Energy provider Con Edison has operated in New York City since the 1880’s, when the shift to electricity illuminated the skyline as we know it. Once again on the forefront of change, they sought to showcase the many ways in which their customers engage with renewable energy. Working with photographer Emily Andrews, we produced a campaign that would highlight these energy-saving New Yorkers in each of the city’s five boroughs.
Photographer Emily Andrews was contacted by Code & Theory, and while she hadn’t previously worked with the agency, they loved her portfolio and were interested in collaborating. Code & Theory was looking to produce a multi-day shoot for their client, Con Edison, and felt Emily’s versatility would complement the complexity of the project, as the photographer needed to be a specialist in interiors, architecture, lifestyle, landscape photography, and aerials to boot. Emily contacted me to help out with the estimate creation and follow through with the creative call and production.
For their campaign, Con Edison was interested in creating 20+ unique images that depicted their customers utilizing the company’s renewable services within each of New York City’s five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island). The imagery would also contain scenic landscapes of the city’s landmarks and the client’s infrastructures, such as electric car charging stations and solar panel fields. They planned to use the images in OOH (Out of Home), web, and social media placements in and around New York City.
Once Emily was awarded the project, we set off to find the locations and refine the shot list with the agency creative team. The initial tech-scout days consisted of a small but effective team: Emily, her 1st Assistant, me (as producer), Andrew Souders (working as our production assistant), our locations manager, and the agency executive producer, as well as agency creative director. Our goal was to capture images over the course of a 5-day shoot, one day for each of the five New York City boroughs as well as their solar farm in Westchester County, NY.
After our location and tech scouts, Emily, the creative team, and I all worked together to refine the shot list for both time-of-day needs, as well as the duration to photograph each scene. We also reviewed and adjusted the needed talent per scene, and I worked to build a shoot schedule that accommodated all the details. Once we had a schedule locked, we confirmed the plan with all talent and locations. With the “who,” “when,” and “where” set, we were able to review props and wardrobe with the styling teams and get client approval on everything requested — from a NYC-style wardrobe to specific vehicle colors.
Emily and I put together a crew consisting of her camera support team, digital tech, wardrobe stylist, hair/make-up stylist, props stylist, production support, and nearly everyone brought an assistant to aid in their craft. We worked with Wulf Casting on the search for our 11 New York City models who would bring authenticity and diversity to each borough.
The Crew
1st Assistant: Nick Parisse
2nd Assistant: Fernando Suoto
DigiTechs: Joseph Borduin & David Burns
Line Producer: Cassandra Tannenbaum
Production Assistant: Andrew Souders
Production Assistant: Mitchell Cheng
Drone Operator: Rob McEnany
Location Management: Michele Howell
Wardrobe Stylist: Stephanie Tricola
Hair/Make-Up Stylist: George Kyriakos
Prop Stylist: Elaina Sullivan
Covid Safety: Murielle Bourdette Menaut
With crew booked, locations and talent secured, and a lengthy to-do list checked off, our first shoot day approached and we prepared for success. We prepped our shoot well, with a great team of creatives who all knew their jobs and needs perfectly, and the next five days of photography and production went smoothly.
New York City is physically a tricky place to plan a production, especially with a crew this large. Yet with the help of our locations team, we were able to secure parking for our vehicles including motorhome, external restroom trailer, grip and props trucks, and personal cars. Each day we would secure a basecamp and utilize two shuttle mini-buses to transport people and equipment to and from each set.
When possible we would limit the number of needed personnel on set, and keep our line producer, second assistants, and production assistants at basecamp to prep for the next. Maintaining Covid safety protocols, we needed two 21-passenger buses to space out folks amongst the seats. We staggered talent arrival and had outdoor tenting, tables, chairs, and multiple propane heaters to keep folks out of the motorhome for staging and taking meals.
As with any large production, I conducted the many moving pieces so they could work in harmony with each other, and each day we were able to collaborate to tackle our lengthy shot list. In the end, the project was a great success, and after a bit of post-production, the work was out in the world to highlight Con Edison’s services and shed light on an innovative and eco-friendly future.
Here are a few additional images of us behind the scenes:
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