Mercedes-Benz & Sony’s Cinderella
Dressed For A Dream

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Bringing a fresh and innovative perspective to fashion shows, just as Sony brings to Cinderella and Mercedes-Benz to luxury vehicles, we created an unexpected live-streamed experience highlighting the incredible design of the costumes from Cinderella and the Mercedes-Benz.

Our magical film features real people, or as we call them Everyday Ellas, and invites them to attend Cinderella’s Ball (Fashion Show). Capturing their journey from being selected off the street, to the excitement of getting glammed up, and watch as they take a Benz to The Ball to then walk the red carpet (runway) at this magical, once in a lifetime experience.

Featuring Billy Porter, Jamie Chung, and the original costumes of Sony’s Cinderella.

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Emery Coopersmith: Creative Director
Straith Schrader: Creative Director
Sam Mark: Creative Producer
Christine Yuen: Film Director
Eric Zhou: Environmental Design
Maria Aguiar: Environmental Design & Art Direction
Christina Evans: Producer
Mark Infante: Producer
Rebecca Walsh: Executive Producer
LaChelle Watson: Producer
XR Design: Choreografx
Projection Design: Joshua Davis
Venue: Zero Space

Photos by Andrew Day Studio

24 HOURS IN L.A.

CREATIVE LEAD

20K+ Attendees
6.7MM+ Campaign Impressions
3.4K+ Organic Social Clicks

Bringing Smashbox back to their roots and highlighting their origin story of being founded in a photo studio in L.A., Refinery29 brought to life 24 Hours in L.A., a 29Rooms L.A. interactive photo-studio.. The full scene was thoughtfully designed with visual cues that brought guests onto the set of a photo shoot. Reflective surfaces in Smashbox red and a ring of lights amped up the glam to grab attention and draw guests in. Guests could stand inside the circular build inspired by a camera lens to take an insta-worthy photo while a timelapse video of L.A.’s iconic skyline and palm trees played in the background.

Pre-photoshoot, guests could visit the touch up station to get photo ready all while learning about Smashbox’s Photo Finish primer. This 29Rooms activation was such a hit Smashbox scooped it up to bring to future events.

Key Collaborators:
Creative Collaborator- Oliva-Jené Fagon
Experiential Designer: Maria Aguiar
Graphic Designer: Nicole Abdelnour

Southwest Airlines
Hawaii Heart Beats

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

- Creative Strategy & Direction
- Experiential Design Direction
- Concert Experience
- Video Creative Direction

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Maria Aguiar: Experiential Design
Eli Cane: Executive Producer
Jara Wallace: Producer
Nicole Ransom: Account Manager Lead
Audrey Stiffle: Account Manager
Jojo Pennebaker: Video Director
Steve Beal: Editor
Howie Rubin: EVP, Head of Agency
Jamie Harju Hallquist: VP, Head of Brand Solutions
Waikapu Collective: Floral Design
Arch Hawaii: Experiential Fabrication

With First Tube, I worked closely with Southwest Airlines to creative their Hawaii Heart Beats campaign and experience.

In collaboration with the Southwest Airlines brand team and a variety of local vendors in Hawaii, our team created a free concert experience with a local giveback component ingrained into the overall campaign.

The campaign was designed to highlight Southwest Airlines' focus on serving and connecting communities, increase awareness of their interisland flights, and encourage Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® sign-ups.

Our concert experience brought multi-platinum Country Star Russell Dickerson and local artist Lily Meola to Maui, with all tickets given away as part of a sweepstakes for Hawaii residents. Additionally, 50 lucky winners received travel and accommodations on Maui to join us at the concert from neighboring islands.

While on Maui, we created a unique experience for the Boys & Girls Club of Maui where Southwest Airlines hosted a pizza party with acoustic performances by our artists, providing food kits to the children and a cash donation to help the Boys & Girls Club of Maui continue doing what they do best - helping children in need.

The campaign culminated in branded content that shared more about the campaign and concert experience, all captured and produced by our content team.

