Posts Tagged ‘Charity Campaigns’

Those of you who follow my work know that creating art for important causes has always been critical to the SlickforceStudio mission. So it is with great pleasure that we recently teamed up with The Humane Society of the United States and HS International for their latest campaign, featuring singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko.

Ms. Aiko is very passionate about animals and nature—and all things aquatic—so she was the perfect face for HSUS’ new campaign to stop inhumane shark hunting. Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year due to the demand of shark fin soup. Humane Society Campaign manager Amber Morasse wanted a concept that was as striking as it was effective. We discussed several ideas before finally settling on a dramatic night ocean scene with Jhené rising above the surface of the water like a shark.

Besides the obvious risks to talent, shooting in an actual ocean isn’t terribly practical. There’s nowhere to place backlights and you’re certainly not going to run electricity in the deep blue sea. So we opted for a much more controlled environment: a large swimming pool. As you’ll see in the behind-the-scenes video below, our first challenge was turning a bright daylight location into a night scene. The second was getting the lights and camera into the water.

It was a pleasure working with Jhené, and I applaud her for using her celebrity to spread awareness of these wonderful creatures’ plight. I want to thank Amber and The Humane Society for involving us in this important project, and the SlickforceStudio team for getting wet for a good cause.

Visit hsi.org to find out how you can help.

WARNING: This setup was achieved by trained professionals. Do not attempt to bring lights near water without proper electrical safety training.

CREDITS:
Model: Jhené Aiko
Photographer: Nick Saglimbeni
Makeup: Felicia La Tour

Production Stills: Joyce Park & Joey Valenti
Videography: Joey Valenti & Ludovica Isidori

Melanie Iglesias is back, and this time we are raising money for Hope for the Warriors. Watch as Melanie tries to keep up with the outlandish signing requests for her SlickforceGirl “Marine Mel” posters while fighting for a good cause!

Hope for the Warriors is an amazing 4-star rated charity that aims to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members, their families, and families of the fallen. We are proud to have made a donation from the Saglimbeni Store and the Melanie Iglesias Store.

Special thanks to all of YOU who ordered autographed posters and made our donation possible. We couldn’t do it without you!

Want to see the making of Mel’s stunning Marine Cadet poster? Click here.

It’s not everyday you get to be somebody’s wish. A few months ago, Make-A-Wish called our office. They received a letter from a girl with an inspiring story—Danielle Dietrick was fighting bone cancer, and her dream was to shoot with me at SlickforceStudio. How could anyone say no to this?

Last week, Make-A-Wish flew Danielle to Los Angeles to grant her dream shoot. Danielle is as beautiful on the inside as she is out, and she is a natural on-camera. Her unlimited energy kept our crew smiling the entire day.

I couldn’t have done this without our incredible team, many of whom donated their time and services. Stunning glam was provided by makeup artist Therese Williams and hair stylist Daniel Blaylock, and our wardrobe stylist Tara Wiliams brought racks of amazing clothes. Together, the team transformed Danielle and brought out her inner star. We captured so many different looks throughout the day, each one both beautiful and fun. Special thanks to Bec & Bridge who gifted Danielle her favorite dress at the end of the shoot.

We deeply admire Danielle for her strength and positivity, and we are inspired by her courage. It is our honor to welcome her to the SlickforceStudio family. Thank to you to the wonderful volunteers at Make-A-Wish America for the great work they do, and for making so many wishes come true!

On the heels of the success of the Autism Speaks signing promotion, Melanie Iglesias revisits SlickforceStudio, this time to raise money for Toys for Tots. She gives her fans one week to order her life-size “Bedtime with Teddy” posters, and she personalizes each one, just in time for the holidays.

An extremely special thanks goes out to the Melanie Iglesias Store team, who handled hundreds of orders and worked tirelessly to insure Christmas delivery. To learn more, visit MelanieIglesiasStore.com.

Thank you all for your incredible support this year. None of this would be possible without you. Wishing each of you peace, love, and happiness during this holiday season and beyond. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Production Stills by JOYCE PARK

Last week, Melanie Iglesias dropped by SlickforceStudio to sign her new Ice Cream Disaster posters for the Melanie Iglesias Store. With the recent launch of her new MTV2 shows Guy Court and Girl Code, Mel’s star has been rising faster than ever. She was stunned at the number of posters waiting for her autograph.

Since I first met Melanie at our WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful shoot in 2011, she has always looked for ways to give back. Never one to miss an opportunity, Mel announced to her fans that anyone ordering Ice Cream posters in the next 24 hours would not only get them signed but also personalized. Even better, a portion of sales would be donated to Autism Speaks—a charity close to her heart.

What soon followed was the highest traffic day in the history of the Melanie Iglesias Store. Hundreds of orders poured in in a matter of hours, and Mel extended her signing visit an extra day to accommodate all the orders. After signing the last poster, Mel and the team made a sizable donation to Autism Speaks. We are proud to have partnered with such a stellar woman, and are grateful to all the fans who supported our signing promotion.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes video detailing the impressive weekend. Enjoy!

Over the last few months, the SlickforceGirl team sent out care packages containing much-needed items to deployed Navy and Air Force troops overseas. Last week, we heard back from Navy Seal Team 5 from a undisclosed location in Afghanistan. Troop member Courtney Robinson shared his thoughts:

” Thank you so much SlickforceGirl for the support and all the goodies. The love and support couldn’t have come at a better time than this, since our morale is a little low. I plan on hanging up some of the posters on the walls of our gym.”

