2020 provided its fair share of challenges. Because of COVID-19 and traditional forms of entertainment being unavailable, many Americans turned to outdoor recreation. This lead to a massive influx of new enthusiasts to hunting and fishing. The result was an opportunity to tell stories about products, people and more that thrive outside. Here are some placements from 2020.
Outdoor Life x GoPro
In late 2019, Outdoor Life struck up a partnership with GoPro, to capture an adventure fishing film to support GoPro’s fishing vertical and to give Outdoor Life a killer story. The original plan was to head to the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota to catch musky and smallmouth bass, with the wilderness and stunning fall colors around us. Permitting challenges and unusually high rains put a damper on that.
With time running out and winter approaching, we decided to head to Hayward, Wisconsin. Where monster musky roam and try our hand at landing a big fish. Writer Ben Romans, a seasoned fly fisherman was to be the subject. Despite years of fly fishing, Ben had never caught a musky. The timing and the fact that Ben had never fished in Wisconsin made it a risky proposition. But we headed out and the result was exactly what we set out to do - create a killer story and catch a giant fish.
Mission accomplished.
Scroll below to see a few photos that did not make the cut for the story.
Role: Writer / Producer / Photographer
Partner: Vrtu Media
Special Thanks: Jason Stewart / Brad Bohen
Recipient David Lowrie seeing his boat for the first time.
One-Boat Live at ICAST 2019
With competitive pressure building in the trolling motor space, Minn Kota needed a bold idea to steal the thunder away from its rivals. ICAST is one of the largest fishing industry trade shows in the US and there was no doubt that it was the perfect opportunity for other brands to challenge Minn Kota. The decision was made to upstage everyone by overhauling a boat live, during the trade show, for a deserving Army veteran and B.A.S.S. youth fishing director. Leveraging the star power of Minn Kota’s pros along with strategic partnerships with key brands, the stage was set. When the boat was unveiled in front of him there was hardly a dry eye in the room. And while the rigging aspect was great, the real test was sending out the completely overhauled boat and the recipient out to fish with two pros the next day on a local lake.
The program was the talk of the show and silenced the competition.
Role: Writer / Producer / Partner Outreach
Unbound short film highlighting disabled charter captain Mick Nealey.
Mercury Marine Bold Stories
Mercury Marine placed a high priority on long-format storytelling in 2019. Seeking out stories that exemplified the brand’s Go Boldly mantra was the mission. These two short films captured the stories of personalities who are defined by their unconventional and extraordinary actions and deeds on and off the water. While each film was created by Mercury, subtle branding and product inclusion were maintained, allowing the stories and personalities to be the focal point.
Role: Writer / Producer / Co-director
Partner: Taylor McGohan - Director of Photography and Editor
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
Perspective: shares the accounts of Drew Benton and Travis Watkins who endured Hurricane Michael in Panama City, Fl.
Role: Writer / Producer / Co-director
Partners: Stephen Spurlock - Director / Ryan Bingham - Director of Photography / Jason Puls - AC
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
Vaughn Gittin Jr being interviewed.
Team Penske x MoneyLion x Ford Performance Build Program
Fintech startup MoneyLion partnered with Team Penske’s NASCAR efforts in 2019 to gain awareness in the key market of middle America. It knew that a logo on the side of a car, albeit a very successful one, was not enough to motivate fans and potential consumers to download its banking app. A more compelling reason was needed and to generate love among hardcore NASCAR fans, who are accustomed to sponsors coming and going on a yearly basis.
Leveraging Team Penske partner Ford Performance, MoneyLion acquired three stock Ford Mustang GTs then enlisted the help of three automotive personalities and partnered them with MoneyLion’s contracted drivers, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric. Throughout the course of the season, each car build was documented and then unveiled at key NASCAR rounds as part of MoneyLion’s experiential footprint. Fans also had the chance to enter to win the vehicles, generating leads and MoneyLion app downloads in the process.
Role: Ideation / Writer / Producer / Co-director / Distribution Strategy / Influencer Contracting / Media Relations
Partner: Malka Media
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
Website entry page.
Long-form episode featuring Joey Logano and Vaughn Gittin Jr.
Second car build by Tucci Hot Rods in Syracuse, NY.
NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney behind the wheel of Larry Chen’s Mustang during the SEMA Show.
Program coverage on NASCAR.com
Larry Chen and Ryan Blaney build coverage on Autoblog.
All three Mustang GTs were given away at the NASCAR season finale at Homestead, FL.
Miscellaneous Partnerships
Below is a listing of various partnerships created for various automotive clients. These were structured in a variety of compensation formats, from product trades to fee-structured projects.
Role: Ideation / Contracting / Management / Content Review
Agency: Gunpowder Inc. / Cramer-Krasselt
Larry Chen x OPTIMA Batteries
Ultra 4 Racer Jason Blanton x Hoonigans
Jeff Wright of Church of Choppers x Gumout
Costa Sunglasses x Casey Ashley
Costa Del Mar Sunglasses wanted to celebrate its 2015 Bassmaster Classic winner, Casey Ashley ahead of the 2018 Classic. The tournament returned to Lake Hartwell, where he was victorious in 2015. The film we created was shot in one day and edited in a week and half to meet a tight deadline. The film debuted just ahead of the tournament across Costa's social channels.
Role: Ideation / Writer / Producer / Co-director / Distribution Strategy
Partner: Taylor McGohan - Director of Photography and Editor
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
Minn Kota x Kevin Van Dam Announcement
Kevin Van Dam is considered one of the greatest bass anglers of all time. After running a competitor's trolling motor, he decided to switch brands. To announce the news to the bass fishing community a Sportscenter-themed short film was concepted and executed during a six-hour shoot. The video was incorporated into the brand's press release as well.