You can watch Russell Dickerson’s performance on Southwest Airlines YouTube now: https://lnkd.in/eVyPnhcg or on Southwest's In Flight Entertainment starting in September.

For a full overview of the experience and to watch the Hawaii Heart Beats mini documentary, visit: https://lnkd.in/eKc7uqWy

Mahalo to Southwest Airlines and all of our partners for making this an incredibly memorable campaign!

BODYARMOR FLASH I.V.
Rehydrate in a Flash

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

- Creative Strategy
-Creative Direction
-Video Concept & Direction
-Social Concepts & Direction
-POS, OOH, Photoshoot Direction

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Manny Fernandez: Executive Producer
Simon Brand: Video Director
Pedro Luque Briozzo: Cinematographer
Nicole Ransom: Account Manager
Roberto Alcazar: Executive Creative Director
Steve Beal: Editor

Crocs X TwitchCon

COME AS YOU ARE

At TwitchCon Paris, Crocs brought creativity to the Twitch Community, inviting them to celebrate their unique selves through an immersive and interactive installation featuring art installation filled with DIY Jibbitz making, a custom “What’s your Crocs-onality?” quiz, and giveaways with Crocs Products like shoes, socks, & Jibbitz.

The installation was designed in collaboration with Twitch Streamer MCroft07, who shared her original illustrations to the space. Crocs also invited two streamers to do IRL Live Streams from TwitchCon, featuring visual/makeup/body paint artist, Mel (@MCroft07) and chocolatier, Paul Garderes (@chocolatier_paulgarderes).

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

- Creative Strategy & Direction
- Experiential Design Direction

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Maria Aguiar: Experiential Design
Karen Chang: Producer
Julian Lee: Producer

THE FOUNTAIN

CREATIVE LEAD

20K+ Attendees
12.5MM+ Campaign Impressions
45k+ Organic Social Clicks

Refinery29 partnered with MUGLER to create a futuristic-inspired installation at 29Rooms LA, both displacing and transportive, that brought guests to an otherworldly sustainable landscape.

Drawing heavily on the MUGLER brand ethos, creative vision, and love for unconventional fantasy, guests encountered a mysterious backstory to draw them into the world of Responsible Luxury through watching MUGLER’s Fountain Film. Guests then entered our ‘galaxy’, inspired by MUGLER’s sustainability impact and the ritual of refilling their reusable perfume bottles at The Fountain, where they were fully immersed in a sensory experience. This dramatic and breathtaking activation featured theatrical light installations, curated soundscapes, interactive glass droplets, and olfactory clouds, all in the name of MUGLER to drive awareness and engagement on the brands key fragrances: ANGEL and ALIEN.

Key Collaborators:
Creative Collaborator: Olivia-Jené Fagon
Experiential Designers - Michael Pigozzi + Eric Zhou
Graphic Designer- Paula Volchok

MUGLER x Refinery29

TwitchCon

- TwitchCon Amsterdam 2022
- TwitchCon San Diego 2022
- TwitchCon Paris 2023
- TwitchCon Vegas 2023

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

- Creative Strategy & Direction
- Art Direction

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Christopher Babers: Producer
Brian Jacks: Producer
Elle Williams: Senior Creative Strategist

PARAMOUNT+ x REFINERY29
WHY WOMEN KILL SEASON 2 DRIVE IN PREMIERE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

With traditional in-theater screening events on pause, Paramount+ came to Refinery29 to creative a drive-in experience for the season 2 premiere of Why Women Kill. Bringing our attendees into the world of the suspenseful show, we crafted a killer 1949 garden party themed event filled with plot-inspired touch points, from the “Liquid Death” water to the “Six Feet Under Apart” social distance markers.

Our event featured a lenticular step and repeat, showcasing the duality of the show’s characters and hitting the message that things aren’t always what they seem. Key cast members from the show and creator, Marc Cherry, attended the event and gave press interviews, while guests participated in a 1940’s costume contest and picked up concessions before the screening began.