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Courtney Robinson and Seal Team 5 for the courage and bravery they exhibit as they risk their lives everyday for others. We wish them a safe and speedy journey home.

In early December, the SlickforceGirl team reached out to several battalions of deployed U.S. troops overseas to find out what items they needed in the field. Our team put together more than a dozen care packages and shipped them out just before Christmas. Over the last few weeks, we’ve begun to receive confirmations of package arrivals in various destinations—many of them delivered by helicopter to the most remote of locations—including this photo from an undisclosed Air Force base in Afghanistan. It shows Airman Amico and two of his fellow airmen, cheered on by SlickforceGirl Erika.

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to the men and women who risk their lives everyday for others. Your bravery in the most dangerous situations continues to inspire us, and it is a sobering reminder of just how many freedoms we take for granted as civilians. Be safe, and we wish you a speedy journey home.

When the lovely folks at Breast Cancer Charities of America told me that my dear friend, Layla Kayleigh, was selected for our next campaign shoot, I was thrilled. I’ve worked with Layla several times and she never takes a bad shot. The British accent doesn’t hurt either.

The shoot was effortless, with Layla bringing both compassion and humility to the screen in every shot. We joked that our first shoot was a fashion spread, and then we put her in lingerie for PETA, and now she’s, well, wearing a keychain. At this rate, our next shoot should be really interesting.

Thanks to Lia Shahrebani for coordinating the campaign, the Saglimbeni crew for creating a professional and comfortable environment for our star, and Gaby Ramos & Al Ingram for flawless glam.

The new BCCA campaign launched today, please support them by purchasing the keychain featured in photo!

Credits: Make-up by Gabriela Ramos, Hair by Al Ingram
Keychain available at the iGoPink store!

Recently I had the honor of being selected as the official photographer for the 2011 Breast Cancer Charities of America campaign. This was particularly moving to me since one of my closest friends recently recovered from a bout with breast cancer. Charity has always been a critical component of our studio, so naturally, I jumped at the opportunity.

I was thrilled to learn that our first spokesmodel would be the ever-stunning actress and fashion model, Estella Warren. I have been a fan of Estella’s since seeing her in Sports Illustrated, Victoria’s Secret, and her Chanel campaigns, and of course in Planet of the Apes. When she arrived at my studio, she was as beautiful as ever, and I knew this was going to be an amazing campaign.

Estella is not only flawless on camera, but is an absolute sweetheart to work with as well—easily one of my all-time favorites. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to photograph her, but it now makes perfect sense why so many companies have selected her to represent their brands.

Credits: Make-up by Gabriela Ramos, Hair by Al Ingram
Bracelet available at ShamelessJewelry.com

Is there a breeze in here?

One of our new 2009 clients was People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I guess they figured they’ve got a lot of women wearing nothing for the animals…and we make women look great wearing nothing LOL. So I think it was love at first sight for our companies. (Actually, I owe a special thanks to Layla Kayleigh for turning PETA on to us.)

These are two of the three campaigns we shot in 2009—the third will be released in Feb 2010. Layla Kayleigh and I first met on a magazine shoot in early 2008, and we’ve remained friends ever since. When PETA asked her to do their “Animal Testing Breaks Hearts” campaign, she was sweet enough to recommend me for the gig.

Working with friends on a national campaign is really kind of surreal, because, oddly, no one is stressed out. Layla knows I’m gonna make her look great, I know the camera loves Layla, and we both know our beloved make-up artist Therese Willis is gonna take it to another level. It’s also really fun sticking mouse ears, a tail, and a virtual mouse (we used a plastic penguin for the stand-in) on your friend, who thousands of guys are in love with.

The next campaign was with Twilight‘s Christian Serratos. This was my first time meeting Christian, but she was a super-pro and very easy to work with. Michelle Cho from PETA and I had discussed a Twilight-like forest concept, so I knew I had two options: shut down the Angeles National Forest and light it with 18K HMIs from condor cranes like in Lord of the Rings…or greenscreen (LOL).

Sorry for the sarcasm, but I’ve just never been partial to greenscreen. Don’t get me wrong, compositing has its place, and I do it when necessary, but even then I try to build at least some of the set practically. For one, it helps the model/actor interact with the environment believably. Second, I think it disciplines you to build a concrete vision of the final product in your head, instead of what a lot of photographers are doing now, which is shooting the model now and figuring out the background later. The two dead giveaways for composited shots are the floor (where the feet meet the ground) and that all-too-common uniform backlighting…because it’s easy to cut out, but the lighting is always unmotivated. (Okay, enough soap-boxing.)

So I went to a greenery rental house in the Valley and rented a big tree. The people in my building thought I was crazy, and they’re not far off. I opted to shoot gray-screen instead of green-screen because I knew Christian was going to be naked and I didn’t want that awful green spill on the girl’s skin. Just drives me crazy. I knew I was going to fog up the background and desaturate it anyway, so gray made the most sense.

I’m really happy with how both campaigns turned out. I have to say the PETA crew is super cool, and my whole staff loves working with them. Michelle may be the coolest director/person-in-charge/celebrity-liaison I’ve ever met in my life. I hope we work together for many, many years.

Shooting PETA comes with it’s share of controversy, of course. SlickforceStudio was featured on Fox News recently while they were tearing apart PETA and the Christian Serratos/Twilight campaign…something about the exploitation of women and all that. Okay, guys. Thanks for the publicity.