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Behind the Work in association withThe Immortal Awards
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Charles Todd Directs Ludacris and Flo Milli for Google’s ‘Black-Owned Friday’ in Collaboration with BBH USA

17/02/2023
Production Company
New York, USA
406
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The Scheme Engine director and BBH USA’s executive creative directors tell LBB how they made the spot feel fun and triumphant, and why they wanted to get people excited about how easy it is to support Black-owned businesses all year around

As one of the biggest brands in the world and the go-to search engine for most, Google has a lot of power when it comes to spotlighting Black-owned businesses. That’s why - for their third year in a row - it has chosen to promote ‘Black-Owned Friday’, an ambitious campaign that puts Black-owned businesses front and centre of people’s searches. 

Directed by Scheme Engine’s Charles Todd and starring Ludacris and Flo Milli, the spot balances commerciality with celebratory fun as it’s set to an original, energetic track. The ‘choose your own adventure’ style of the video needed a director with the skills and the point of view to make each stylistic element feel distinct while creating a coherent narrative that would make a memorable impact. Charles was specifically tapped for the project thanks to his experimental mixed-media style and bold visual approach. On screen representation was just one part of the story with Charles highlighting, “Our set was predominantly black. Those in front of and behind the camera were predominantly black.”

The ‘Black-Owned Friday’ idea was first conceptualised three years ago in conjunction with US Black Chambers and to keep the momentum going, each iteration has been bigger than the last. This is no exception, featuring an original song from legend Ludacris and the up-and-comer Flo Milli. BBH USA’s executive creative directors, Kasia Canning and Estefanio Holtz, wanted to make the initiative feel bigger than one day and instead create a shift in how people shop, giving an option to choose Black-owned businesses at any and all times of the year. 

Today, LBB speaks to Charles, Kasia, and Estefanio about how this project came together for Google, the responsibility and creativity Charles felt while working on the project, and why the pre-production process was key to making the final result a success.

LBB> Tell us a little bit about how you first started working with Google on this - when did they come to you and what was the brief like?

 
Charles> Our first conversations began about two months prior to production and, from the beginning, I was really impressed with the brief. You could feel the fun and excitement in its presentation. For someone like myself who likes to experiment with format, tone and genre, it was kind of a director’s dream. There was that special balance of having a clearly thought out idea with plenty of room for imagination and interpretation in my mind.

Kasia & Estefanio> This is our third year bringing to life Google Black-Owned Friday, and this year’s challenge was, “how can we make the initiative still feel fresh, surprising, and different from past years?” While the momentum keeps rising, there’s always more work to be done to show people how Google makes it easier to support Black-owned businesses with their search tools and Black-owned business badge. When challenged to make Black-Owned Friday feel fresh, we decided to make it bigger than one day, using a ‘choose your own adventure’ style music video - with a mix of film styles with everything from hyper-stylised realism to animation - to show how people could use Google tools to support Black-owned businesses in their everyday lives, 365 days a year.


LBB> What was it about Charles’ style that made him the ideal director for this year’s spot?

Kasia & Estefanio> Because this year’s work focused on creating so many unique journeys, we were drawn to Charles’ wide range of visual language. His experience with everything from documentaries to highly-stylised music videos showed us he could help build a whirlwind of crazy, eye-catching worlds. And his contagious positive energy won us over from the start. 


LBB> The spot is getting attention again during Black History Month - what does Black History Month mean to you?

 
Charles> Our history is a reminder of our brilliance. Understanding that I am all that came before me is equally heavy and empowering. I try not to lose myself in the details and instead focus on the simple actions that uplift my community. Our set was predominantly black. Those in front of the camera were predominantly black. I hope I’m doing my part.


LBB> This spot is to mark ‘Black-Owned Friday’ - how did you feel when asked to create a celebratory film for the occasion? Why was it important for you to collaborate with Google on this particular project?


Charles> This past year was one of transition for me.  From a commercial perspective, I wanted to close the gap between my existing portfolio and who I felt I was as a storyteller (a process that required searching for my own voice amongst the inundation of external noise). What I found was an interest in telling uplifting stories with an unexpected tone. This project felt like the culmination of that search – an opportunity to create something special that embodied who I am as a director. I’m very protective of how my community is portrayed on-screen. The collaboration with Google was really special in that they supported my vision at every step of the way. This was one of my favourite projects to date.

Kasia & Estefanio> Even though this is year three and our momentum keeps building, there’s still more work to be done to keep changing the shopping landscape, and making it more instinctual for people to support Black-owned businesses. With resources like the Black-owned business badge on Google, it’s easier than ever for shoppers to search and shop Black-owned. Every year becomes a new challenge but also a new opportunity to bring to light more businesses and show off their amazing offerings. 


