Questlove Supreme was Pandora's flagship, original podcast. Hosted by cultural icon Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson - band leader and drummer for The Roots, DJ, producer, foodie, author and historian - the weekly show takes a deep dive into the unique backstories of musicians and pop culture icons including Spike Lee, Michelle Obama, Jack White, Usher, Bootsy Collins, Tessa Thompson, Chaka Khan and more.
My role was Creative Lead for Pandora, concepting the original program launch for on-platform performance, later reformatting the experience for the 3rd season, creative direction, marketing development, production and guest booking.
Nearing 150 episodes, Pandora & Team Supreme have pushed the program’s listening audience to nearly 7 million uniques, achieving a weekly return listenership of over 60% and creating a massive platform for this incredible podcast.
Press: Rolling Stone
Press: Variety
Press: Ad Age
As part of AT&T’s partnership with the Dallas Cowboys, we were tasked with creating a one-of-a-kind experience, bringing fans closer to the team they love in the awe-inspiring environment of AT&T Stadium. In my role as Creative Director on the AT&T account with Wasserman, I led this experiential creative project, as well as overall strategy and vision of the complete stadium creative strategy on behalf of AT&T.
As the center-piece of the fan experience, we set out to create a technology-forward brand activation, utilizing existing infrastructure of large interactive touchscreen columns and introducing a simple, awesome moment for consumers to get close to their favorite athletes.
Eight 10-foot-tall touchscreens were already installed in the East Plaza of the stadium, but they weren’t getting much engagement from fans. The partnership request was to make an experience that would bring the touchscreen technology to the next level, creating a unique attraction and distinctly shareable moment that only AT&T could provide. Additionally, we were tasked with creating a technological exchange and narrative that would spotlight AT&T's newly launched 5G wireless technology.
Over 115,000 fans have engaged with our experience at AT&T Stadium, during the Cowboys’ 2019 season. And we went big off the field too–one fan’s video of Pose with the Pros went viral, ultimately leading to over 500 million social media impressions.
The live spectator community responded overwhelmingly conceding Jerry Jones, Cowboys' owner and known NFL game-day experience innovator, had once again created something unrivaled in live entertainment.
AT&T Stadium and The Dallas Cowboys saw consistent, massive upticks in interest, notably a 158% jump from opening weekend to week 3, and line queuing of nearly 100 people per column lasting up until 1 hour after the end of regulation game play weekly.
My favorite projects are based in creative problem solving. In early 2018, Pandora was working on it’s newly released playlisting functionality and I was asked to concept a program combining the new technology with artist promotion, tying together a social media campaign that could drive directly to online listening.
The new feature was rolled out for South By Southwest where we were asked to shoot and edit everything in kind-of soundproof shipping containers backstage while the concerts shook the walls.
Oh, and make it look good.
The result is Play By Playlist - a brief glimpse into what some of your favorite artists‘ playlists look like on the Pandora platform.
Blorp Corp was a creative music and sound design shop and a labor of love. One of the things we loved most was our humble, scrappy style of getting work done. So when we needed an extra set of hands around the studio, we built them out of spare synthesizers and good old fashioned engineering.
Pandora had an opportunity to work with meteoric star of music and film, Troye Sivan, for a brief afternoon studio capture in support of his new album Bloom.
As Creative Director and Strategist, my plan was to create an opportunity that maximized our time with him, delivering a concept for album promotion, an additional storyline promoting Pandora’s initiative to support Pride, and to create a platform to drive donations for the Ally Coalition - an organization raising funds in support of the LGBTQ community. We produced multiple pieces of content from a half day shoot, amplified through PR outreach and championed on channels such as Billboard online. Ultimately, we raised over ten thousand dollars for Ally Coalition through the online auction of his artwork.
Universal Audio is the leader in analog and digital audio engineering. Since the 1950s, they have been creating world-class equipment found in every major recording studio. In the modern day, they are the leader in the digital audio technology space - introducing interfaces and plug-ins modeled after the classic outboard gear that shaped modern day recording techniques.
For 5 years, UA has asked me to help them create original creative content to support massive product launches for industry-changing technology, trade show pieces and brand legacy initiatives. They often look to be informative while digging into their own legacy in a lighthearted nod to yesteryear. My creative direction and execution on these projects has continued to give them the industry buzz year after year.
As soon as Smokepurpp’s SXSW 2018 performance was solidified, I knew we had an opportunity to create something amazing with him. Prior to taking the stage, we grabbed some time and talked about space, aliens, weed, and studio life.
Enlisting the massively talented friends at Legwork Studio we turned the young artist’s words into magic.
From 2016 until 2018 I lead Pandora’s creative digital production for the company’s week-long South By Southwest showcase. Combining efforts from the brand, events, industry, and licensing teams, and produced by our mighty in house creative agency, we made a fully-immersive, creative livestream blend seamlessly with backstage interviews, a complete social media campaign, and on site and digital brand sponsorships.
My role as a Creative Lead stretched from concepting digital creative content and leading integration with look & feel, to full run of show for multiple backstage interview locations as well as coaching and live-producing a 12 hour, celebrity-hosted broadcast.
The beauty of SXSW is the up-and-coming, emerging artists playing every corner bar, backyard and random plot of land where they might plug in. In 2018, while on location in Austin, we were able to connect with a few talented folks to hear their stories and their music.
I was able to concept the style, interview the artist and direct content production for the pieces start to finish.
During my time at Pandora, audio live-streaming was a strategic focus and an opportunity for us to partner with major players in the festival market. I was tasked with creative direction and production oversight for 2017’s Life Is Beautiful (Las Vegas) and Stagecoach (Indio) festivals, as well as content direction for 2015’s Outside Lands (San Francisco.)
In each of the productions I created the run of show, produced artist interview segments, directed the hosted livestream, integrated key brand sponsorships and oversaw the creation of original content for social media. All of this drove sponsorship for our digital platform experience and increased listenership.
Besides the annual South By Southwest showcase, Pandora produced a significant number of brand-centered live events with some of the biggest acts in music. By integrating live music, creative production, audio livestreams, social media, and sponsorship activation spaces, we created annual summer and winter concerts that blew the roof of venues in LA and New York, while driving massive digital interaction on and off platform.
Wells Fargo tapped Wasserman to develop a sponsorship program aligning with the Tournament of Roses’ 2019 theme “Melody of Life.” We created a comprehensive approach with narrative of “Inspired by Life.” The program encompassed an emerging musician series, telling their story through content and live concerts, and a televised integration with the Parade of Roses on New Year’s Day. Additionally, we crafted a narrative around Wells Fargo’s charitable actions in the community supporting Inner City Arts and adding a surprise parade ride for a Wells Fargo employee. It was a successful program driving impressions and highlighting the positive influence the brand is having in the local Southern California community.