AT&T / 2023

BRIEF

Help elevate AT&T’s “Turn Up the Love” platform through branding and content from Miami Beach Pride.

RESPONSE

It’s not every day you get a big brand brave enough to make a big statement that not everyone is going to love. For this project, Wasserman approached me to help develop a narrative approach to filming content at Miami Beach Pride. The clients knew they wanted long-form content. They just didn’t know what story to tell (authentically). So, I developed several treatments and we landed on one we dubbed “Pride from Every Angle.” The idea was simple, we’ll follow five people who are participating in Miami Beach Pride – some for the first time, some for the millionth time. We’ll give them devices to tell their story from a first-person POV. We then took that footage and created a documentary about how these beautiful humans are making an impact in everyone’s lives – particularly in the face of mounting discriminatory legislation in the state of Florida.

The trailer:

Some images of our subjects:

The full film:

AMERICAN EXPRESS / 2023

Brief

Make a splash with Amex’s newest sponsorship in the country’s fastest growing sport.

Response

As Amex’s first foray into the world of F1, we started by identifying how to resonate with an American consumer. F1 is an established sport around the world, but new to Americans. From there, we began planning a massive takeover for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. From a three-story Fan Experience to private suites to the Sphere, I worked with Wasserman and the IAT to make sure Amex was not only a prominent sponsor, but there to provide service and entertainment – core to their brand DNA. A few things we built: an AI-powered experience where fans could create their own hype trailer, viewing decks with unparalleled views of the cars, our own “infinity room” that was our interpretation of a stylized mirrored garage, customizable livery patches and giveaways for fans, and more.

ECD: Kyle Mahan

CD: Ward Williams

Design Director: Elliot Erwin

3D Design: Eunhae Kang

Head of Production: Joy Kim

Project Management: Zuzu Boisson

AMAZON / 2022

Brief

Help launch Amazon’s new sustainable clothing line with a brand film and photography assets.

Response

The heightened awareness around “greenwashing” and all that it implies is a very real sensitivity when it comes to launching anything (especially clothing). Couple that with one of the world’s largest retailers, and the scrutiny is intense. At Yard NYC, we were tasked with launching Amazon’s newest line of (more) sustainable clothing, beauty, and home products. After a lot of legal back and forth, we landed on a message that helped shoppers understand that buying Amazon Aware products would not instantly save the world - instead we developed a humble, optimistic tone across still and film assets that reminds shoppers that shopping this brand is merely a step in the right direction. And when Amazon shoppers make small steps together, they can make a massive impact - all without any tradeoffs on quality, efficacy, or style.

TARGET / 2022

Brief

As Target replaced another major retailer as a main sponsor of EssenceFest, we were tasked with bringing the brand to life in an authentic way for EssenceFest attendees.

Response

To ensure that Target connects with the EssenceFest attendee in a way that didn’t feel forced, I worked with the team at Wasserman to present ideas/experiences what would resonate with the primarily black, female Millennial attendee. We ended up leaning on nostalgia in an updated way that only Target can do. We took inspiration from famous skating rinks around the country and created our own twist of ultra-90s throwback fun. The result: a bullseye-shapd rink surrounded by “arcade games” and “concessions” which were all used to promote black-owned businesses. We featured skating talent on our rink (legal was not into a free-skate), DJs, and a wall of custom skates designed by influencers and notable talent.

Agency: Wasserman

Creative Director: Ward Williams

Art Direction: Riley Meek, Nataija Bush

KOHL’S / 2022

Brief

While keeping the KCU (Kohl’s Cinematic Universe) intact, help the brand step out in Spring with more style in quicker, less narrative-driven/anthemic TVC and social.

Response

Working with YARD NYC, who entered its second year of brand campaign work for the retailer, Kohl’s asked us to evolve the way we had been telling brand stories. In the midst of the pandemic, Kohl’s aimed to foster a more emotional connection between consumers and the brand. This was accomplished through establishing a more cinematic look and feel that differentiated the brand from other retailers. Further, embedding more narrative in the story drew consumers in even more. For Spring 2022, the brand wanted to pop out a little bit more with more style and fashion. So, we developed very short form narratives that were meant to inspire shoppers with a style POV they weren’t expecting from the brand. We did so through an assortment of :15 spots as well as unique :06 spots that lived across broadcast and social channels.

