California Dream Eater
The Client: Visit California
The Project: California Dream Eater Content + Advertising + PR Program
The Agency: MeringCarson
My Role: Creative lead: concepting + research + interviews + talent management + on-set creative direction + production + everything else that needed to get done.
The Backstory: Visit California had a problem. They had recently launched a new culinary content series featuring a bearded, bow-tied host, and it was performing horribly. I convinced my creative director to entrust it to me and over the next 3+ years and 80+ episodes, I tweaked and twisted and transformed this silly culinary series into Visit California’s most successful social-based content campaign to date. Highlights include: an ambitious musical episode, fire-recovery crisis relief efforts, and more incredible meals than I can even count.
This project became my bread and butter (pun always intended). My role in this series spanned many skillsets— I conducted extensive research on food trends, selected destinations in all 12 regions of the state, interviewed chefs, coached talent, wrote every single script, creative directed the video production both on-set and in the editing studio, and compiled years worth of source footage into concise social-first video content that won awards, drove record-breaking view-rates, and cultivated a social community of 44k+ followers.
Working on this campaign surfaced a secret skill of mine that has become a hallmark of my career. Ask me about it, but be warned, I could talk about it all. day. long.
