For several years, PLPI was involved in the production of the main video and other video elements for a Shelter event called Shelter from the Storm.  That event was their main fundraising event for the year, and was held in the early spring.  Goal:  Highlight an important and relevant service and present it to a large audience of current and potential donors in an effort to raise money.  Solution:  Craft an emotional video, telling the stories of the people, usually women and teens, affected by the service, from their perspective.  Each video was a masterfully coordinated effort between a point person from the Shelter, a producer and Pixel Lightening.  Each video produced was designed with some shock value, some statistics and always to really tug at your heart.  In addition to the main video, PLPI produced a Logo/Sponsor loop to help recognise the folks that were heavily involved with the event itself and the Shelter overall.

The semi-autobiographical Kicks focuses on 15-year-old Brandon (newcomer Jahking Guillory in a breakout performance), who buys himself a sweet new pair of “kicks.” Brandon goes on a mission.

Behind The Scenes

In terms of deciding what story to tell, The Bicycle Thief got me thinking how much this one object can mean to someone, how it can have all this emotional weight. When developing the idea of Kicks, I was definitely referencing that. It kind of gave an emotional structure to it. Then I was also watching Fellini films and the dream sequences in 8 1/2.

It was that feeling that he wanted the shoes, like Brandon in the movie. He’s got what he wants, but it’s a false victory. Then the real emotional impetus being when my brother saw my face and was like, “Well, it’s okay, you’re a man now.” It made me proud for a split second and then extremely sad. In retrospect, I look back on it and was like “That’s bullshit.