Creating safe photo moments that broadcast the show on social, we designed an interactive face filter to for attendees to show off their sinister side. Star of the show, Allison Tolman took to Instagram with her love of the filter, in an IG story recap of the event.

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Maria Aguiar- Environmental Design
Paula Volchok- Graphic Design
Steve Doss- Event Producer
Bagavagabonds- External production company
Monica Herman- Design Director
Becky Dillion- Producer

PERIOD POWER!

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

20K+ Attendees
5.5MM+ Campaign Impressions
1.9K+ Organic Social Clicks

Rather than thinking about a trip to the bathroom as a break from the fun and excitement of 29Rooms, Seventh Generation and Refinery29 transformed the bathroom into a talked-about and photographed destination in its own right.

Every touchpoint across our guests’ trip to the bathroom was elevated to create a memorable and empowering experience. Each bathroom stall offered a different interaction for guests to engage, learn, and tell their period story. With Seventh Generation’s partner PERIOD: The Menstrual Movement, the bathroom takeover was filled with artistically designed facts, statistics, and stories to deepen guests’ knowledge around period inequality. From mirror selfies to powerful statements, the bathroom offered an array of photo moments to share on social. Guests left the bathroom with Seventh Generation samples in hand, feeling empowered in how they can make a difference towards fighting period inequality and breaking the stigma against menstruation.

Key Collaborators:
Experiential Designer- Maria Aguiar
Graphic Designer- Paula Volchok

Seventh Generation X Period X Refinery29

GONNA NEED MILK x TwitchCon San Diego

MilkPep, the organization who created ‘Got Milk?’ was ready for a rebrand, this time wanting to appeal to gamers as the original energy drink that would enhance their game performance. They tasked Twitch to create an interactive and gamified milk sampling experience at TwitchCon San Diego.

We created an epic gaming tournament set in the heart of the TwitchCon Expo Floor, where thousands of attendees competed to be named The Fastest Hands at TwitchCon through an original game. Attendees fueled up with some chocolate milk and then put their skills to the test. Players kept coming back all weekend to try and up their score on the jumbotron leaderboard, and ultimately win a brand new PS5 and a custom chocolate milk trophy by Twitch Artist @Cnotbusch.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
- Creative Strategy
- Art Direction

Key Collaborators:
Producer: Christopher Babers
Gonna Need Milk Agency: Gale
Experiential Design & Fabrication: Cognition

Co-Creator, Director, & Producer

9 years of sold out performances in Boston, NYC, & beyond. Headlined venues such as House of Yes, Le Poisson Rouge, & OBERON.
Artist in Residence at the American Repertory Theater for 3 years.

“Its like Cirque du Soleil meets a rave but a better description would be totally unbelievable. This was the COOLEST blend of theatre, all types of music, dance, opera and creation of an atmosphere in a space that I have ever seen.” -Dig Boston

AcousticaElectronica is a mind-blowing experience that blends elements of electronic and classical music, dance, circus arts, and immersive theatre with the infectious energy of the contemporary nightclub. Leaders in these industries have teamed up to create an extraordinary, next-generation experience. This ultimate dance party becomes an immersive event for the audience. Dancers, symphonies, aerialists, operas, and live musicians all happen around every inch of the space to keep the audience guessing at every turn.

POP INTO YOUR WORLD

CREATIVE STRATEGIST

Key Collaborators:
Jackie Requeima, Designer
Mark Rahkmanov, Designer
Michael Pigozzi, Designer
Paula Volchok, Graphics
Dani Skollar, Creative Strategy
Olivia Fagon, R29 Creative Director
Monica Herman, R29 Design Director

Van der Pop X Refinery29 at 29Rooms Toronto, 2019

L.A. POOL PARTY

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

20K+ Attendees
129MM+ Campaign Impressions
18.5MM+ Social Impressions

Showtime’s The L Word was a groundbreaking series that helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ stories on television in 2004. When Showtime announced they would be returning with The L Word: Generation Q, a brand new series with even more fun and positively sexy drama, Refinery29 was tasked with getting original fans excited and drawing new audience members in using the 29Rooms experience.

