In Proximity

From her Oscar-nominated work in The Daniels’ EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE, to her latest project I LOVE BOOSTERS, written and directed by Boots Riley, costume designer and stylist Shirley Kurata has built her reputation on creative, colorful storytelling through fashion and clothing. Ahead of the premiere of her latest film, Shirley joined host Paola Mardo to talk about collaborating with Boots Riley and designing the maximalist costumes for the film’s ensemble cast, including Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Demi Moore, Poppy Liu, LaKeith Stanfield, Eiza González, and Will Poulter. She also talks about her early days working on music videos and commercial sets, the difference between Los Angeles and Bay Area style, and how growing up in Monterey Park, California shaped her perspective on fashion and storytelling. 

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(00:00) There’s charm in the scrappiness

(03:18) How Shirley joined Boots Riley’s latest project

(08:44) Styling the I LOVE BOOSTERS cast

(15:13) Collaborating with the production designer

(18:41) Maximalism and EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE

(20:42) Developing her style in Monterey Park

(25:18) Shirley’s early days as a costumer and stylist 

(32:09) Tips on finding your personal style

(33:17) Los Angeles vs. Bay Area style

(36:14) The costume design process 

(39:45) Advice for aspiring designers

(44:07) Prox Recs 

IN PROXIMITY IS A PRODUCTION OF PROXIMITY MEDIA

Host, Director, Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Co-Director and Director of Photography: Patrick Epino

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Editors: Patrick Epino, Ken Nana, Ben Caloza

Motion Graphics Designer: Apollo Baldoz

Associate Producer and Sound Recordist: Celine Mendiola

Production Coordinator: Joy Woo

Social Media Coordinator: Alexandria Santana

In this 2-part series, we’re sharing gems about fandoms, creators, and marketing movies from the TikTok SINNERS Symposium. Last week, Paola Mardo sat down with Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Jocelyn Yates (@jocwatchlist) about making SINNERS, thinking about the audience, and creating content around movies. This week, we’re diving into the SINNERS marketing campaign from the perspectives of the production company, social media platform, and studio. On this episode, Proximity Media’s Chief Marketing & Operations Officer Terra Potts sits down with Gold House CEO Bing Chen, TikTok’s Global Head of Entertainment Partnerships Dawn Yang, and Cameron Curtis, Warner Bros. Global Digital Marketing Chief. They break down how to recognize a film’s potential in becoming a cultural moment, the important role creators played, and lessons learned from the viral marketing campaign for SINNERS.

CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS EPISODE
SINNERS Symposium: How TikTok Creators are Fueling Viral Movies

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(00:00) Creators, you bring hope!

(02:54) Recognizing SINNERS can move culture

(04:30) Engagement with the film, by the numbers

(05:34) Trusting the community to create and interpret

(08:37) Bringing creators into the process early

(11:04) How fandoms are sustained

(12:44) Lessons learned form the marketing campaign

(16:18) Hope for the future of creatives

IN PROXIMITY IS A PRODUCTION OF PROXIMITY MEDIA

Host, Director, Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Co-Director and Director of Photography: Patrick Epino

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Editors: Patrick Epino, Ken Nana, Ben Caloza

Motion Graphics Designer: Apollo Baldoz

Associate Producer: Celine Mendiola

Production Coordinator: Joy Woo

Social Media Coordinator: Alexandria Santana

Production Intern: Ben Caloza

Footage: Mirrored Media for TikTok

In this 2-part series, we’re sharing gems about fandoms, creators, and marketing movies from the TikTok SINNERS Symposium. The day before the Oscars, the Proximity Media team attended a symposium hosted by TikTok, Gold House, and Warner Bros., where panelists explored how fans and creators can help fuel the marketing of a film. In this first episode, IN PROXIMITY host Paola Mardo sits down with SINNERS writer/director/producer Ryan Coogler, producer Sev Ohanian, and TikTok creator Jocelyn Yates (@jocwatchlist) to talk about viral SINNERS moments, their unique experiences as creators and filmmakers, and how each of them think about their audience.

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(00:00) Who’s never been inside a Blockbuster?

