It’s Hollywood’s Biggest Night and this year I’ll be watching across probably three devices for business AND pleasure. Join me for a subscriber Substack Chat tonight from 6:30 PM ET until the credits close to discuss…
Red Carpet Personal / Capitalist Expressions
Categorical Predictions, Upsets and Big Slays
The International Implications of Standom
And whatever else comes to mind! 🏆
Last year was… a movie! And a music festival. And a music video. And a constant return to the question: “is this real?”
There were certainly growing pains and speed bumps along the way. At the same time, there was growth and progress beyond anything I could have imagined when Star Quality began just two years ago.
Thank you to everyone who trusted us on a project, worked alongside us, referred us or just simply double tapped on a post—follow us on Instagram, by the way. This year was transformative boots the house down and I feel lucky, proud and sort of in shock that this all unfolded in a single year.
Here are some highlights…
★ We grew Star Quality by over 50% in 2024, bringing even more work to life with our incredible collaborators and clients.
★ Our summer assistant role evolved into our first full-time employee and we tripled the number of paid creative collaborators and commissioned creators from 2023.
★ Sony Pictures Classics entrusted us with social creative for eight films, helping their brand’s Instagram follower growth rate reach a new peak.
★ We returned to the desert for an even bigger YouTube x Coachella campaign, directing artists like LE SSERAFIM, J Balvin and Victoria Monét.
★ We directed one music video per month from September to November, expanding both our directorial and production capabilities.
★ Our work supported creative endeavors from album rollouts and national comedy tours to climbing the heights of Spotify’s podcast charts.
★ New faces joined the Star Quality cinematic universe and we realized their visions for tour art, podcast branding, lyric videos, merch and even made a virtual red carpet for Lena Dunham!
★ For Marvel, we brought our own tape measure to work—sizing up the tongues of Hollywood stars and developing turnkey formats for real-time red carpet social coverage.
★ And to close out the year, we directed a double feature music video and mini-doc for Patreon and their partnership with lifelong studio muse: Trisha Paytas.
And not to be dramatic but this low-key doesn’t even feel like the half of it.
In 2025, we hope to direct more music videos, expand our web design work and continue helping creators take their own businesses to new heights.
Thank you for being along for the ride.
For about half of my entire life, I’ve had a clinical obsession with one Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, or as the majority of the world knows her Lady Gaga. What started as an MTV addled, desperate teenage quest for escapism in a larger than life otherworldly persona bloomed into the soundtrack to my college, coming of age era in the midst of studying advertising at the University of Texas. We really don’t choose who we stan or how they might warp our worldview or business practices.
All that is to say, I’ve kept FBI level tabs on Lady Gaga’s artistic output and it’s admittedly (and earnestly) inspired a lot of my own creative output over the years, including the genesis behind Star Quality itself. For awhile now, I’ve been excited about the idea of hosting Star Quality events: talks and panels related to the intersection of pop culture and branding and how artists weave both together to build their legacies. After attending an immersive play disguised as a Lady Gaga walking tour last spring, I was convinced I needed to avenge my Number One with a tour of my own and, much like A Star, Star Quality’s Gaga Bus was Born.
On Sunday, about thirty of Star Quality’s clients, collaborators and closest, most supportive muses boarded a party bus named Queen Isabella outside of Depot and departed for a three hour, three borough tour of New York City to see iconic landmarks from Lady Gaga’s long career. Each landmark highlighted elements of her career from her brand origin stories, to moments of profound brand crisis, brand partnerships and more.
If you’d like to see the curriculum or go on the tour yourself, you can download it for free below! Be sure to hit the final stop at The Pomeroy, an Astoria restaurant opened by Lady Gaga’s former private chef, to eat like the legend herself.
Until next time — Taylor Plane or Lana Boat anyone…?
★
We dropped muscle tanks on Friday for all of your Olympic level serves — get yours now on our website. 100% of proceeds from the sales of these tanks will be donated to Equality Texas, a non-profit that works to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Texans through political action, education, community organizing, and collaboration.
As a native Texan who didn’t really even know what a creative career was until my junior year of high school because men *did* agriculture (whatever that means…), I wanted to find a cause that could maybe give back in someway to the youth in my home-state to open their horizons. The mission behind Equality Texas aims to protect and empower those kids and block a lot of the most hateful legislation in that state that will ultimately foster a new generation of LGBTQ+ creative Texas youth.
Support the cause and rep your own Star Quality buy purchasing one of our latest muscle tanks below. And, since you’re in this deep, Substack subscribers can use code DISPATCH at checkout to get 20% off their order!
Tag us when you get yours, we want to see! ★
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