In October 2017, I met with Carolyn Cole, Director of the Downtown Lynn Cultural District, and told her that I had a vision. For quite some time, I had wanted to make a music video promoting the different businesses and organizations in Lynn's Cultural District. As a resident of Central Square with an office 400 feet away, each day I leave my condo and walk through this little pocket of awesome where I yell hello to neighbors on their way to work, wave at local businesses getting their days started, and dodge cars passing through to major North Shore roads and throughways.
MY STORYBOARD FOR THE VIDEO
In my vision, a resident would start their day by leaving their condo and take us, the viewers, on a walking journey throughout the District, stopping for food, drinks, art, culture, shopping, and general merriment along the way. In my vision, the soundtrack would be Britney Spears' song, Work. However, as you can imagine, trying to get the rights to use this song (with updated lyrics) proved to be impossible. There was also going to be a flash dance mob inspired by the final scenes of Donna Summer's, She Works Hard for the Money.
In what can only be described as an act of blind faith, Carolyn graciously agreed to support my wild idea and soon I was drawing up a storyboard, pitching the idea to David Riley at Lynn Community Television, and roping Carla Scheri of Kick It Up Consulting in for some additional production support. We established an ambitious project timeline with the aim of completing our video to coincide with the launch of Massachusetts' Art Week and successfully applied for a grant from Lynn's Cultural Council. Once we had production planned, it was time to recruit participants!
POSTCARD I DESIGNED TO RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS
To be as inclusive as possible, I designed a postcard in both English and Spanish and walked throughout the District inviting businesses to be in the video. Carla and Carolyn also reached out to North Shore Community College and local arts organizations to encourage their involvement. We wanted to include as diverse a group as possible to reflect the Cambodian, Latin American, Ukrainian, Creole, African American, and Caucasian populations who all call Lynn their home.
I was able to recruit downtown Lynn resident and entrepreneur, Cheryl Russo of Organizing By Cheryl to be our "tour guide", starting the adventure at her door. When other options for a soundtrack fell through, I was thrilled that Carolyn agreed to use her award-winning vocal and lyricist skills to create an original song for the video. Working with Chantha Luk and Amanda Mena, a catchy tune was composed and recorded that includes a pretty awesome rap break featuring Creole, Spanish, and Khmer languages. The result is a lively, vibrant, fun, and infectious video showcasing the Downtown Lynn Cultural District at its best. Watch it below and come by and visit sometime....you won't go out the way you came in!
Do YOU want some help with creative ways to promote your business or nonprofit? Are you looking for ideas PLUS execution within budget and timeline? Be in touch, I'd love to chat!