GAP / 2018

Brief

Kick off Gap's 2018 Summer Campaign and launch a new line of lightweight denim.

Response

Gap asked us to launch a brand new product in the Summer of 2018 called Wearlight denim. So, we explored all the ways to create a feeling not only of weightlessness, but of Summer and easy, carefree cool. We explored many ways to achieve this effect. The reality was that any rigging and harnessing would make the jeans look bad. And we very well couldn't take people to space. We found salvation in the world of trampoline parkour and the genius of director Kim Gehrig, choreographer Yoann Bourgeois and athletic performers from South Africa, France, England and California. Then we built a ridiculous set in Watford, England and spent several days bouncing around inside of it. The films were accompanied by really fun GIF animations, short films, a flood of Instagram stories and a global in-store and OOH print campaign. 

KOHL’S / 2021

Brief

In the optimistic world of 2021, continue to evolve the narrative universe of Kohl’s.

Response

Following a year of seasonal commercials for Kohl’s that focused on how to make the best out of isolation and the weirdness of 2020, 2021 was all about togetherness for the retailer. In these films, we worked with director Kevin Wilson, Jr. to bring to life an intergenerational holiday celebration through an unexpected gift set to a hauntingly beautiful track from Ane Brun (via the Beatles). And originally without the media to support it, we showed our clients the :60 and they loved it so much, they found places to run it.

CLOROX NATURAL VITALITY CALM / 2021

Brief

Develop the creative expression of Natural Vitality CALM’s new positioning with a brand new look and message.

Response

After Yard completed brand foundation work, the team at Clorox tapped us to develop a campaign around the strategy: “feel the power of CALM.” What came from that was a super fun campaign about seeing the world quite literally half full of optimism. We developed the campaign “When life gives you stress, make some CALM.” Fun fact: if you are unfamiliar with the product, replenishing Magnesium in your body is a great way to reduce stress and create some serenity (everyone on the team uses it now). So, we worked with director Kelsey Taylor to bring our vision to life and made some fun films and social stories.

RENT THE RUNWAY / 2021

BRIEF

When the world began to wake up again, so did Rent the Runway’s business. As a company that primarily provides renters outfits for events and revolving work looks, well, that kind of went away in 2020. In 2021, they began to see an uptick in women renting fashion just because they wanted to wear something fun again.

RESPONSE

We created a campaign that celebrated fashion every single day. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to the grocery store or meeting friends for a casual drink. We set out with director Danielle Levitt to find runways all around New York. The result was a rallying cry for the company as they continued to evolve from the “wedding outfit” rental company to a true “closet in the cloud” that celebrates the fact that women can “subscribe to fashion” for anything, anywhere. We strutted into the world blanketing key markets with film, shoppable social, and a ton of OOH.

TARGET / 2016

BRIEF

As 2016 continued to shape up to be a not-so-good year, how could we go out in the world and lighten the mood in a "poptimistic" way? 

RESPONSE

In a world where we use GIFs to express how we're feeling one moment and a snapchat filter the next, we created a visual and actual language that is a reflection of how we consume media in our always-connected lives. In short, through surprising bursts of color and meme-like moments, #vibes became our FW16 campaign idea. It was fun, light-hearted and had the quick, looping feel that our consumer is used to seeing and playing with every day. Our clients and some journalists thought the idea was clever.

We launched the whole campaign with an anthemic :60 spot. And we followed with smaller :15 spots that ran during primetime events - such as the Emmy's - and through digital pre-roll.

And we reached out to our ever-growing Hispanic market with a message and assortment aimed at them.

To launch the campaign, we reached out to our network of influencers and cast from broadcast to help us #VibeItForward. It was one day where we flooded Instagram with good style #vibes and created a chain reaction by asking each person to tag a friend over the course of the day.

MIRROR / 2018

BRIEF

MIRROR was a brand new product and needed a brand identity.