Refinery29 created L.A. Pool Party, a creative canvas activation to transport guests outside of 29Rooms NY and into the colorful world of Los Angeles. The scene was set with palm trees that featured lips as leaves, a sensual mural backdrop seen in the show, and “Q” shaped pool designed to represent queer life and the new series title. The activation’s infectious energy, poolside jams, and bold L.A. Summer vibes invited guests to dive in, snap a photo, and learn about the brand new series on Showtime. L.A. Pool Party successfully captured audiences attention, generated awareness, and inclusively cultivated community for all.

Experiential Design Lead - Maria Aguiar

Graphic Designer- Nicole Abdelnour

Showtime x Refinery29

Twitch X Invisalign

Custom Animated Commercial: Drama Free

Invisalign wanted to partner with Twitch to share how the alternative to traditional braces can help people level up their lives and be “Drama Free”.

Twitch created a custom animated commercial that perfectly fit the bill, engaging viewers with a spot that felt completely organic to the gaming community. Twitch also hosted sponsored gaming streams with Gaming Streamers who use Invisalign to corroborate the message.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

- Commercial Creative Concept
- Creative Direction

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Christopher Babers: Producer

CBS FIRE COUNTRY WATCH PARTIES

After Season 1, CBS’s hit show Fire Country saw momentum stall due to the writer’s strike. CBS needed to keep fans engaged, grow the audience, and maintain excitement for the delayed Season 2 and a pause in Hollywood.

First Tube tapped into the show’s country music roots and the genre’s deep fandom, creating live watch parties featuring top episodes from Season 1 paired with live performances from country artists featured on the show.

The watch parties streamed live across CBS, Fire Country, and artist channels, with fans tuning in and engaging in chat.

To reach audiences, First Tube’s LiveAMP Look In ad scaled the live experiences programmatically to TV and country music fans across premium publishers. The live broadcast was embedded into the ad unit, driving viewers to YouTube to tune in live to the full episode.

WATCH PARTY 1: EP 1 + Ashley Cooke/Wade Bowen

WATCH PARTY 2: EP 13 + Warren Zeiders

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
-Creative Strategy & Execution

KEY COLLABORATORS:

Agency: First Tube
EP: Jara Wallace & Brian Davidson
Editor: Steve Beal
Client Success Lead: Jamie Harju Hallquist & Audrey Stiffle

SHOPPERS’ SHOP CLASS: Building Your Beauty Tool Kit

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Key Collaborators:
Claire Thompson, Designer
Nicole Abdelnour, Graphics
Olivia Fagon, R29 Creative Director
Monica Herman, R29 Design Director

Shoppers Drug Mart X Refinery29 at 29Rooms Toronto, 2019

The Trevor Project- Fall Feté, 2016

Creative & Performance Director

The annual fundraiser for The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

ToUch Events created roaming & interactive performances, an original choreographed performance with 10+ dancers, and two aerial performances at the iconic Sony Hall in NYC.

Key Collaborators:
Elizabeth McGuire, Creative & Choreography
Susanne Houstle, Costume Design

FLIP IT FITNESS

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Key Collaborators:
Experiential Designer- Diana Zweitzich
Graphic Designer- Nicole Abdelnour

Reebok X Refinery29 at 29Rooms Toronto, 2019

UNCOVERING IMBALANCE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

20K+ Attendees
11.48MM+ Campaign Impressions
44.2K+ Organic Social Clicks

Biohaven, a nontraditional pharmaceutical company, came to Refinery29 to drive brand awareness and get in touch with our audience who care about healthcare issues through a message of empowerment and further educating them on healthcare inequality.

