and handled implementation. Universal Pictures International Germany worked with EssenceMediacom, named as the media agency on the campaign.
Campaign video
The video below shows the Let’s Dance stage moving into the break and shifting into a dragon-arena look linked to How to Train Your Dragon. The stage stays easy to recognise, while the background world changes and the dragon character Toothless appears in the scene.
Results
The result is a TV Ad Special that uses a fixed studio setting to deliver a film world in a way that feels tied to the programme.
What stands out in this campaign is the production method and the choices made to protect the franchise. The studio change is AI-generated: the system animates the stage background, including movement, lighting, and the themed “room” design behind the stage. This avoids building a new physical set or running heavy effects work just for a short break moment.
At the same time, the campaign kept tight control of the most recognisable element. Toothless was produced and integrated in a classic way, with the stated goal of keeping the character faithful to the original design and consistent with brand rules. The work therefore splits the image in a simple way: AI creates the world around the stage, and traditional production protects the character that viewers use to identify the film.
All in all, RTL provides the industry with a repeatable and cost-efficient format for studio-based TV shows, with the main priorities stated as context, easy recognition, and brand fit. In that logic, “the stage remains the stage”, but it becomes a meeting point where a brand world can appear for a few seconds during a live entertainment break.