RESPONSE

I worked with MIRROR’s agency and internal team to help develop not only a tone of voice for the brand, but a manifesto which then became a brand film. They liked the brand film so much that they made it a spot that aired in the 2018 Super Bowl. After wrapping up the brand work with them, the company hired me as a consultant for everything from social posts to other short films. The following is the film we created together.

WELLS FARGO / 2019

BRIEF

The Wells Fargo team in New York spent a ton of money investing in the Hudson Yards development. They wanted to celebrate by hosting an event at the base of the Vessel. They were wide open to our suggestions. The only thing they charged us with was to “Forget our branding. Make it ‘iconic’.”

RESPONSE

I’m usually terrified when a client uses a word like “iconic.” However, for this project, I had some ideas regarding what they meant. After a few rounds of showing them work that was very within their brand tone and guidelines, they felt like we were still missing the mark. So, we thought, “What’s more iconic for a New York audience than ‘The New Yorker’?” We went back and forth with swipe imagery featuring old maritime lithographs and iconic New Yorker cover art. Then, we hired an amazing New Yorker illustrator to create a unique piece of art that celebrated every aspect of the event they were hosting. The composite, below, features an almost “Where’s Waldo?” image of art, music, shopping and dining. More importantly, where our clients were growing tired of the bank of glitzy architecture shots of the newly developed space, we turned our back to it and focused on what is a quintessential New York City plaza at sunset over the Hudson in the Summer - a meeting ground full of diverse and vibrant groups. It was something the clients could truly own and the brand team felt comfortable approving (not always easy for a bank).

We were very happy. So were the clients. We applied the artwork everywhere from postcards to three story tall structures. Fortunately our illustrator created all of our friends in different layers so it was super-easy to move them around into different pieces of print with specific focuses. Yay. I love a neat and tidy system.

We also developed the logotype treatment for “Summer Nights at Hudson Yards” and activated a festival for two weekends in the summer. As people flocked to the stages for the performances, they also got the chance to interact with the Hudson Yards Summerscape. The Summerscape was an LED covered reactive tunnel that was part environmental signage, part ambient responsive display, and part fully-immersive experience. We worked with an outside vendor to help us develop the Summerscape as the main attraction for guests to travel through because, after all, we live in a world where we seize any opportunity to take a selfie.

AWAY / 2019

BRIEF

Develop the name and identity for a new collection in AWAY’s Fall 2019 product line.

RESPONSE

We created the name “Maverick” to speak to a collection that represented a more rugged consumer - one who travels differently and forges their own path. Each piece was given a name inspired by a combination of menswear and traditional suiting fabrics evocative of British haberdasheries. From there, I developed the copy and partnered with designers to create the look and feel while we cast, styled, and shot the collection for away.com and social channels.

HPE / 2017

BRIEF

Launch a brand new brand. 

RESPONSE

HPE is a technology brand. Typically, tech brands like to advertise all the ways they are saving the world: jet engines fire up, babies are carefully guarded by giant machines in NICU, bionic arms help people swim again. We threw all of that out in favor of something more human. The reality is that our consumer is an IT person - not just someone who helps you log into your timesheet system, but a person in a business who has to make real IT decisions. These decisions are big and scary sometimes and they can greatly impact the success of a company. The problem is that this person has to say "no" to basically everything. They are constrained by budgets or old hardware. Their boss just read about this thing in Wired and now he wants it. But they say no so often, they become robotic or bobblehead-like. So, we had some fun with that. 

To launch, we took over HPE's social pages and began sharing fun GIF moments that introduced the world to Brian and Michael.

ATHLETA / 2018

BRIEF

Launch Athleta's new Up for Anything Tight.

RESPONSE

Athleta named this tight the "Up for Anything" tight because they wanted women to feel like they could do anything in them. Our question: what do you mean by "anything?" We reached out to their network of brand ambassadors and shared our secret mission. They, in turn, helped us cast the perfect ladies for the challenge. The concept was simple: show up, try on the tights, do some stretching on camera, and set up for a group picture. Then came a full day of testing each woman's physical and mental boundaries. And I learned more about how reality TV works.  

TARGET / 2015

BRIEF

Connect Target and their guests through traditional and digital channels using the playful, fun social language they already speak. 

