John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood) directed this spot for AECOM, a company which designs, builds, finances and operates infrastructure assets for governments, businesses and organizations in more than 150 countries. In this piece, the focus is on the mass transit Metro Line in Los Angeles, introducing us to a young surfer from South L.A. who commutes over the Metro rail to the beach in Santa Monica. Conceived by L.A. ad agency Battery, the commercial is the first ever for AECOM, airing on CNBC, timed to coincide with AECOM CEO Michael Burke’s ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The ad underscores how the Metro connects people with each other and their communities throughout Greater L.A.
Asked what attracted him to the project, Singleton said, “Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by moving vehicle–especially trains. I like the idea of sitting some place and watching the world move around, and for that moment you’re in another world. It would be an opportunity to tell a story about a person in motion with emotion.”
CreditsClient AECOM Agency Battery Phil Khosid, chief creative officer/co-founder; Raymond Hwang, Scott Brown, VP/creative directors; Joanna Rhodes, executive producer; Kristine Ling, sr. producer; Mackenzie Busch, producer. Production @LArge Productions John Singleton, director; Beth Aranda, exec producer; Paul Alcus, line producer. Editorial Metro Pictures Editorial Paul Norling, editor; Heather Bartholomae, assistant editor; Mary Stasilli, exec producer. Color The Mill Adam Scott, colorist; Thatcher Petersen, exec producer; Diane Velara, producer. Music/SFX SOUTH Music & Sound Design, Santa Monica, Calif. Audio Formosa and Margarita Mix Hollywood John Bolen, mix engineer (Formosa); Lauren Cascio, exec producer (Formosa); Michael Greenberg, mix engineer (Margarita Mix); Patrick Knight, exec producer (Margarita Mix). Footage Port Authority New York and New Jersey; NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA; Footage Courtesy of The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
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