Looking up at the billboards on Sunset Boulevard from August 6 to 8 revealed a sight that did not belong to Los Angeles’ usual advertising inventory. Behind the window of a house raised approximately nine metres above the road sat a man in a bathrobe, eating cereal, reading, watching cars through binoculars and occasionally holding up a whiteboard with a message for passers-by.
Netflix transformed the billboard at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Selma Avenue into a fully furnished living room to promote its new science-fiction thriller The Last House. The performer spent three days inside the installation, while his temporary residence featured a sofa, bookshelves, plants, paintings, curtains and air conditioning. The outside of the house carried the question: How long can you survive?
The installation directly transferred the film’s plot into a public space. In The Last House, a family of four wakes up one morning to discover that every exit from their home has been sealed. As their supplies run out, the family members try to understand what is holding them captive and find a way to survive the threat outside the house.
Unlike the film’s characters, the man inside the billboard was not completely cut off from the outside world. He waved to drivers and pedestrians, watched the traffic below and answered questions by writing messages on the board. In this way, the static advertisement gained a storyline that changed throughout the day, giving people a reason to stop, record the scene and share it on social media.
The activation quickly became local news. Television crews filmed the installation from the street and the air, while passers-by discussed the man’s identity and the conditions of his unusual three-day stay on social media. In a city known for its high rents, a joke also emerged that he was one of the few Los Angeles residents living above Sunset Boulevard without paying rent.
