ALEX CULLEN

With the McLaren racing team in England preparing to defend their 2024 Constructors Championship, Dell Technologies saw the perfect opportunity to tell the story of their uniquely successful partnership. As with everything in Formula 1 racing, every little detail of the production had to be dialed in with absolute precision.

At McLaren HQ, Director Alex Cullen took tight turns, navigating a factory full of trade secrets and superstar talent.  Our team manufactured sets, produced elaborate shots requiring choreography between high speed vehicles and cinematographers, and, of course, captured the real moments when the rubber hit the road. 

After three days, we emerged with a treasure trove of cross platform assets and a new appreciation for what it takes to win at the pinnacle of motorsports.

The resulting films, spots and stills are rolling out across the Dell Technologies' media landscape, providing high impact ROI for their sponsorship of McLaren Racing and doubly as a story about one of their biggest new B2B offerings.

McDonald’s wanted to reassure customers of their commitment to quality and to tell the stories of the real people who handle and serve their food.

With only a week to prep, we got to work.

In an open McDonald’s restaurant in Colorado, Director Alex Cullen leaned into doc-style, blending real employees with a cast of customers. Our food stylist ensured every frame met safety and brand guidelines, while our nimble crew dodged fryers, sidestepped the drive-thru rush, while capturing the real energy of an independent fast food branch.

The result was a spot that genuinely depicted a culture of care and dedication to safety. Originally planned for a national release, McDonald’s decided the spot should go global—A lightning fast response for a fast-food giant.

“To come up with an original holiday song that becomes a hit? Next to impossible.” - Randy Jackson

This 12 minute documentary explores the origins of one of the most iconic holiday songs ever recorded, "All I want for Christmas is You." The mini-doc, created in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the song's release, features interviews with Mariah, producer Randy Jackson, and other insiders sharing their stories on the making of a classic. M&C Saatchi L.A. tapped Resonant to produce the doc and Resonant partner, Alex Cullen, to lens it.

We managed technical art builds in New York and L.A., filled soundstages with orniments, Christmas trees, snowglobes, fake fireplaces, and projectors blasting Mariah's own home movies. Mariah brought her dog The film garnered 1.6 million views, played on 500 foot screens in Times Square, and the record went #1 on the billboard charts 25 years after its release. All heil the queen of Christmas.

"Every day, we see acts of kindness, big and small, between our customers and employees. This holiday season, we’re celebrating the kindness that connects us all. Because we know that the most important connections we make aren't between places, they're between people."

Atlanta-based Creative Agency Moxie tapped director Alex Cullen and Resonant Pictures to create a spot for Delta's social channels that could invoke the spirit of human kindness that defines the the holiday season. To give it some heart, we went handheld in domestic airport departure gates, rolled in Delta employee lounges, at midnight on planes docked on tarmacs. We met good people, we tried to capture that goodness and to remember its out there.

Narrated by Viola Davis, the spot garnered over 10 million views on Delta’s social channels in less than a month.

Credit card company rewards can be a confusing mess. USAA created a series of spots called "Cardfusion", bringing to life the comedic stress of making these decisions and the ease of the USAA credit card.

Now more than ever businesses are moving in to hyper-agile mode, and revaluating everything. Small Business owners are finding their resilient and pioneering spirit.

Dell Technologies wanted to highlight those trailblazers, disruptors and visionaries in their series, Businesses We Love.

“I can do even the hardest things.” - Lily

Lily is 9 years old and loves ballet. She was also born with an underdeveloped optic nerve, greatly limitng her ability to see anything beyond what's three feet in front of her. For the holiday season, Dell Technologies wanted to give Lily a prtty remarkable gift. Resonant documented Lily's experience trying out her very own pair of Dell eSight glasses. Our film followed Lily to Austin Ballet's presentation of the Nutcracker where, with the help of advanced assistive eyewear technology, she and other guests were able to see the classic, Christmas-themed ballet for the first time.

Resonant partner Adam Barton brought a delicate approach to casting and directing this highly personal piece about a visually impared young girl with an infectious spirirt. Resonant worked with Y&R to develop a production plan and shooting style geared at capturing the intimacy of Lily and her family's story without being invasive. The result is a branded piece with authenticity and heart that premiered in People Magazine.

"It would be pretty fun if we could swim in the river again."

Imagine this with a beer in your hand: A quirky group of friends — industrial designers — got the idea in their heads to bring back the days when New Yorkers could swim in the East River. Quite a few scribbled napkins later, the creators of +Pool unveiled a floating swimming pool that actually cleans the river while docked in the waters off the Island of Manhattan.

