duolingo

Motion — Commercial

Duolingo tapped Frame + Focus to direct and produce their annual global tech conference, Duocon, for both their 2023, 2024 and 2025 events. We were asked to build a team capable enough to capture the diverse array of keynote presentations as well as an interview between Duolingo’s CEO and a relevant public figure.

In 2023, filming took place at Duolingo’s Pittsburgh headquarters and in London, where our team conducted a two-country interview between Luis von Ahn and Pakistani activist, Malala Yousafzai. Each keynote presentation was delivered by members of the Duolingo team and covered topics ranging from music and AI to animation and immersive English teaching.

Going into 2024, we knew we wanted to introduce a “live” element to bring some additional dimension to the event. In front of an audience of around 200 people, we filmed each keynote presentation as if it were a live talk, DJ and emcee included, at the historic Pittsburgh Playhouse. A separate interview between Luis and Grammy award-winning musician, Jon Batiste, took place at a studio in Brooklyn, NY.

2025 came with the wisdom of our 2024 experience and allowed us to refine the program into a more condensed show for our audience. With around 200 people in attendance at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, we produced a live to tape show that included five cameras and a crew of 20 talented technicians.