HOLIDAY | NEIMAN MARCUS
This film is a continuation of the collaboration with luxury department store brand Neiman Marcus. Choreographed by Emmy nominated choreographer Al Blackstone, set to a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “It Had to Be You,” and performed by singer and songwriter Rachel Norman. "Holiday” was shot on an LED volume stage where our team blended the practical storefront build with LED volume walls for the perfect transition into our magical snowy setting. Going from a city sidewalk into a winter wonderland in moments — all captured in-camera.
APPROACH TO MUSIC…
We knew from te beginning that we wanted to leverage music in a unique way to showcase the brand, capture the holiday joy, and really pull at our heartstrings and nostalgia.
We decided to do a cover that Neiman Marcus could own, and audiences would be excited to download and listen to. We didn’t just want to cover a classic, we wanted to create a classic — and that is how we came to create a contemporary cover for ‘It Had To Be You’. ‘It Had to Be You’ was written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn in 1924.
Why did “It Had To Be You”? There isn’t a more iconic song that speaks to love, destiny and the magic that keeps our hearts warm during the holidays. This song is about unconditional love, and how some things in life, just seem to be meant to be. We collaborated with Rachel Norman and Danny Jonokuchi to create a truly unique cover of this classic song.
CHOREOGRAPHY…
We worked with award-winning choreographer Al Blackstone to bring this picture to life. We worked with Blackstone to choreograph a series of routines that would pay homage to the classics while reinventing what it meant to be classic. The style of dance shaped by the Golden Age of cinema is nothing short of iconic. It’s athletic, it’s energetic, it feels easy and incredibly powerful at once. We wanted to create a flawless balance between that nostalgia-inducing, partner- and group-driven style, and the modern era of angles, shapes, and individuality. The choreography became the perfect commemoration of the season: a reverent love of the old, honored with the freshness of contemporary steps.