Diageo Cocktail Collection

Diageo was the most ambitious series of videos I have ever produced. The client wished to feature 4x new ready-to-pour cocktails from their suite of brands—Ketel One, Bulleit, and Crown Royal—showcasing a food pairing for each, crafted by star chef and talent Sophia Roe, all while promoting 4 unique tablescape kits from their partner Hestia Harlow that matched each cocktail. In addition to these 4 videos, our client also had an in-house production team that wished to join during production to step-in and film additional content and b-roll. But the most difficult aspect of the project—it all had to be done in one day with limited talent availability. With a full filming crew, culinary team, prop team and talent’s go-to glam squad, we were able to keep a strong pace and film everything we needed in less than 7 hours. While managing Diageo clients, Hestia Harlow stakeholders, talent agency representatives, and a crew of over 20 people, I was charged with making sure everyone was happy with the process and result. Though not the largest budget I have worked with at just over $50K, the project was certainly my most complex. Arranging the movement of 8x large, heavy tablescape kits in multiple cargo vans to Brooklyn from our office in Manhattan, couriering specific tablescape items for our culinary lead to experiment with the our talents’ recipes which were ready only a day ahead of filming, coordinating the arrangement of freezers, fridges and other important talent and crew needs all under one Peerspace roof in a Crown Heights duplex; I had my work cut out for me. From everything from ice cream to fresh garnishes, on-screen food had to be perfect for our James Beard award-winning chef. Toss in a few dozen last minute client requests and my motto became “absolutely, no problem.” This series of videos would not have been possible without the long hours of hard work and patience shown by our crew.