CATEGORY Brand Strategy & Communications
PARTNER Silkroad Ensemble
ROLE Director & Story Producer
CAMPAIGN FILM & INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGY

Silkroad: A Campaign Film Made Mid-Handover from Yo-Yo Ma

Institutional Context

Silkroad was passing from Yo-Yo Ma's founder-led ensemble to new leadership under Rhiannon Giddens, and executive leadership needed a campaign film that could hold donor confidence while the ground was still moving.

Archival & Relational Work

Partnered directly with the Executive Director on narrative research and archival discovery, excavating legacy hard drives while building trust with camera-skeptical artists.

Production & Scale

Authored the interview architecture for capital fundraising, directed a five-day shoot across two states with fifteen interviews across musicians and institutional leadership, and guided the edit through delivery.

POSITIONING & MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE  ·  STAKEHOLDER DISCOVERY  ·  NARRATIVE PLATFORMS  ·  CAMPAIGN STRATEGY  ·  DONOR & FUNDER COMMUNICATIONS  ·  BRAND GUIDELINES  ·  EDITORIAL STRATEGY  ·  MULTI-CHANNEL DEPLOYMENT  ·  INTERNAL ALIGNMENT  ·  POSITIONING & MESSAGING ARCHITECTURE  ·  STAKEHOLDER DISCOVERY  ·  NARRATIVE PLATFORMS  ·  CAMPAIGN STRATEGY  ·  DONOR & FUNDER COMMUNICATIONS  ·  BRAND GUIDELINES  ·  EDITORIAL STRATEGY  ·  MULTI-CHANNEL DEPLOYMENT  ·  INTERNAL ALIGNMENT  · 
EXECUTION FRAMEWORK

From Hard Drives to the Board Room

Trust & Immersion

Built trust with camera-skeptical musicians, creating room for candid reflection on the ensemble's changing identity.

Archival Mining

Excavated historic footage from legacy hard drives, weaving past performances into a forward-looking story that honored the founding era.

Fundraising Direction

Authored interview arcs built for capital campaigns, translating artistic vision into terms donors act on.

Edit Room Leadership

Co-directed post-production, shaping raw interviews, archival clips and performance footage into the finished cut.

WHAT IT PRODUCED

A Film That Went Into the Board Room

  • The archive, recovered. Performance history excavated off legacy hard drives became the film's connective tissue, holding the founding era and the new one in a single story.
  • Interviews that were not on offer. Fifteen on-camera conversations from musicians and leadership who did not want to be filmed, earned through research and time rather than persuasion.
  • Used in closed rooms. The cut went into closed board and major-donor meetings during the transition, carrying the institutional case while leadership changed hands.