Mejuri’s new “microfilms” series from Coppola and the Directors Bureau casts Laura Love, Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane in a reshaping of the conventional idea of a brand campaign.
When Mejuri‘s Jacob Jordan met filmmaker Gia Coppola and the team at creative production firm The Directors Bureau, the vibes were, as the kids say, pretty immaculate.
“We immediately felt a strong creative and personal connection,” the fine jewelry company’s chief brand officer tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It felt like I was sitting down with a group of old friends. We were intuitively aligned on pushing the limits of marketing, storytelling and the conventional idea of a ‘campaign.’”
The spark of that meeting has produced a new endeavor for Mejuri with the launch of A New York Minute, a series of new “microfilms” that reimagine the Mejuri story as episodic content with Coppola at the helm directing a group of young female friends with jewelry pieces as supporting players. The collaboration is also part of a recent wave of creativity from fashion brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent that have been increasingly redesigning campaigns as everything from short films to episodic content.
The Mejuri series focuses on real-life friends as they “celebrate ordinary moments and interactions, which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane,” per the brand. The 30-somethings cast features Laura Love, Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. The first episode, “The Supermarket,” launching today, follows the group shopping before a weekend getaway. The second and third episodes will be released on Sept. 23 and Sept. 30, respectively.
“Gia brought this vision to life with a unique blend of artistry, realism and relatability,” Jordan continues. “She proved to be the perfect partner, being incredibly collaborative, so intentional and naturally connected to the women and experiences captured in the episodes.”
For Coppola, who just celebrated the world premiere of her upcoming film The Last Showgirl starring Pamela Anderson at the Toronto International Film Festival, she found inspiration from within her own family by drawing from short films made by her grandmother, Eleanor Coppola, who passed away earlier this year. The works, said to be meditations on the ordinary that let the subjects breathe, speak the same cinematic language as A New York Minute. “I love the way she captures the world focusing on the little details in life we so often overlook,” Coppola says of her grandmother’s films. “The textures and sounds that we notice when we’re present with the world around us.”
On the series, Coppola partnered with cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes (Manchester by the Sea), and they shot on 16mm as a way to emphasize “artful realism.” On that note, Coppola introduced the women to situations and scenarios that provide the framework of life moments that help flesh out scenes without relying on a traditional script with “no context or resolution, just a yearning for more,” per Mejuri.
“We made something artful and nuanced, therefore challenging the advertising space. I love getting to work with my family and friends, and pay tribute to my grandmother’s experimental films,” explains Coppola, who added that they had too many ideas to fit in just a few short episodes. Needless to say, this is just the beginning of what looks to be the beginning of a fruitful and jewelry-filled creative partnership.
“It was a blessing to have such a collaborative experience working with Mejuri and Jacob,” says the auteur. “This is only the beginning.”
A still from Mejuri’s A New York Minute series, which was toasted at a party last week to close out New York Fashion Week. “We’re already getting questions on when more episodes are coming out, so I am excited about the possibility of working with her again,” Jordan notes.
Courtesy of Mejuri
Coppola is seen on set during A New York Minute. The project marks a collaboration with The Directors Bureau, an award-winning production company based in Los Angeles and founded by Coppola’s uncle Roman Coppola. The firm reps a roster of directors with backgrounds in photography, graphic design, animation, fine art, film and fashion.
Courtesy of Mejuri
Laura Love as Emma in a still from Coppola’s A New York Minute for Mejuri. “I’ve known Laura since she was 4, she’s my best friends’ little sister,” Coppola tells THR. “Everyone was either already close friends or knew each other.”
Courtesy of Mejuri