Fine jewelry brand Mejuri, known for transforming luxury jewelry into everyday essentials, has partnered with filmmaker Gia Coppola and The Directors Bureau to launch a new series of microfilms. Titled “A New York Minute,” the series marks a fresh creative direction for Mejuri, eschewing traditional celebrity endorsements in favor of intimate, cinematic storytelling that showcases the beauty and drama of everyday life.
Premiering shortly after New York Fashion Week, the films focus on five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane.
Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
The first episode, “The Grocery Store,” which premieres on September 16, follows the group of friends during a grocery run before a weekend getaway. Watch below:
It was a blessing to have such a collaborative experience working with Mejuri and Jacob,” Coppola said. “We made something artful and nuanced, therefore challenging the advertising space. I love getting to work with my family and friends and pay tribute to my grandmother’s experimental films. This is only the beginning.”
To land the relatable performances, Coppola introduced the characters to situations and scenarios that provide the framework of life’s moments that create the scenes. Instead of a script, the stories convey real-life situations, and as with life there is no context or resolution, just a yearning for more.
She drew from her grandmother’s short films for inspiration which were meditations on the ordinary that let the subjects breathe. With cinematography by Jody Lee Lipes (Dead Ringers, Manchester by the Sea), the microfilms were shot on 16 mm to emphasize artful realism, and exude a more considered feeling reminiscent of John Cassavetes and Frederick Weisman.
“When I met with Gia and the Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, Chief Brand Officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
The second and third episodes, “Tote Bag” and “We Need to Talk,” will be released later in the month and delve deeper into the characters’ internal worlds, focusing on personal growth, reflection, and change.
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