LOS ANGELES — Production/post production facility Sugar Studios LA (http://sugarstudiosla.com) recently wrapped up work on a social media campaign for supplement startup Ladder. The ‘Dueling Playlists’ spot runs approximately :50 and features the company’s celebrity founders Arnold Schwarzenegger, LeBron James and DJ Khaled, who keep switching their workout playlists to drown out distractions. Produced and directed by longtime Schwarzenegger collaborator Peter Grigsby, the spot garnered 10 million views in just its first seven days.
Sugar Studios' Nico Alba edited the project, which doesn’t adhere to traditional broadcast lengths.
"Because it's social media, we're not always bound to those segments of time anymore,” says Alba. “Basically, it's 'find the story,' and because there are no rules, it makes the storytelling more fun. It's a process of honing everything down without losing the rhythm or the message, and maintaining a nice flow."
Sugar Studios LA is the the brainchild of founder/creative director Jijo Reed and is housed on three floors of the historic Wiltern Theater Tower in the center of Los Angeles. The facility includes 10 edit bays, 12 VFX workstations, two color grading suites, two audio suites, and a 25-seat, 4K, Atmos theater.
"Peter Grigsby requested a skilled big-brand commercial editor on this campaign," says Reed. "Nico was the perfect fit to create that rhythm and flow that only a seasoned commercial editor could bring to the table."
Photo (L-R): Editor Nico Alba & Sugar Studios' Jijo Reed. Photo by David Goggin.
"We needed a heavy-weight gym ambience to set the stage," notes Alba, who worked closely with sound design/mixers Bret Mazur and Troy Ambroff to complement his editing. "It's starts out with a barrage of noisy talking and sounds that really irritate Arnold, setting up the dueling music playlists and the sonic payoff."
The Sugar team also created a cinematic look for the spot, thanks to colorist Bruce Bolden.
"He's a veteran feature film colorist," says Reed, "so he often brings that sensibility to advertising spots as well, meaning, rich blacks and nice even color palettes."