LBB> How much creative freedom did you have with the brief and what was your initial response to it?


Charles> I loved the brief. Because of the interactive element (you can choose your own adventure), there was a detailed framework for how the scenes would begin and end; however, the look and feel, the progression and the tone was open to interpretation. So I started embedding my personality and voice into the creative until we found something that we all loved.


LBB> What kind of mood did you want to set with the spot? What did you want viewers to take away after watching it?


Kasia & Estefanio> Our ambition is always to go triumphant. This isn’t about getting people to support a brand out of pity - it’s about celebrating these amazing business owners and their incredible products, to show people what they might be missing out on. 


LBB> The video features Ludacris and Flo Milli - you have quite a lot of experience working with big names. What was it like to have Ludacris and Flo Milli on set?


Charles> They are both so magnetic on camera, you can’t help but feel inspired watching them express themselves on-screen. After the first-take of Flo Milli’s performance the entire mood on-set shifted. You could feel her energy vocally, but to see it play out in front of the camera was incredible. I grew up performing Ludacris songs at talent shows, so needless to say, I’m a huge fan of his artistry. His music videos alone belong in their own hall of fame! But, more memorable than his talent (which is mind-blowing) was how supportive and encouraging he was throughout the entire process.  The first time we hopped on a call he said, “I love the treatment. My only note is to make it more ludicrous.”  He really wanted to go for it and put a lot of trust in me to make that happen.


LBB> The spot is part music video, part commercial. Charles, how did you balance the two elements while ideating and shooting?


Charles> I’m a strong believer that commercials don’t have to look or feel any one particular way, so I was eager to blur those lines and focus first and foremost on making an enjoyable video to watch. The task was to make this feel like the unique collaboration that it was between Ludacris, Flo Milli, BBH USA, Google and myself. Our time on-set was the culmination of a well thought through pre-production process. By the time the camera started rolling, the only thing left to do was have fun.


LBB> Why did you choose a mixed-media approach to the spot?


Charles> The mixed-media approach was centred on the belief that buying black could transform the world around you, inspiring your expression in ways you never thought possible. In a video that celebrates the diversity of the buying black experience, it felt appropriate to have a diverse visual language that embodied that idea.


LBB> How did you work with the spot’s song to create the visuals - which came first (song or visuals)?


Charles> We received the track early on in the pre-production process, after the framework was set but before anything was set in stone. It was actually a nice collaboration process of tailoring/tweaking the song to the visuals and then vice-versa. Once we found a nice groove of what needed to happen sonically and visually (due to the interactive element), we started exploring how to tie the two components together in a cohesive way, incorporating lighting cues, set dressing and camera techniques to emphasise our favourite lines from each verse and chorus.


LBB> The scale of the spot is pretty epic - tell us about the sets and making all the elements come together in the final film.


Charles> The key was an early and consistent collaboration between our production designer, cinematographer and VFX specialist, all of whom were equally talented and technically sound. We auditioned and reworked ideas and concepts for the sets until we found a unique universe for the video to live in. I’m very pleased with the result.


LBB> Did you run into challenges while filming? If so, how did you get past them?


Charles> Our challenges were mostly in pre-production, balancing the technical requirements of an interactive video with the cadence of an actual song. After a decision has been made by the viewer, the backend requires a bit of time to load the next scene, but obviously you can’t pause the song while that’s happening. So we had to find a way to make the choice visually engaging on-screen. That’s what led to Ludacris as a human metronome bouncing back and forth between two possible routes and incorporating two amazing dancers at another inflection point.

Kasia & Estefanio> It’s always a challenge to coordinate products on set, and this year we had items from well over 70 different Black-owned businesses. Every item was curated to match a specific scene, and either shipped from around the country or shopped locally in Atlanta, then captured on film and later photographed to become shoppable in the film.  A huge challenge this year was just juggling all the different options in the film, making sure we had a wide diversity of products and brands featured in each scene, that they were visually distinct, that they each had something special that would make you want to go back and see all the different possibilities. And our shoppable end credits are actually customised based on your unique journey - so you only see photos of products that appeared in your version of the film, based on the choices you made. This meant that any time we made a change to a scene or to a product photo/title, we had to go back and update each end sequence accordingly. 


LBB> What was your favourite part of working on the spot?


Charles> I really cherish the fun we have on-set.  It’s a chance to be a kid and play with the world you’ve been dreaming about. It’s really important to me that people have a good time while we’re filming – I like to think that the energy from the set flows on-screen and into post-production.  

Kasia & Estefanio> The best thing about working on Black-owned Friday is the opportunity to reinvent it every year. While the core of the idea has stayed the same since 2020, we’ve been able to use new insights to keep creating unique executions that engage viewers, celebrate Black-owned businesses, drive positive business results, and just get people excited about discovering cool new things to shop.

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