(02:26) How Ryan, Sev, and Jocelyn think about the audience

(08:12) Viral SINNERS moments on TikTok

(14:05) Behind Ryan’s viral aspect ratio breakdown video

(17:41) Jocelyn’s decision to make SINNERS content

(19:14) Sev’s jump from YouTube to filmmaking

(23:27) Building lasting filmmaking collaborations

(27:15) The production process for @jocwatchlist TikToks

(28:51) Prox Recs

(34:04) Question #1: Surprising online takes about SINNERS

(35:58) Question #2: The importance of content creators for marketing films

(39:21) Question #3: How THE LUCK OF THE IRISH and other films influenced Ryan 

(42:43) Question #4: When they knew they made something groundbreaking

IN PROXIMITY IS A PRODUCTION OF PROXIMITY MEDIA

Host, Director, Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Co-Director and Director of Photography: Patrick Epino

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Editors: Patrick Epino, Ken Nana, Ben Caloza

Motion Graphics Designer: Apollo Baldoz

Associate Producer: Celine Mendiola

Production Coordinator: Joy Woo

Social Media Coordinator: Alexandria Santana

Production Intern: Ben Caloza

Footage: Mirrored Media for TikTok

YouTube’s daredevil Michelle Khare has tackled the world’s toughest professions and stunts in her award-winning series CHALLENGE ACCEPTED — from mastering Harry Houdini’s water torture cell escape to tackling Tom Cruise’s deadliest stunt. With over 6 million followers, Michelle made history when she successfully petitioned for her independently-produced YouTube series to join the Primetime Emmy ballot for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series. On this episode of IN PROXIMITY, host Paola Mardo sits down with Michelle to talk about her origins as a Buzzfeed producer, the production process for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, creating viral YouTube content, and her biggest takeaways from running 7 marathons on all 7 continents in 7 days. 

CHECK OUT MICHELLE’S “THE GREAT WORLD RACE” SERIES
I Ran 7 Marathons in 7 Days on 7 Continents

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(00:00) Can I borrow your military plane?

(06:16) From Louisiana girl to interdisciplinary athlete

(11:20) BuzzFeed: a crash course on Internet videos

(18:03) The creative and production process for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

(20:02) Behind the Houdini water torture trick

(22:08) How she pulled off the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE plane stunt

(27:52) Pro tip: THIS is how you hook your viewers

(30:08) Petitioning to be on the Emmy ballot

(36:13) Michelle’s business model as a YouTube creator

(43:05) After running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents…

(45:58) Prox Recs

IN PROXIMITY IS A PRODUCTION OF PROXIMITY MEDIA

Host, Director, Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Co-Director and Director of Photography: Patrick Epino

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Editors: Patrick Epino, Ken Nana, Ben Caloza, Michael Fallavollita 

Assistant Editor: Ian Schrank 

Associate Producer and Sound Recordist: Celine Mendiola

Production Coordinator: Joy Woo

Production Intern: Ben Caloza

Social Media Coordinator: Alexandria Santana

Motion Graphics Designer: Apollo Baldoz

We’re going stateside on IN PROXIMITY! Before she became a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated musician, PinkPantheress was a film student in London who loved editing videos and watching Hitchcock movies. Now, she is the first woman and the youngest person to win the BRIT Award for Producer of the Year, and she landed at #1 on the Billboard Global 200 for “Stateside + Zara Larsson,” which was also featured in the Winter Olympics during Alysa Liu’s figure skating exhibition performance. Ahead of her world tour and Coachella debut, host Paola Mardo sat down with PinkPantheress to talk about her music production process, love of film, and advice for artists starting today. Grab your boots for that ego boost and tune into this fun conversation with a talented Gen Z artist pushing the envelope in music production.

CHECK OUT PINK’S PLAYLIST
fancy playlist for fancy people

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(00:00) Paola’s supposed to ask PinkPantheress this! 

(04:39) Casually meeting Alysa Liu

(05:50) Why her name is “PinkPantheress” 

(07:02) Her film editing origin story

(13:50) Singing for the WAKANDA FOREVER soundtrack

(16:55) Drum and bass and the PowerPuff Girls 

(18:32) What do music producers do?

(21:25) Mura Masa, Oscar Scheller, The Dare, and more! 

(28:57) How Pink found her singing voice

(32:08) Growing beyond a “TikTok artist”

(38:33) Can new artists still break out on TikTok? 

(45:03) Prox Recs

IN PROXIMITY IS A PRODUCTION OF PROXIMITY MEDIA

Host, Director, Producer: Paola Mardo

Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson

Co-Director and Director of Photography: Patrick Epino

Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana

Editors: Patrick Epino, Ken Nana, Ben Caloza

Motion Graphics Designer: Apollo Baldoz

Associate Producer and Sound Recordist: Celine Mendiola

Production Coordinator: Joy Woo

Social Media Coordinator: Alexandria Santana

Production Intern: Ben Caloza