HOSPITALITY CAMPAIGN · THE RITZ-CARLTON BACARA
Five
becomes one.
A hero film and four vertical cutdowns for the Santa Barbara resort. Four amenities, told as one story about a family finding connection.
CLIENT
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara
YEAR
SCOPE
2025
Concept, script, casting, direction, cinematography, editing
DELIVERED
1 hero film (16:9) · 4 cutdowns (9:16)
IN THIRTY SECONDS
THE BRIEF
Four amenities to feature.
Pool service, the spa, the cliffside sushi restaurant, the grounds down to the beach.
THE IDEA
One family, one weekend, one script.
Every amenity covered, all of it carried by a story about a family finding connection.
ON PROPERTY
Two days, resort fully open.
Real guests in every frame, four locations, nothing closed.
DELIVERED
1 hero film + 4 vertical cutdowns.
A 16:9 hero film and four 9:16 social cuts, all from the same two days.
THE SITUATION
Four amenities on the brief. We gave them one story.
The resort wanted pool service, the spa, the cliffside sushi restaurant and the grounds, each with a film of its own for social.
So we followed a single family of five through a weekend. Every amenity still got its vertical cutdown, and the hero film turned all four into one moving story about a family finding connection.
THE INSIGHT
Nobody books a resort because of a facility.
They book it because of who they think they’ll get to be there.
THE FAMILY
Cast for the story first. The audience came with them.
Leila Masterson made her runway debut as a worldwide exclusive for Givenchy and has since walked Chanel, Prada and Versace. Her husband Robbie is a photographer. Their three kids brought the part you can’t cast for.
We cast them because they were the story: a mother of three who wanted a weekend where nobody needed anything from her. Leila’s following means the films reach past the resort’s own channels, as a bonus rather than the brief.
THE APPROACH
01
Ask what it’s for, first
The resort wasn’t selling a pool. It was selling the version of yourself that shows up on the third day. We wrote a voiceover — Five Becomes One — so all five films shared one arc: five people arriving with five schedules and five different kinds of tired, gradually becoming one.
Five films, one idea underneath them.
03
Absorb the complexity
A fully operating resort you can’t close, real guests in every frame, four locations across a weekend, and a brand standard with no room for interpretation. The amenity coverage the client needed still got delivered — it just arrived inside a story.
02
Cast it right, then get out of the way
We cast for the overlap between reach and truth. Leila has a high-fashion résumé and a following, but she’s also a mother of three who wanted a weekend where nobody needed anything from her — and that’s the film. The direction was mostly about knowing when not to.
THE WORK
Four moments, carried by one camera and one family.
01
The pool
Cannonballs, pool service, one still underwater shot.
02
The spa
Leila slips away. Her face in the spa, letting go of something.
03
Date night
The cliffside sushi restaurant, ocean below.
04
The grounds
A golf cart, the beach, the five of them small against the Pacific.
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara
THE SCRIPT
Four amenities. One voiceover turned them into a story about a family finding connection.
We came as five.
Five schedules. Five needs. Five different versions of tired.
But somewhere between the pool and the Pacific… we became one.
One rhythm. One exhale.
I forgot I was keeping score. Forgot what day it was.
Remembered what his laugh sounds like when no one needs anything.
[ BEAT ]
“Turns out luxury isn’t what you have. It’s who you get to be.”
CLOSING LINES — FIVE BECOMES ONE CAMPAIGN VOICEOVER
WHAT WE DELIVERED
Two days. Five films.
2
DAYS ON PROPERTY
A working resort, open to guests the whole time.
1
HERO FILM · 16:9
The full story, in 16x9
4
CUTDOWNS · 9:16, 4:5, 1:1
One per amenity, each a chapter of the same story.
4
LOCATIONS
Pool, spa, cliffside restaurant and the grounds to the beach.
WHY FOUR AMENITIES NEEDED ONE STORY
Anyone can film a pool. The resort needed a reason to keep watching.
Any good crew can shoot a pool, a spa, a restaurant and a beach. The resort needed more than coverage: a reason to watch the second film after the first.
Each cutdown stands on its own, but the pool film means something different once you know the spa film is coming, and the hero film’s last line isn’t about the property at all. It’s about the person checking in.
Both the story and the casting came from asking what the resort was really selling, and who could carry it furthest.
WORKING WITH US
What a luxury property can expect.
Open for business
Two days, four locations, shooting around real guests in a resort that never closed.
Every amenity, in a story
The brief’s list still gets delivered. It just arrives as one story people want to finish.
The questions a director of marketing has before letting a crew onto the grounds, answered before they’re asked.
Talent that fits
Cast for the story, with reach as a bonus.
One shoot, every format
A 16:9 hero film and 9:16 cutdowns from the same days. Stills can be added to the shoot.
CREDITS
Client
Concept, script & direction
Casting, cinematography & edit
With
Campaign
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara
Miah Idema
Lawn Chair Creative
Leila Masterson, Robbie and their three kids
Five Becomes One
NEXT SEASON
Planning your next campaign? Start with the idea.
Send the brief you have, even if it’s a list of amenities. We’ll come back with the story underneath it. Based on Maui; shooting across Hawaiʻi and the mainland.