GULF SHORES — Sand Castle University, professional sandcastle sculptors who work on commissions and offer classes along the Alabama Gulf Coast, collaborated with Netflix on a promotional video for their upcoming Spongebob Squarepants movie, "Saving Bikini Bottom."

"This was a huge collaboration for us, and it feels great to be approached to do this type of project," said Janel Hawkins, owner of Sand Castle University and professional sculptor. "We have experienced a lot of growth in our 10 years in this industry, and it now seems as if the sky is the limit."

In the promotional video, Hawkins recreates sandier versions of the houses from some of Bikini Bottom's iconic residents. She also builds a sand sculpture of the movie title.

Hawkins said a producer from a company working with Netflix on promotional content for the movie reached out after seeing Sand Castle University's work on TikTok.

"They had seen our work on TikTok, loved the creativity and felt that we could create a concept that really allowed our voice and aesthetic to come through," Hawkins said. "We work hard on promoting Sand Castle University through our social media channels, and it really does pay off."

The promotional video, posted on NetflixFilm's Instagram, has received over 6,000 likes as of earlier this week and several comments, including one from the official Spongebob Instagram. As a "huge fan of Spongebob," Hawkins has sculpted the houses before just for fun, and she was "thrilled" to be a part of this promotional project.

While Hawkins does custom sculpture commissions across the Alabama coast, when sculpting in her free time she typically finds herself on the beaches of Gulf Shores. Sand Castle University, as the name suggests, offers classes for sculpting sandcastles with booking available on their website so anyone can create sand sculptures like a pro.