Pictures from my trip home for my baby’s birthday.

Black Apple Spring/Summer 2011 Featuring Machine Gun Kelly from LightUp Film on Vimeo.

LightUp recently partnered with Black Apple and up and coming Cleveland based rapper Machine Gun Kelly to create a promotional music video for the brand’s latest season. Look out for this online and off.

Jesse Boykins III | Prototype 3010, a short film from LightUp Film on Vimeo.

A short film by Mr. Jesse Boykins III, don’t forget the III

Also find more of this at LightUp Film’s facebook page

Shot Minutes from my old place
#Wahi

Manhattan Neighborhood Network Flow

Simultaneously a new Uptown anthem and a new Kappa anthem, so I felt this on two different levels. It’s an extraordinary thing when a brand becomes such a strong part of someone’s sense of cultural identity.

Love this video, love this beat…can I get on??
Directed by Kareem Blair

INFLUENCERS TRAILER from R+I creative on Vimeo.

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends/ideas become contagious today in music and fashion.
Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today’s pop culture.

Featuring the Big Homie

Even if converse is one of our competitors you couldn’t get me to pretend that they didn’t knock this out of the park. I think this is a really great example of a brand understanding and owning the concept of Authenticity. In a lifestyle space it’s something that everyone is searching for but it’s such a delicate virtue that the search for authenticity can often leave a brand looking foolish and out of touch. (See: Talking Medallions saying BOOM!)
By focusing on local heroes and acknowledging an unwritten history of New York Basketball, Converse creates an instant affinity for their brand in the viewers that know the names, faces and stories presented here while simultaneously guiding the uninitiated to delve deeper into the stories presented here, in effect they make themselves a curator of Authenticity. There are so many things going on here that I love:

• Jim Jones – To the mainstream, a one-hit wonder for the “BALLIN!” record. To New York he’s become something of a modern pillar of the New York Hip-Hop; founding member of the Diplomats, consistent radio/mixtape presence and a consistent source of street stories due to his outspoken and left-of-centre persona. Most brands would jump out the window before shooting a commercial at the Rucker with a guy who was once famously trounced in a brawl there during a Summer League game. Converse embraced everything about Jimmy including his massive ego and made him the centrepiece for the spot.
• The Background Players – Carlos Arroyo entered the NBA undrafted in 2001, has never won a championship or played in an Allstar game. However, as only the fifth Puerto Rican player to play in the NBA, he’s one of the most recognizable and loved players in basketball, especially in a city like New York. Players like Arroyo might not have incredible careers but they will always be remembered for key moments, the recollection of which becomes the stuff of legend. Arroyo holding the Puerto Rico on his team jersey towards the camera after leading the Puerto Rican national team to victory over the United States in the 2004 Olympic Tournament has already been immortalised in murals from San Juan to Harlem, representing an affection and identification that transcends medals and trophies.
  Similarly, Adrian “A-Butta” Walton’s recognition lives from moment to moment. To real NY Basketball heads, he’s most well-known for scoring 32 points on Vince Carter in a losing effort, in the internet sphere he’s known for engaging in a trickshot dual with an Energy drink (sidenote: I produced that piece) and to the hipster crowd he’s becoming well known for his performances in Converse’s Band of Ballers tournaments. Another face that could be lost to the mainstream, but is instantly recognized by the “In the Know” viewer who then recognizes Converse’s Authenticity.
  Take the same logic and apply it to the placement of Rune Glifberg, Kenny Anderson, “Black” Jack Ryan, Sammy Baca, and God Shammgod.
• Dr. J – More than his presence, it’s his presentation. Another brand might have gone out their way to tell the view “Hey, It’s Dr. J!” Where they assume you have no idea who he is, Converse gives him a big reveal that would probably make you feel like an idiot if you didn’t know who he was. Having to ask “who is that?” puts you outside the circle. Converse is challenging you to enter into that world by removing all of the idiot cues from the piece and I think a lot of companies in our category could learn from that. It’s a delicate dance, recognizing it without forcing it, acknowledging it without chasing it, finding it without announcing it.
• The Little Things – There’s an incredible amount of symbolism in the piece, which I supposed should be attributed to Director Antonie Fuqua of Training Day fame. The twitterverse is currently abuzz (atweet?) about the piece’s allusion to Nazi War Rallies. Might not be the type of controversy you want to attract as a mainstream brand, but all it does is create more conversations about the campaign and draw eyes to piece. Aside from that you have a brief shot of a pair of original Star Players hanging from a telephone wire, a look at the Band of Ballers Trophy and The Impact Repertory Theatre dancers, all of which give the piece layers that show a level of thought, nuance and (cue buzzword) Authenticity, that most marketing images in our category completely miss.

The cold I got in New York is Killing Me….