MARCELLE KARP @marcellekarp - Tumblr Blog

This key art is an example of what a team does when you have a product to promote without having access to talent. One of the hallmarks of a music brand is showcasing live shows; at Fuse, we aired live events monthly for a number of reasons—ratings, fan appreciation and revenue. The partnership opportunities are limitless when you are working with talent that has a fan base. In this case, Kanye West. When we were putting the artwork together, we had yet to get a sponsor on board, and we most certainly did not have Kanye himself, so...we improvised.

I had no idea the Insane Clown Posse were a two-person team with a zillion person following until I worked on the promotion of the show.

Still. These two? Such a pleasure to work with. Not insane at all.

Big Freedia, Season 2.

I worked with Freedia for the first three seasons of her show on Fuse.

When Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce came back for a second season, I knew I needed new creative that delved even deeper into her world. I hired the talented and legendary Art Streiber; I knew I needed someone behind the lens that was accustomed to work with large casts. And Art delivered.

What a moment this was.

Now Madea can watch what she wants with BET+, a new streaming service featuring 1,000+ hours of content, including movies, shows – even exclusive originals from Tyler Perry.

Tyler Perry.

I mean. What a visionary.

For the last few months, I’ve been working on the launch of BET PLUS, the new SVOD service from BET. I can go over the talking points, but the spot covers them. What I want to tell you is this: This was a joy to shoot. To work on. To usher into the world, from creation to completion.

I am proud to have been the Creative Director on this. For being on set, in the Madea house, cracking up in video village every time Tyler riffed, every time I’d have to run onto the floor to give direction, his genius unparralleled.

This is one of five spots we shot and cut. Maybe I’ll put the rest up sometime. ;-)

#marcellekarp #tylerperry #madea

An inspiring documentary following the lives of women in the restaurant industry.

Sometimes, I oversee a project that feeds my soul, quite literally. Women running their own businesses? YES. Anything food-related? YES. A film directed by a woman? YES YES YES. And so, when I was given the opportunity to launch HUNGRY, while I was running the creative group at LOGOtv, I got very involved.

Some background: The culinary industry is historically rigorous, competitive and wild. At LOGOtv, we launched a documentary, HUNGRY, that focused on three women in the LGBT community pursuing their dream of building their empires. Directed by Patty Ivins, she followed three women: Los Angeles-based Dakota Weiss, who owns Estrella and Sweetfin Poke; Pink Delongpre, owner of Bacon & Brine in Solvang, Calif.; and Sarah Kirnon, owner of Miss Ollie’s in Oakland.

Like Ru says, "As gay people we get to choose our family." Logo comedians and stars sit down to talk about their Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving traditions. Tune into Friendsgiving on Logo all weekend long.

At LOGO, my favorite projects were the ones that involved any member of the Drag Race franchise. Imagine the Snoopy Dance I performed when I was tasked with creating two huge campaigns, Friendsgiving and Sleigh The Holidays, starring Michelle Collins, Robby Lariviere, Ginger Minj, Matteo Lane, and Shangela.

Plus a tribute to Mama’s Family, with these bad bitches—Ginger Minj as Mama, Katya as Naomi and Alyssa Edwards as Lola!

My concept? Create monochromatic sets. Style our talent in coordinating monochromatic colors. And hire a team of writers to slay, slay, slay.

The first of 5 Breast Cancer Awareness PSA’s for BET.

Your career, and the projects you are a part of, can come full circle. I made my mark with my pioneering breast cancer PSA for Lifetime, the very first of its kind for the brand, featuring Veronica Webb. Over the course of my career, I’ve been asked to do PSA’s for Breast Cancer awareness (two more times for Lifetime!) But this project, this was different, and yet, the same.

The client? BET.

The team? Practically the same creative team I worked with on that very first breast cancer awareness PSA.

The result? Fantastic-ness.