RESPONSE

In order to launch Target's newly reengineered denim line, we cast real dancers to celebrate the way you can move in denim every day of the week. Working with famed choreographer Frank Gatson, Jr, we danced with people like Ashley Everett [she's on the left in the "Single Ladies" video]; YouTube sensation, Taylor Hatala [who took a break from rehearsals with Janet Jackson to work with us]; and a variety of wonderfully talented and socially savvy dancers. We also had fun with beauty by celebrating different looks with bundles that were characterizations of the looks they could create. Then, we surrounded the Target guest with entertainment and inspiration that encouraged them to shop mobile - since that's where they hang out anyway.

We launched OOTD during the MTV VMA's and sent Ashley as our ambassador. We created a social takeover of Target properties and struck up a conversation with our Target guest by bringing entertainment and inspiration to the places she visits everyday. We also leveraged our talent and their followers to get the word out there.

AMERICAN EXPRESS / 2014

Brief

Create a more memorable experience for every single attendee of 2014 US Open.

Response

We developed MyOpen by American Express. It’s an RFID enabled wristband that allowed attendees to use human gestures to take away everything that American Express offered at the Open – except for payment. We’re not quite there yet.

We created 20,000 square feet of programed activities that included 360 degree GIF stations, an AR station and our own court. In addition, we created an OOH campaign along the subway and boardwalk entrance to complement the seven satellite stations throughout the grounds as well as a full :30 spot with Tina Fey. That was an amazing shoot.

TARGET / 2016

BRIEF

In a swimwear market where competitors like Victoria’s Secret models are splashing around in barely-there bikinis and Lane Bryant is telling everyone to love every curve, we were determined to find a way for Target to make a splash during swim season with its own unique voice.

RESPONSE

We performed some research that revealed over a third of women wouldn’t attend a pool party at Justin Timberlake’s house – just because they didn’t feel comfortable in their suits. We thought that was ridiculous. Why couldn’t we encourage normal women to feel fabulous AND secure during swim season? Enter #NOFOMO (No Fear of Missing Out). In 2016, this was Target’s swimwear rallying cry. We kicked it all off with the #NOFOMO Challenge and took to Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube – working with a combinations of models, influencers, and even Barbie - to celebrate swim with tips, fun videos, and inspiration - spreading the message that Target loves every body.

AMERICAN EXPRESS / 2013

Brief

Leverage our American Express Next Contenders in a way to drive awareness for Fresh Courts - a program where Amex refurbishes tennis courts across the country to give more kids more places to play.

Response

Working with tennis pro, Sloane Stephens, we shot and directed this piece of content in the American Express "Membership" campaign. An edit appeared on the Jumbo-Tron at the US Open, within the US Open American Express Fan Experience and was shared socially through Amex branded channels and talents' social channels.

AMERICAN EXPRESS / 2013

Brief

Turn the fashion world "inside out."

Response

We opened the doors, both physically and digitally, to the tents at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week by bringing our UNSTAGED platform to the runway in a way like never done before.

ADIDAS / 2010

Brief

Celebrate the notion that “every runner is different.”

Response

We developed an OOH campaign based upon real runners from the previous year’s marathon. “This is my time” became a rally cry for runners at one of the most challenging marathons in the world.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL / 2014

Brief

Sell more tickets to the Tribeca Film Festival.

Response

American Express Card Members get early access to tickets to the festival. So, we highlighted the best part about independent film: reactions/reviews presented in independent film laurel wreaths. We worked with actress, Joy Bryant, as the face of the campaign and gave New Yorkers a chance to see their own reactions projected on the sides of buildings around New York.

AMERICAN EXPRESS / 2013

Brief

Visualize the sport of tennis.

Response

Working with technology partners, we developed an auditory and visually stunning real time illustration of the sport and made it immediately shareable. The Art and Sound of Tennis debuted at the 2013 US Open.

HERTZ / 2009

Brief

Raise awareness for Hertz's new car sharing business through a full OOH campaign.

Response

Illustrate the many needs for car sharing in Manhattan with pithy, relatable headlines announcing the arrival of Connect by Hertz.