Museums tell the story of our collective journey so we can learn from our past, make sense of our present and shape our future. This insight gave birth to our new platform, ROM Immortal: We live on in what we leave behind, which came to life in the cinematic masterpiece, Immortal.

Immortal takes place in an oceanic setting, the earth’s womb, as a newborn floats above familiar scenes of some of humanity’s most notable moments. From the holocaust to Trump, Banksy to Tiananmen Square, the potential of existence unfolds, highlighting the possibilities of greatness and darkness that exist within us all. The haunting scenes appear in slow motion as we jump through history in non-linear fashion, resulting in a 6-minute ode to humanity, a poignant evaluation of us all and an important lesson on how critical it is to understand the impact of the marks we leave on the world.

Brand health studies showed that while many people loved the experience of the ROM, a significant portion of the population did not see themselves represented in or welcomed to the “governmental” and “static” institution. Over time, the over reliance on promoting exhibitions and objects reinforced this perception that the brand itself was as old and fixed as the 1.3 million objects within the museum. This led to the brand being seen as both dusty and static.

Worse, sweeping societal shifts in norms was questioning the very existence and necessity of museums like ROM, which are often seen as elitist, patriarchal and a symbol of empirical conquests.This lead to an air of ROM being an institution that is important but “not for me” in brand health studies.

We were asked to drive increased visitation amongst a younger audience and people who otherwise have not visited ROM.

ROM Immortal examined the potentiality of existence through history while stylistically unifying the scenes in a common underwater environment. To do this we chose a “dry for wet” execution to achieve an underwater visual that was present but not dominant, allowing the primary focus to remain on the narrative. Through high speed photography, caustic lighting techniques and extensive use of smoke, fans and airborne particulate we attempted to capture the movement of objects under water while rendering an appropriate atmospheric density to the film.

This ran online, in social media, in theatre and is currently an installation in ROM. Toronto is an incredibly conservative city, with a legacy in protestant, corporate values. However, a changing population means that those values are changing and, with it, the tonality and tenor of the city itself. This is not classically an acceptable tone in Toronto, nor is it typical, for particularly a government-backed institution, to wade into some heavy political issues. But, it was the right thing to do. It was a message only the museum could convey and it connected with new audiences as evidenced by such strong results.