With Heineken as a flagship sponsor, Resonant dove in head first to tell this unlikely story through a series of :30 and :60 spots that premiered in exclusive theaters as pre-roll before every movie at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. We enjoyed the company and bold irreverence of this rag tag group of urban planning heroes and were psyched to roll cameras with them as their wildest dreams came true.

Brands need a lot of ways to say hello across a 12 month ad cycle. Smart agencies are helping clients get a year’s worth of advertising done in a weekend. For USAA’s boomer demo, we set out to produce seven web spots and over 100 stills assets in just about 72 hours.

We worked closely with PXP to balance production requests with detailed client brand requirements. Our breakneck schedule had us leap-frogging through setups with multiple video and art crews and a dedicated stills team — shooting all at once. We rented multiple houses in a cul-de-sac, dodging company moves while grabbing a wide variety suburban of looks.

We captured everything, wrapped early and the whole thing was actually fun.

From Nashville to Sweden, we traced the making of Galantis’ hit song “Faith”, and the unique collaboration with Dolly Parton. Watch as we follow the song from cities to countries as it comes to life: from vocals by Mr. Probz in Holland, orchestral strings in Sweden, to Dolly’s studio in Nashville. As the song finally comes to life, we follow Galantis to a stop on tour to hear it live.

For Adidas Tennis to have a unique presence at three storied tournaments—Wimbledon, The U.S. Open, and Roland-Garros—the brand wanted three distinct looks and a social campaign that would feature the world's top tennis athletes. Alex’s challenge was to envision and execute on a series of art-directed worlds that could capture these athletes in full motion at full speed. With limited time in players' busy training schedules, we orchestrated our production days at their Palm Springs training facility down to five minute intervals, capturing 120 MPH serves in front of wall-sized LED screens and backhand returns that exploded into purple smoke at 200 frames per second.

Adidas brand ambassador and general badass, Angelique Kerber, went on to win Wimbledon giving us an upclose look at athletic greatness at its peak.

For Adidas Tennis to have a unique presence at three storied tournaments—Wimbledon, The U.S. Open, and Roland-Garros—the brand wanted three distinct looks and a social campaign that would feature the world's top tennis athletes. My challenge was to envision and execute on a series of art-directed worlds that could capture these athletes in full motion at full speed. With limited time in players' busy training schedules, we orchestrated our production days at their Palm Springs training facility down to five minute intervals, capturing 120 MPH serves in front of wall-sized LED screens and backhand returns that exploded into purple smoke at 200 frames per second.

Adidas brand ambassador and general badass, Angelique Kerber, went on to win Wimbledon giving us an upclose look at athletic greatness at its peak.

"I wanna do something I never done to get something I never had."

Shot inside a jail in Virginia, this feature length doc tells the story of four inmates who are a part of a unique rehabilitation program that involves writing and recording original songs. The film follows their personal and artistic development as they collaborate on an album with Grammy-winning recording artist Todd ‘Speech’ Thomas, from the iconic hip-hop group Arrested Development. As the creative process unfurls and a chance at freedom draws near, each of the men must unearth painful memories from their lives, which hold keys to their redemption.

The film won Best Documentary at the Downtown L.A. Film Festival and is slated for a theatrical release through Lightyear Entertainment in September 2019 and VOD through the Orchard in early 2020.

"This is way bigger than me."

Some would consider family man and real estate broker Eric Gelber a mad man. After losing a close friend to a rare blood cancer, Eric went on to raise close to a million dollars for The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation through charity runs, increasing the distance each time. His runs inspired a community of survivors, but his personal goal of 200 miles (33 laps around NYC’s Central Park) eluded him for years.

Tribeca Studios tapped Director Sam Bathrick and Resonant Pictures to tell the story of Eric’s final attempt at 200 miles. We embedded with Eric and The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in Central Park for three days and nights to create a feature-length documentary that premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.

"Now that’s what I call a buddy flick."

Moxie tapped Director Alexand Resonant Pictures to create a series of mini-movies, 15 second long films. Each film was from a different genre (buddy comedy, horror, and family flick) and the fun tropes of these genres was encorporated into each mini-movie. The films were all capped with commentary from Lakers’ stars JaVale McGee and Josh Hart.

Produced by Condé Nast Traveler in partnership with Penfolds, follow editor Erin Florio as she reflects on her travels and how she brings those experiences home, all with Penfolds in hand.

The New York Stock Exchange celebrates big business every morning by ringing the opening bell, but across the country countless small business owners start their work days, sometimes before dawn, with no such fanfare. Chase for Business, which provides credit and resources for mom-and-pops, gives them their moment in the sun with a new campaign, "The Morning Bell for Small Businesses."