Overview
Led complete creative development and production for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City's permanent projection installation. Over 5 months, assembled and directed a team of 8 elite designers, CG artists, and animators to create an hour-long loopable experience across 12 projectors and 4 walls in the casino's main atrium. Seven years later, this installation continues to run, showcasing rock & roll culture to millions of visitors annually.
The Challenge
Create permanent content for a $500M+ property opening that would represent Hard Rock's brand for years, not months. This required different thinking than typical campaign work: content needed technical durability for continuous 24/7 playback, visual interest sustainable across repeated viewings, and creative excellence worthy of presenting to Hard Rock's president and executive committee multiple times during development. The project also involved directing a once-in-a-lifetime photo shoot at Hard Rock headquarters, documenting cultural artifacts including Michael Jackson's original glove and Jimi Hendrix's "Sacrifice" guitar.
The Approach
Conceptualized the complete run of show and wrote treatments for 6 creative categories. Interfaced directly with Hard Rock president, executive committee, and Radical Media CEO John Kamen for creative approvals. Assembled an 8-person team of elite artists including designers, CG specialists, and creative technologists. Assessed budget, formulated production pipeline for 8K+ projection canvas, and established technical requirements across 2D/3D animation and Octane rendering. Led the historic memorabilia documentation shoot, then provided creative direction and QC across design, animation, compositing, color grading, and sound design through final delivery.
The Result
Delivered permanent installation that became the centerpiece of Hard Rock's Atlantic City property, still running 7 years later. The project demonstrated executive-level creative leadership: C-suite client management, high-stakes permanent installation, complete scope ownership from concept through delivery, and team assembly and leadership at significant project scale.
Strategic Context
This 2018 project demonstrates capabilities essential for synthetic production leadership today. The requirements haven't changed: multi-month timelines, permanent workflow systems, technical complexity, team coordination, and C-suite stakeholder management. Only the technology has evolved from projection mapping to AI production pipelines.
Credits
Client: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Production Company: Radical Media Studio
Executive Creative Director: John Kamen
Executive Producer: Naomi Gilbert
Creative Director: Felipe Posada
Executive Producer: Paul McAfee
Technical Director: Casey Drogin
CGI Artists: Nate Rodriguez-Vera, Gabriel Pulecio, Gavin Shaphiro
Lead Design: Ricardo Villavicencio
2D Animation/Compositing: Juan Monasterio, Paul Jae Kim, Jenny Yang, Cynthia Larenas, Felipe Posada
Creative Technologists: Brian Allen, Kelly Vigil
Production Company: Radical Media Studio
Executive Creative Director: John Kamen
Executive Producer: Naomi Gilbert
Creative Director: Felipe Posada
Executive Producer: Paul McAfee
Technical Director: Casey Drogin
CGI Artists: Nate Rodriguez-Vera, Gabriel Pulecio, Gavin Shaphiro
Lead Design: Ricardo Villavicencio
2D Animation/Compositing: Juan Monasterio, Paul Jae Kim, Jenny Yang, Cynthia Larenas, Felipe Posada
Creative Technologists: Brian Allen, Kelly Vigil
Location Photos
Design Exploration
