VH1 VIRAL STUNT

VH1 DATING NAKED: NAKED DANCING STUNT

To promote the release of VH1's upcoming reality show "Dating Naked", The Mistress Ad Agency came to me looking for a modern day Fred Astair & Ginger Rogers style dance routine, but with a twist.  It was to be shot live in a public space and the dancers were to be stark naked.  

The initial execution called for dozens of hidden cameras, but I felt that strategy would leave the audience feeling cold.  My treatment was to shoot the whole thing in one take on a steadicam, with the steadicam acting as a third dancer weaving, bobbing, and sprinting with the choreography.  I then decided to use hundreds of my own extras instead of real people, so I could place them where I needed and get precise reactions from them.  In the edit I blurred some of their faces to help sell it as reality.  The final product in my opinion is charming, dynamic, and emotive.  Lo and behold - it went viral after getting picked up in national news outlets and won a Gold Clio. 

Director: Ellis Bahl

Client: VH1
Agency: Mistress Creative
Agency Producer: Kay Lynn Dutcher
Copywriter: Ben Beale
Art Director: Rory Forrest
Ex Producer: Jeff Atlas
Producer: Rick Pizante
Assoc. Producer: Kathie Lucero

DoP: Sing Howe Yam
PD: Susie Francis
1st AD: Zach Wright
Choreographer: Mimi Narducci
Composer: Josh Money
Sound Design: Alessandro Tabora
Editor: Daniel Sheppard
Steadicam: Ari Robbins