Role: Ideation / Writer / Producer / Co-Director / Distribution Strategy
Partner: Rockhouse Motion - Colin MacMillan, Director of Photography and Editor
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
OPTIMA Batteries x Target 550 Film London Motor Film Festival Selection
This film was leveraged for OPTIMA Batteries' ongoing content program. Target 550 is perhaps one of the most sophisticated land speed racers on the salt. Its creator Marlow Treit has obsessed over land speed racing records his whole life. This film shares a glimpse into his team's journey to become the fastest-wheel driven car on earth.
Target 550 debuted at the OPTIMA Film Festival in 2016 to an audience of more than 500 people during the SEMA Show and was selected as a London Motor Film Festival finalist in 2017.
Role: Ideation / Contracting / Content Review
Partner: Phlewid Films
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
OPTIMA Batteries Roku & Amazon Fire Channel
OPTIMA Batteries determined that hosting its video content along with television shows from its racing series, OPTIMA's Search for the Ultimate Street Car, would provide fans with a unique platform to consume OPTIMA's videos. In order to build a platform optimized for viewing longer format content, we created an Amazon Fire and Roku channels.
Role: Vendor selection / Content review / Asset organization / Ongoing channel management
Partner: Lumafox Creative / Lightcast
OPTIMA Batteries x The Ultimate Japan Drifting Trip
OPTIMA Batteries wanted to become a content production leader. To launch the program we partnered with 'Officer' Dan Brockett, who became internet famous for his role as a police officer in the Motorcycle vs. Car Drift Battle series. Dan flew overseas and purchased a drift car sight unseen to compete at Nikko Circuit. The video quickly became one of the top performing films on OPTIMA's YouTube and earned coverage on Jalopnik as well.
Role: Ideation / Content Review / Distribution Strategy
Partners: JWood Media and Dan Brockett
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
OPTIMA Batteries x Edwin Evers
As part of its 2017 film production initiative OPTIMA Batteries wanted to leverage its sponsorship of professional bass fisherman, Edwin Evers. In 2016, he won the most prestigious tournament in fishing, the Bassmaster Classic. To share the story of that victory we captured a short film with Edwin in his hometown.
Role: Ideation / Writer / Producer / Co-director / Distribution Strategy
Partner: Quinn Hester, Director of Photography and Editor
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
OPTIMA Batteries x Ryan Tuerck Partnership
In 2016, with the help of Donut Media we orchestrated a hybrid sponsorship between OPTIMA Batteries and Ryan Tuerck. As part of the agreement, OPTIMA received branding on Ryan's 2016 Formula D competition car, supplied product for his groundbreaking GT4586 build and leveraged Ryan in its 2016/2017 Film Festival program.
Role: Ideation / Contracting / Management / Execution / Content Review
Partner: Donut Media
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
Royal Enfield x Mama Tried Show x Analog Motorcycles
Royal Enfield opened its North American headquarters in the fall of 2016 right in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Royal Enfield wanted to grab attention of the industry, so we enlisted the help of Tony Prust of Analog Motorcycles to build a unique scrambler to be unveiled ahead of the Mama Tried Show, one of the hottest motorcycle shows in the Midwest. As part of the build, we collaborated with Dainese to provide Analog gear for the event.
The resulting build landed on several major outlets such BikeExif and PipeBurn, drawing attention not just to the build, but also to Royal Enfield's renewed presence in North America.
Role: Ideation / Contracting / Content Review / PR Outreach
Agency: Gunpowder Inc.
Gumout x Jason Fenske
Gumout wanted to convey its "science first" messaging that separated them from other traditional performance chemical brands outside of its owned channels. To do this, we leveraged YouTube influencer Engineering Explained - Jason Fenske and tied his technical approach to Gumout's motorsports program. These videos included NHRA top fuel pilot Leah Pritchett and Formula Drift competitor Vaughn Gittin Jr. Jason attended two events and provided a detailed breakdown on the anatomy of their respective vehicles. The two combined videos were viewed more than 700k times.
Role: Ideation / Contracting / Influencer Management / Review
Partner: Engineering Explained - Jason Fenske
Agency: Cramer-Krasselt
Can-Am Spyder x Owners Event
In 2013, I was tasked with documenting the 2013 Can-Am Spyder Owners Event in Maggie, California. This was set to be one of the largest owners events in the brand's short history and what better place than gorgeous North Carolina. During the week myself and director of photography Quinn Hester followed various groups throughout the event's activities which included rides, show & shine contests and cookouts. We captured not only the fantastic riding available, but also the capability of the Spyder and the diverse group of owners who rode them.
Role: Writer / Co-Director / Distribution Strategy
Partner: Quinn Hester, Director of Photography and Editor
Agency: Cramer-Krasselt
Can-Am Off-Road x Mud Nationals
Mud Nationals is one of the largest ATV and SxS gatherings in the US. The all-new Can-Am Maverick, which was Can-Am's first pure performance SxS had just been launched. In order to capitalize on the event and the Maverick, we scripted a three-part mini-series that not only highlighted the Maverick, but the builders and culture of the Southeast off-road community. Working closely with our client, I identified key influencers that would serve as our talent for each video. S3 Powersports was one of the first shops to customize a Maverick and the response was overwhelming. Dustin Jones with S3 Powersports was the mastermind behind the build and has since gone on to become a major ambassador for Can-Am brand. The video highlighting S3's Maverick build is still one of the most viewed videos (266K) on Can-Am's YouTube channel.
Role: Writer / Producer / Talent Scout / Distribution Strategy
Partner: Quinn Hester, Director of Photography and Editor
Agency: Cramer-Krasselt