MGM Resorts International’s “Universal Love” campaign, out of McCann NY, has earned a Brand Experience & Activation Gold Lion at Cannes Lions 2018. The project included a Kesha collaboration for her music video “I Need A Woman,” mixed by audio post production studio Plush sound mixer Rob Fielack. The campaign centers around artists selected to sing classic, yet heterosexually-charged love songs with swapped pronouns, broadening inclusion and celebrating love within the LGBTQ* community.
The campaign also earned three Silver Lions–in Brand Experience & Activation, Entertainment and Entertainment Lions for Music–and one Bronze Entertainment Lions for Music.
In “I Need A Woman,” Kesha officiates the wedding of superfans Dani and Lindsay at an MGM Resort hotel in Las Vegas. The short takes audiences on a desert road trip skirting Southwest sands, where Kesha belts lyrics to Janis Joplin’s “I Need a Man to Love,” swapping pronouns for the occasion. Kesha’s temptress desert performance is intercut with clips of the happy couple investigating their Vegas honeymoon suite, preparing for their prismatic nuptials and delivering thoughtful commentary on the state of marriage and love in the United States after the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015. The couple married on March 26th, the anniversary of the first legal U.S. same-sex marriage license.
Click HERE to see this and other Cannes Lions winners.
Credits, “I Need A Woman”:
Agency: McCann NY
Production Company: Magic Seed Productions
Director: Lagan Sebert
Executive Producers: Sandra Sampayo, Brandon Bloch, Lagan Sebert
Producer: Melissa Daniels
Director of Photography: Drew Dawson
Casting Director: Jenny O’Haver
Camera Opp / Drone: Michael Mazure
Production Manager: Sandra Sampayo
Assistant Camera: Joshua Cote
Audio Mixer: Shane Richter
Production Assistants: William Cory & Victoria Rose
Editor: Chris Franklin
Colorist: Chris Ryan
Audio Post: Plush
Sound Mix: Rob Fielack
Styling: Samantha Burkhart
Glam Guru: Vittorio Masecchia
About Plush
Plush is a unique audio post production company with multiple 5.1 surround mixing suites that include the latest Pro Tools HD systems designed to meet the needs of any audio project. Our senior sound designer/mixers include Rob Fielack, Michael Levesque, James Twomey, Eddie Cooper, Nick Montgomery, Carl Mandelbaum, Bobby Sorrentino and mixer Nicole Pettigrew.
Our experience ranges from recording/mixing for radio and TV to Broadcast and cable programs and specials to surround sound DVD mixes. Our staff has garnered multiple Emmy, Telly, Mercury, Clio and other industry awards. Our surround mixing has earned PLUSH, a Grammy win and a Grammy nomination for “Journey To The Blues – A Musical Journey” produced by Martin Scorsese/Michael Borofsky.
In addition to post production audio record and mixing, we offer sound design, casting, stock music, original music and superior client services and fulfillment.