My approach was, as it always is with me, let’s stay away from the obvious. We know breast cancer is deadly. We know that self-exams are essential. We know the devastation a breast cancer can cause. And breast cancer PSA’s can be such a Debbie Downer. I thought, let’s approach this with the facts—the high rate of occurrence in African-American women is undeniable—and let’s do it with a nod and a wink.

I came up with this idea, along with my creative partners. I cast Sydnee Washington, a stand up comic. And I filled a room with balloons, in the spirit of women’s breasts. And voila. The 2018 Breast Cancer Awareness campaign for BET.

#breast cancer #breast cancer awareness

Every so often, I get an assignment that is...different. Endari is a pharma brand; the client needed a logo, packaging design, and elements to populate their website with. My team and I came up with this prism grid, in a subdued pink married to a bold font.

Dare to be different in your skill set.

In 2018, the NFL is as resonant a brand as it’s ever been, with multiple verticals and franchises. How then, to showcase its premiere on-air talent?

With this sizzle reel. Creating an environment where football is at the goal posts, while the talent is moving the chains.

Ruby Karp on Gun Control — Spoken Word

I didn’t create this spot. But I am a huge fan of its star.

#ruby karp #gun control #maverick

BET.

I was hired by BET to be the Creative Director on the launch campaign for Hit The Floor, a series that had a three season life span on VH1. The challenge? To create a campaign that would serve two audiences, a rabid fan base and a potential one, BET. Hit The Floor is an ensemble show, and the mandate was to feature all ten characters within the limited budget. Speaking of budget, I ended up producing these as well.

The result: An overview spot, that would run on the verticals as well as linear, that featured the returning characters, introduce the new characters, and tease what’s to come.

#bet #hit the floor

This is "LogoTV_Fire_Island_ShowOpen" by loyalkaspar on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Part of running a brand creative team is also creating show packaging for original content. For the launch of LOGO’s original series, “Fire Island,” I hired Loyal Kaspar to design the show packaging as well as the show open for Fire Island. This project was heaven-sent; Fire Island is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s idyllic, it’s remote, it’s relaxing. Also it’s filled with eye candy. ;-)

One of the great highlights of my tenure at Fuse was the Rebrand. We met with every agency in the business, but it was Loyal Kaspar who pitched the revolutionary idea of taking the bug out of the corner and putting it in the middle. We spent, as you can imagine, a year developing the Brand Strategy, as well as prepping the shows and network operations for this huge undertaking, which resulted in long term savings for the company at large. Always keep your eye on the bottom line, I say. For the next year or so, having our uniform look and feel kept costs down when it came to creating packaging for new shows, which my group did for every original piece of programming Fuse created. Then the business got sold. But that’s another story. :-)

My first campaign at Fuse was Music Is…; we hired the Brooklyn Brothers to create a series of image spots and print work. What I loved about this project was the diversity in what Music Is…, how the creative evoked a mood, each piece its own genre. We did a number of spots too, like this one, called Music is Joy.

Fire Island was a project I shepherded at LOGO. I hired Loyal Kaspar to build the open to the show as well as the packaging. We also hired NuContext to conceptualize off-air content; the original idea—the bare torso of a man with the ferry riding downstream—was eventually turned into a broadcast tease.

In 2009, while running the Creative group at Fuse, I was asked to oversee the brand identity, look and feel for the launch of MSG Varsity, a local network that showcased the world of High School Sports. I was given the assignment beginning of June and, as the network was launching mid-September, which meant all the assets needed to deliver by Labor Day. I hired one of the most professional shops on earth, Troika, and not only did we come up with the Brand Bible, but we created graphic packages for every show, game insert systems that could be used for any live event, and everything in between. And I maintained my Fuse day job throughout.

What would you do for a dollar? Well, Billy Eichner has a way to get you to do anything. For quite a few seasons, Eichner’s show was on Fuse; we shot a few campaigns with him, always with the edgy and patient photographer, Kareem Black. What a time was usually had. All of our broadcast spots were clip-based; the best way to speak to viewers was to let Eichner do all the talking.

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MARCELLE KARP