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Our goal was to create content that focused on food and beer pairings, and we coordinated a two-day shoot in Los Angeles with social media influencers and brand ambassadors to show how well Budweiser pairs with a wide range of food. The images were primarily used for in-store displays in retail locations across the country.
The New York office of Barrows Global reached out in need of a photographer and production support for a Budweiser campaign. The agency specializes in retail marketing and in-store display advertising, and their new “Taste of America” campaign focused on food and beer pairings. Our goal was to capture lifestyle and still life images of talent enjoying Budweiser while eating food in both a backyard BBQ scenario and within an urban cityscape environment.
After some creative calls and a few rounds of bidding, we landed on Gregory Miller as a photographer, and Los Angeles as a location to take advantage of warmer temperatures for a two-day shoot. Working closely with our local line producer Lindsay McGill, we quickly got to work lining up the crew and logistics.
The first order of business was location scouting. While a backyard with a pool was a priority for a BBQ scenario, the urban environment was undefined, and we turned to Meyler Locations and Image Locations to help us dial in some options. After a lengthy list of potential locations and a few in-person visits, we ultimately found a great residential property in the burbs and a very cool rooftop location downtown.
Since pre-production was on high speed, we quickly lined up our crew of assistants, PAs, and a digital tech, as well as a robust vanities team. This group included hair/makeup stylist Samantha Fryling, food/beverage stylist Hannah Canvasser, and prop stylist Carl Dove — all of which had assistants to lend a hand. Styling for this project was heavy-handed, especially relating to food and beverage, which were the stars of the show. While the residential property would provide a food prep/cooking area in the kitchen, the rooftop posed a challenge, as there weren’t any ovens or refrigerators to prepare the dishes. We were ready to outfit a truck as a mobile kitchen through Rick Enterprises, however, we were ultimately able to rent a location right below the roof to use as a staging area and bring in the necessary appliances.
At this point, we’d typically turn our attention to casting and talent, but the client provided the models, consisting of influencers and brand ambassadors. Some of the influencers included @toomuchfood, @dcfoodporn, @ehgg, and @eveats. These people would be responsible for their wardrobe and would also generate their own content throughout the production.
With crew booked, locations and talent secured, and a lengthy to-do list checked off, our first shoot day approached, and we prepared for liftoff.
“Everyone was expecting warm temps and sunny skies, and we were all so sad on our shoot day to find it cold, gray, and threatening rain! Thankfully, we’d prepared for that and lit each scene so that things looked warmer and sunnier than how things actually were. Each person on our team put in 100%, and the agency walked away with everything they asked for, even the “nice to have/if time allows” shots. Great work by the WM production team and our local crew in LA!” – Greg Miller
Plenty of moving pieces came together, and a lengthy shot list was tackled each day at both locations. In the end, it was a great success, and after a bit of post-production, the images ran on in-store displays to showcase how well Budweiser pairs with different cuisines.
Here are a few additional behind the scenes shots:
