Finals Kickoff With Director Marco Cruz
Hey y’all!
It’s me, Lara! We have just wrapped our 2017 Regional Tour! Don’t cry because finals are literally just around the corner! I’m sure by now you’ve seen our awesome Finals Kickoff Video! If not, check it out here. Anyway, I sat down with Director, Marco Cruz, to talk about his inspiration for the shoot!
Here’s what Marco had to say!
Q: This is our National Finals Kickoff video, what inspired this shoot?
A: We wanted to show the dance world that we are a company that absolutely LOVES dance! we have some of the most talented dancers working for the company and we wanted to be able to display their talent and passion for dance. Knowing that nationals was around the corner we wanted to show to everyone how excited we are for finals and how passionate we are for the art of dance.
Q: What was your favorite part about it?
A: For me it was getting to work with passionate artist…. not just the dancers but the behind the scene crew. From light design, photographer, dancers and also my good friend Nik G. He was the director for the shoot and his vision was truly incredible. PS. all of the people involved in this video are all employees of KAR! The KAR and Rainbow Family is without a doubt a well rounded organization full of talent.
Q: heard y’all wrapped around 3am? Were there obstacles that you and the team ran into??
A: Our only obstacle was getting the dancers together and scheduling. Everyone who was involved in the video shoot has two or three different projects that they are currently working on and some have second jobs which made scheduling the shoot a little bit of a problem but nothing we couldn’t overcome. 3 am wrap up time was fun… that’s how it usually goes with dance videos that are GOOD! the quality we are providing is the best because we took the time to look at details. We care about not just the choreography but the lighting, the location, the fog, the staging… everything in a whole is what makes the shoot a lot of work and a lot of fun.
Q: What about this video makes you fired up for finals?
A: The fact that this is just the start of an endless amount of projects is what gets me fired up. We did this video for finals at the KAR headquarters. Imagine what we will be able to do at one of our nationals… the possibilities are endless.
Q: What’s your favorite part about our National Finals?
A: My favorite part about nationals is seeing the growth of everything that we saw throughout the season. From studios coming to competition for the first time, the evolution of all the dances that we saw at the beginning of the year to how flawless they are by the end of the season. Not to mention the growth within ourselves as a company and crew “road warriors” as we like to call ourselves. Everyone grows and by nationals it’s literally A GIANT PARTY full of amazing talent both from the studios and the production side.
Q: Anything new we can look forward to for finals this year?
A: We are a company that constantly grows and constantly is evolving and on a consistent basis is shooting for improvement. If you ask me if there is anything to look forward to, I would have to tell you everything! We take pride in details and our core value states as WOW factor being our 1st value so stay tuned and get ready because 2017 finals will be as thrilling and as exciting as the half time show for a super bowl.
-Lara
Check out these behind the scenes photos captured by our Lead Photographer James Quick II.