Through our 29Rooms activation, Uncovering Imbalance, Refinery29 created a physical journey that represented the symptoms of a migraine, along with the side effects of traditional migraine medication, for guests to explore and interact. This large build clad with Biohaven’s colors came to life as an oversized playground filled with hidden messages about healthcare inequality. Guests had the opportunity to spin, climb, push, and bounce their way through the activation all while gaining a better understanding of the effects of a migraine and healthcare inequality. This activation paved the way for an unknown pharmaceutical company to introduce themselves to our audience and continue the conversation post event online. Guests left knowing that Biohaven is not as a traditional pharmaceutical company, but a partner who is committed to better health equality - starting with migraines.

Key Collaborators:
Experiential Designer- Jeremy Corrent Wood
Graphic Designer- Nicole Abdelnour

Biohaven X Refinery29

DON’T CALL ME DOLLFACE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

20K+ Attendees
11K+ Organic Social Clicks
5MM+ Campaign Impressions

Capturing the quirky, friendship-themed story of Hulu’s new original series, Dollface, Refinery29 and Hulu created a fun and interactive two-sided canvas to bring our audience together and spread awareness to the new show. This 360 activation featured multiple touchpoints for guest interactions, all in the name of sisterhood.

On one side, 29Rooms attendees could pose inside a cat-lady photo studio experience with Dollface artwork, props to pose with, and a custom branded photo filter. On the other side, attendees were invited to customize their photo-op where they could finish the sentence “Don’t Call Me ____”, infusing the show's messaging of independence and girl code inside of the experiential environment. Additionally, guests could watch the captivating Dollface trailer which played inside a feline face-shaped screen to give guests an inside look at the new series. Hulu’s Dollface continued to be one of our most popular rooms in LA, with a continuous line of guests waiting to take the funnest photo-op!

Key Collaborators:
Experiential Designer: Maria Aguiar
Graphic Designer: Nicole Abdelnour

Hulu X Refinery29

Target x Unbothered

YOUR BUSINESS IS ESSENTIAL:
A Rising Entrepreneur’s Masterclass Series

CREATIVE LEAD

Unbothered and Target brought rising entrepreneurs stay-at-home master-classes covering the essentials of launching a business. Taking inspiration from Target's Accelerator program, we offered three live-streamed Zoom lessons for the Unbothered community that tapped a roster of Black experts to deliver business essentials for perfecting a pitch, securing funding, and cultivating community. Fully customized based on our audience’s business level- from launching a business, looking for guidance on taking your existing business to the next level or turning your side-hustle into a real venture- our master-class series successfully delivered advice, tools, and resources to today’s and tomorrow’s Black business-women.

AWARDS:
ADWEEK’S 2021 EXPERIENTIAL AWARDS
- Best Virtual Event for Professional Development
- Best Virtual Event in Support of Diversity & Inclusion

KEY COLLABORATORS:
Lily Amaro, Producer
Olivia Fagon, Creative Director
Paula Volchok, Graphic Designer

Breast Cancer Research Foundation- Hot Pink Party

Creative & Performance Director

For three years in a row, ToUch created immersive performances for the annual Hot Pink Party fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the leading non-profit in breast cancer research.

With roaming & interactive performances on the streets on NYC to the elevators, and the reception hall, performers surprised and delighted event guests in the famous Waldorf Astoria. ToUch created several original dance performances for this event, featuring over 20 dancers and working with variety of collaborators including a live African drumming troupe. At these events, Touch had the honor of performing alongside iconic musicians, Sir Elton John and Tony Bennet.

Key Collaborators:
Elizabeth McGuire, Creative & Choreography
Susanne Houstle, Costume Design

Fenway Park x Altair Global

Creative & Performance Director

ToUch took over Fenway Park for Altair Global’s annual conference celebration. Celebrating in true Boston style, we headed to the dug out for drinks and apps with iconic Red Sox players of the past: Ted Williams, Wade Boggs, Pedro Martinez, and Babe Ruth. Before the private dinner in the Partners Suite, we kicked off the celebrations with a performance of the National Anthem, and then enjoyed a rag time band’s performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.