Disguise Powers dentsu’s northstar awards – The Land of the Never Before

Dentsu’s annual northstar awards celebrate the company’s global talent and outstanding creative work. Content production studio Agora was tasked with designing an immersive online awards show that connected dentsu’s 60,000+ employees worldwide.

The solution? A beautifully crafted, illustrated world called The Land of the Never Before, featuring eight virtual kingdoms representing dentsu’s values and awards categories. Using 2.5D virtual production, the show hosts were seamlessly placed within these imaginative environments, blending traditional illustration with cutting-edge technology. Disguise’s GX 2C servers and Bluman Associates’ expertise ensured smooth delivery, innovation, and a visually striking result.

The challenge

Creating a global awards show that felt distinctive, engaging, and uniquely dentsu required an inventive production approach.

The team wanted to avoid the typical awards show look and instead transport viewers into a layered, illustrated world that would feel fresh and surprising. Using 2.5D virtual production meant striking a balance: maintaining the charm of hand-drawn artwork while adding depth and dimension with modern technology.

With no prior live 2.5D project experience across the team, clear communication, thorough previsualisation, and expert technical support were essential to make sure the ambitious creative vision could be realised on time and on budget.

The solution

Filmed at Milkit Studio with Bluman Associates, the project used Disguise GX 2C servers paired with a Stype Red Spy tracking system and Stage Precision calibration to deliver eight unique illustrated backgrounds on Unilumen 2.5mm LED screens.

The 2.5D workflow provided the perfect middle ground between simple 2D visuals and complex 3D builds, creating the illusion of depth using layered animated plates and augmented reality elements. Disguise’s flexible, powerful system allowed the team to previsualise the entire production in advance, ensuring they could adapt dynamically on set and bring dentsu’s Land of the Never Before to life.

Despite challenges like working without a gen-lockable camera, the integrated system performed smoothly, showcasing Disguise’s robust capabilities in hybrid creative-technical environments.

The results

In just 12 weeks, the team delivered an extraordinary internal event that was streamed globally across multiple time zones, achieving over 6,000 employee views worldwide.The awards show harnessed state-of-the-art virtual production, creating a joyful, optimistic, and uniquely branded experience that exceeded expectations and brought dentsu’s values to life.

By applying innovative production technology in a B2E (business-to-employee) context, the project demonstrated how creative storytelling and precise technical execution can deliver powerful impact—not just for external audiences, but within global organisations.