We recently collaborated with Iris Worldwide, EVEN Hotels, and photographer Alberto Oviedo to produce a hospitality and lifestyle shoot in Brooklyn for EVEN’s “Keep Your Good Thing Going” campaign. The catch was we only had about a week and a half to pull it all together, but it’s in situations like this where we really shine. Our team worked closely with Alberto’s preferred crew to execute a seamless production over the course of a two-day shoot.
EVEN Hotels, a new hospitality brand from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) geared towards business travelers, partnered with Iris Worldwide to conceptualize and create a brand campaign introducing the new hotel to the public. Iris designed a campaign that utilized various mediums including stills, video, and 360° content for IHG. The agency approached us to manage the production aspects of a two-day lifestyle shoot and bring in a photographer to execute the stills portion of the campaign.
We began with a creative call from Iris briefing us on the concept for EVEN. The theme was “Keep Your Good Thing Going” and focused on highlighting the hotel’s amenities centered on health and wellness, even when traveling away from home and your normal routine. There were four sub-categories within the brand: “Eat Well”, “Rest Easy”, “Accomplish More”, and “Keep Active”, enough to generate a lengthy shot list. The stills content focused on hospitality and lifestyle imagery to highlight the wellness brand while featuring some of the main areas in the hotel such as the gym, restaurant/bar area, outdoor patio space, conference room, and a guest room featuring the provided workout gear for each guest.
We immediately called local Brooklyn photographer Alberto Oviedo and started collaborating on the creative and production elements needed to pull off a two-day lifestyle shoot in about a week. This was our first time working with Alberto on a shoot and after a few pre-production calls with him, we knew he was the perfect fit. From his creative input to his positive and contagious attitude, we couldn’t wait to get on set and begin shooting.
We started with pre-production as soon as possible due to the small window we had. We couldn’t have done it without the help and collaborative efforts of Alberto’s preferred crew, beginning with the delegation of tasks each team would manage. The first few actions involved hiring a local crew, sourcing equipment, ordering catering and craft, and working with the stylists on deck for both wardrobe and hair/makeup.
There was a lot we had to fit into a few days, but having the support of the crew and a great pool of local resources made the process less frantic. We headed to the hotel for a location scout prior to the tech scout, making sure we had our bases covered and didn’t need to source any last-minute production items for the shoot days. The location scouting also gave us a chance to meet the hotel staff in-person, and thank them for all the cooperation and accommodations they provided for the client and crew.
During our tech scout with Alberto and the crew, we finalized the shot list, scouted all six locations, and had a brief pre-pro meeting with the client and styling teams to finalize wardrobe selects and looks. It all came together quickly, but extremely well.
Alberto and his crew were amazing to work with and brought the creative to life – his style is unique, fresh, and bold, complementing the overall brand strategy.
Over the course of two days, we managed a bulky shot list covering one 360° image of a guest room and the four brand sub-categories, using three principal talent in six different locations within the hotel. Each talent had a variety of looks and scenarios which the styling team handled wonderfully, with the agency at hand to dial-in each scene. A large portion of the crew was local to the New York area, helping immensely with our short production window, and the hotel staff’s enthusiasm and cooperation were unwavering, accommodating the various parties and our tight schedule with the utmost professionalism. It took a village, or more accurately a hotel, to pull off this shoot.
Some behind the scenes photos:
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