Golden Globes Reinvents Red Carpet; Draws 260M+ Views on Social Media

“The best thing that could have happened.”

That’s how Barbie director Greta Gerwig described her red carpet interview with Recess Therapy at the recent 81st Golden Globe Awards.

The viral clip of Gerwig and Barbie co-stars Margot Robbie and America Ferrera interviewed by 7-year-olds Amina Toure and Allison Navarro along with Recess Therapy host Julian Shapiro-Barnum didn’t get millions of views by accident.

Rather, it was part of a planned effort by Dick Clark Productions, which produces the show as well as the Billboard Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, Streamy Awards, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, to re-invent and re-imagine this year’s red carpet for a new generation.

“Our marketing team had every corner of the Globes covered. From slow motion arrivals videos to backstage portraits, to real-time show clips to so much more,” said Jeremy Lowe, Vice President of Talent and Partnerships at Dick Clark Productions, who was instrumental in these efforts. “Creators are a second layer. We partner with creators because they cover our events in unique ways. A great example of this is Matt Friend doing his candid impression of Paul Giammatti backstage for Paul himself.”

The strategy worked wonders. In the first 48 hours after the show, the Golden Globes drove over 130 million views on their TikTok, 120 million Views on Instagram Reels, and 10 million views on Twitter with millions more views coming from other accounts.

In fact, the 81st Golden Globe Awards saw a 50% increase in viewership, drew over 260 million views on their owned platforms in the 48 hours post show, and their TikTok following grew by over 85%. It also became the number one program across all of TV on January 7, 2024 ranked by total interactions, earned interactions, and video views according to Talkwalker.

In addition to Friend, Lowe and team invited creators like Haley Kalil and Recess Therapy who brought unique coverage to the red carpet. Hosted by Shapiro-Barnum, Recess Therapy is a show which gained over 464 million views on YouTube for on-the-street interviews with children, including their viral “Corn Kid” episode.

“Seeing Margot Robbie talk to two seven-year-olds from Brooklyn and a 24-year-old from Brooklyn is really humanizing,” Shapiro-Barnum said. “It’s so fun to see [celebrities] outside of a really controlled space like a professional interview.”

To make the most of the moment, Shapiro-Barnum explained how his team worked with Dick Clark Productions to edit their interview clips immediately after filming and drove over 50 million views on Instagram and TikTok within 72 hours of the show.

“The post production was really crazy. Every time we got like three interviews or so, we would have a runner take the SD card to our two amazing editors Will Halbert and David Cybulski,” he explained. Shapiro-Barnum also credited Amina and Allison’s mothers, Gehanne Wilkins-Toure and Avery Navarro, for helping keep the girls focused throughout their interviews.

Creators like Friend and Kalil also had quick turnarounds with their videos, posting over 50 clips including Kalil complimenting Billie Eillish which drove over 22 million views on Instagram and Friend impersonating Nicolas Cage in front of him which drove over 9 million.

“We like to work with talent who we know will deliver results,” Lowe said. “Haley Kalil was a Streamy Awards nominee in 2023 and made a viral video about losing to MrBeast at the show. We had a feeling that she could replicate that magic — Haley Kalil posted 37 videos about and from the Globes on Instagram and TikTok, with over 248 million video views on her content across platforms.”

“In my mind, award shows and red carpets have become ‘content playgrounds,’ ” Lowe continued. “Creators will continue to be part of red carpets. Publicists were so excited for their clients to interview with Recess Therapy.”

That “content playground” led to praise from many Hollywood heavyweights who have been to countless red carpets before. In addition to Gerwig’s compliments, Barbie star America Ferrera said “those girls [from Recess Therapy] and their excitement about Barbie…it was the highlight of the red carpet.”

In the past, compliments like those have been far from the norm for red carpet interviews which have historically been all too predictable (cue the “who are you wearing?” questions). But Lowe and team sought to re-imagine what red carpets look like after seeing the payoff of inviting Amelia Dimoldenberg, host of the popular YouTube show Chicken Shop Date, to last year’s Golden Globes red carpet which led to millions of views across social media. This year, they doubled-down on this content strategy — and judging by the results, it wouldn’t be surprising if it becomes a staple of more red carpets moving forward.

Beyond the views, however, perhaps the most powerful moment from the red carpet came from Barbie star Issa Rae’s interview with Recess Therapy. When she asked 7-year-olds Toure and Navarro which Barbie they aspire to be, their answers were immediate.

“I wanted to be you when I was Barbie!” they said, referring to Rae’s President Barbie character. Raid did not miss a beat, replying, “You can be her. Easily.”

Shapiro-Barnum discussed the importance of that moment, stating, “It’s really cool to see Issa interact with two young girls of color who were just so inspired by her and inspired by the representation they were seeing in that movie. It was really powerful in both directions: I think it meant a lot to Issa to see that and I feel like that interview and this video clip shows just how meaningful representation is in films.”

Lowe agreed, saying that Rae, Robbie, Ferrera, and Gerwig’s interview with Recess Therapy “felt like seminal moments in red carpet history. I’ve never seen celebrities have more fun on a red carpet and I will never forget watching those interviews in-person.”

It’s likely that millions of viewers won’t forget watching those interviews online, either.

For more coverage, follow the Golden Globes on their Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X pages.