Momentous Partnered With Four Top Agencies to Celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community in Las Vegas
How To Be 🌈 In Las Vegas
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
THE CHALLENGE
Las Vegas was voted the "No. 1 Happiest Place to Travel in North America" in part because of how well the LGBTQ+ community is received.
The City of Las Vegas set out to create a series of videos highlighting pioneers within the community in celebration of three national awareness days: Lesbian Visibility Day, Transgender Day of Visibility, and National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day.
Momentous took the lead on production, partnering with Grey Worldwide, Gramercy Park Studios, Townhouse, and Hogarth to craft timeless mementos honoring those who came before us and laid the foundation and break barriers for the future generation.
THE STRATEGY
Camp. Extravagance. History.
Our strategy was to lean into all the things that make this city fabulous, fun, wacky, and unique. We set out to build a CAMPY content series about how Vegas empowers LGBTQ+ folks to be themselves.
We aimed to build upon the success and style of projects like Ru Paul's Drag Race and Pose to create content that is exciting and instantly recognizable to those in the scene while also recognizing and drawing upon the history of Las Vegas' role in championing individuals that tear down expectations and barriers.
THE NORTH STAR
Paying Homage to the Past and Elevating the Future Creative Visions
We went into the archives to harken back to the New York City Ball Culture in the 1970s and 1980s. Through textures, movement, lighting, and framing, we aimed to bring together the old with the new.
Liberace is synonymous with Las Vegas and the LGBTQ community, so to pay homage to the original "Mr. Showmanship", we referenced his archives, costumes, and props, and ultimately chose to feature his estate in all of its fabulous glory as the main location for the first video in the series.
THE STYLE
Through our research we focused on highlighting three main pillars that were important to our client and relevant to our audience.
Vintage Aesthetic
The vintage aesthetic calls to mind the 1980s ball culture that sparked voguing and created a style that lasts to this day. This 35mm, polaroid, flash photography flavor of visual styling bled into every decision we made from the lenses we used to the color palettes we chose.
Oozing Glamour
Glamour means different things to different people, but no matter your definition, you know it when you see it. That's why we chose to shoot in the famous Liberace Mansion amongst the thousands of rhinestones and lavish velvet furnishings and in the Cosmopolitan where our visuals could adequately match the glamour of our subjects.
Modern Lifestyle
Paying homage to the past was just as important to our client as staying relevant for our modern viewers. That's why we paid close attention to the lifestyle giants that set the trends today by digging through magazines and watching hours of content to find the right blend between past and present.
The Liberace Mansion
Glamour Personified
The Barbershop
Speakeasy at the Cosmopolitan
THE RESULT
Lesbian Visibility Day
DJ Lisa Pittman is a mainstay of the Las Vegas Strip DJ scene, so we shot at the world famous Drai's Beach Club & Night Club and rented a Camero convertible to capture footage on the Strip at night (just don't tell the permit office).
Transgender Day of Visibility
For Dominique Jackson, we rented out the Liberace Mansion for the day and felt the essence of what it must have been like to be a glamour icon in the 1980s.
National Honor Our LGT
With showbiz icon André De Shields, we wanted to paint a picture of his whole incredible life. By incorporating archival footage and renting out a theater to allow him to be in his ultimate element, we were able to show the depth and breadth of his illustrious career and capture the magic that is André De Shields.
THE RECEPTION
This series was a huge success for the City of Las Vegas and the videos were adored by the community. Momentous has continued the successful partnership with the Grey Group, Townhouse, Gramercy Park, and Hogarth - most recently on their Meanwhile in Vegas campaign.
