Microsoft - Unlocked

Unlocked is a content platform created to showcase how Microsoft’s products transform people’s lives—stories rooted in human ingenuity and the soul of innovation. Built for the web, the platform uses long‑form narrative as its backbone, supported by rich multimedia touchpoints including video, photography, animation, data visualization, spatial audio, and more.

From a production standpoint, one of the biggest challenges was stretching the budget while protecting creative excellence. The first wave of stories required over 30 deliverables across film, design, stills, CGI, and audio…on a production budget of just $300K.

To make this possible, we engineered a highly strategic, agile production model that leveraged the full reach of our in‑house studio network; video, digital, edit, graphics, and print, while also integrating independent global creatives.

Key production strategies included:

• Sending directors abroad as solo operators and hiring local crews on the ground

• Commissioning a photographer from Kenya and flying him to Ghana for hero stills

• Sourcing animators, illustrators, and data‑visualization artists from around the world

• Overseeing multiple remote productions simultaneously to maximize efficiency

The result was a scalable, cost‑effective production pipeline that delivered exceptionally crafted stories without compromising ambition or aesthetic. Unlocked became a powerful storytelling engine. Human, Emotional, and unmistakably Microsoft.