Entertainment Lions For Music > Branded Content for Music
RED BULL RECORDS, Los Angeles / RED BULL RECORDS / 2024
Awards:
Overview
Credits
Why is this work relevant for Music Entertainment?
This body of work showcases how a piece of music can inspire someone to want to create a visual accompaniment purely out of passion and a connection to the song. James Arthurs, director/cinematographer, heard the song from Chris LaRocca, and felt such a deep connection to it that he pulled together not just a treatment, but a storyboard, full crew, full budget, and detailed shot list before he even made contact with management or the label. What came of it was an exceptional short film that initially had no budget.
Please provide any cultural context that would help the Jury understand any cultural, national or regional nuances applicable to this work.
The short film was created for the artist to support their debut album with unique content outside of what we would normally make around a music release.It gave an opportunity to pivot the release around a film screening premiere in the artist's hometown of Toronto, and the event enabled us to premiere the short film, have the artist play live at the event and exhibit photography taken whilst filming the short film. It was attended by creatives in the music and film space that live in Toronto. Separately, the entire crew were all Canadian.
Background
This short film was part of Chris LaRocca's campaign for his album release. Initially, the song 'linger' was not a single, but James Arthurs heard it and felt so moved by it that he pulled together a treatment, budget, shotlist, etc and sent it to Chris's manager unprompted. Once the label, Red Bull Records, received the treatment, they saw how powerful the message of the video is, and how passionate James and his team were about this, that we had to move forward with it. What started as a song on a single, turned into a beautiful short film and a packed theatre for an in-person premiere.
Describe the strategy & insight
• Audience insights
Top Locations
US (53%)
Canada (19%)
Korea (1%)
Bangladesh (1%)
India (0.3%)
Age
25-34: 50%
35-44: 31%
Male: 60% / Female: 40%
• Community building and management approach
Posts across artist and director social media pages
Posts across Short film IG Pages
Serviced video to dedicated Short Films email list
Describe the creative idea
The initial concept was inspired by the life of musician Richard Crandell, as well as the cinematographer/director James Arthurs' life, and Chris LaRocca’s life. The hope was never to try and depict an explicit physical condition, but instead to allow the tremors serve as a metaphor of loss, and the subsequent feeling a person would experience should they lose access to their life’s passion.
The perception of Red Bull Records' approach/ethos, is less to impose our brand onto an artist, but rather to align ourselves with artists we believe in, and to then provide resources to further amplify that individuals message, whatever that might be — that is our brand. This was a case of exactly that, this film was the most personal piece of work Chris LaRocca has released to date, and it was made possible by Red Bull Records.
Describe the craft & execution
The project began with storyboards, frame accurate to what was shot during production. From there, a detailed treatment was built and circulated, and production developed quite quickly. It was a labour of love from every department, and a vulnerable project for all departments, which is what gave the production the wind and wings it needed. Timeline was rather quick, dates were firmed up late August 2023, we were in production September 2023. The scale was small, our total budget was ~11K USD, and being shot on film, the working budget was closer to $4K USD. Again, it was a very vulnerable project, from the artists involved, all the way up to label and management, as this specific song was not initially set to receive any promotional budget whatsoever.
Describe the results
• Reach – 13K Views
• Engagement – 185K Watch Time Hours / 145 Likes / 38 Comments
• Impact – N/A
• Quality of experience and interaction – Positive Comments on YouTube and Instagram
• Brand perception – N/A
• Change in behaviour – N/A
• Achievement against objectives – N/A
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