A movement driven brand spec built around style, versatility, and New York street energy
Project Type: Independent spec commercial
Brand Inspiration: Adidas Sambas
Studio: 88 Hues / Nuvee Club Studio / Nukhu Media, LLC
Director / Producer: LaChelle Chrysanne
Director of Photography / Editor: Sanjay Singh
Color: Matthew Annitto / Nice Shoes
Format: Short form brand spec
Filmed: November to December 2024
Edited: Early spring 2025
Released: Late spring 2025
Location: Lower East Side, New York City
The completed spot is featured at the end of this case study.
Note: This was an independent spec project and was not commissioned by Adidas.
Overview
The Adidas Sambas spec began as a portfolio building project from director and producer LaChelle Chrysanne. As a growing film director with a strong eye for design, movement, styling, and composition, LaChelle wanted to create a brand inspired piece that could showcase her directorial voice while also exercising a more ambitious production approach.
The creative idea was built around the visibility and versatility of Adidas Sambas. The shoe already lives across different styles, subcultures, and everyday city movement. LaChelle saw the Sambas everywhere and wanted to capture that range through a dynamic cast moving through the texture of New York City.
The result was a fast moving, style led spec commercial featuring models, skateboarders, BMX riders, dancers, and performers across multiple Lower East Side locations. The piece became an early proof of what Nuvee Club Studio can do when a director led concept is supported by a small, flexible production team and a clear visual point of view.
Creative Strategy
The concept was simple: show the Samba as a shoe that moves across different kinds of people, bodies, looks, and city rhythms.
Rather than build the spot around a traditional product demonstration, LaChelle approached the shoe as part of a larger cultural image. The commercial moves through New York as a living backdrop, using the city’s streets, textures, weather, and performers to make the shoe feel active and adaptable.
The visual language was designed to feel energetic, stylish, and raw without losing polish. The cast was intentionally varied, with each person bringing a different kind of motion and presence to the frame. Some moments lean into fashion and portraiture. Others lean into skating, BMX, dance, and city movement.
The creative goal was not just to show a shoe. It was to show how a single product can belong to multiple people, multiple styles, and multiple pockets of the same city.
Director’s Vision
LaChelle wanted the project to function as both a brand spec and a personal directing exercise. After spending much of the previous year expanding her knowledge of composition and cinematography, she built the project as a way to test her directorial instincts on a visually ambitious, movement based concept.
She selected Adidas Sambas because of their cultural presence and versatility. The shoe could believably move from fashion styling to street performance to skating to dance without feeling out of place.
LaChelle also coordinated the wardrobe, styling, and shoe choices for each featured talent, helping define the visual identity of each performer while keeping the spot cohesive as one brand world.
Production Approach
The spot was filmed over multiple days across November and December 2024. The production was spread across a week of shooting, allowing the team to capture different performers, locations, looks, and movement setups throughout the Lower East Side.
The production approach was lean, mobile, and highly physical. Instead of building a controlled studio commercial, the team worked with the city as the environment. That meant moving quickly, adapting to weather and location conditions, and finding energy in real streets, sidewalks, parks, and urban textures.
Sanjay Singh served as director of photography and editor, shooting the piece with a handheld and mobile production approach that allowed the camera to move with the performers. The style was designed to feel kinetic and close to the action, matching the pace of the cast and the street setting. The Ronin 4D - 8K allowed for precision camera movement without support gear or additional equipment. Leica R lenses aided the vintage aesthetic.
Because the project featured a large ensemble, the production also required careful coordination around wardrobe, shoes, locations, talent timing, and movement based coverage.
Post Production
Sanjay edited the spot in early spring 2025, shaping the footage into a fast paced brand piece that emphasized rhythm, visual contrast, and ensemble movement.
The edit needed to balance several different kinds of footage: performance moments, fashion portraits, skating, biking, dancing, walking, and environmental transitions. The challenge was to make the spot feel unified while still allowing each featured talent to bring a distinct presence.
LaChelle sourced and licensed the music from an existing piece online, giving the edit a strong rhythmic foundation. The final color grade was completed by Matthew Annitto at Nice Shoes, giving the piece a polished commercial finish while preserving the grit and texture of the New York locations.
The spot was released in late spring 2025.
What This Project Shows
The Adidas Sambas spec shows how the Nuvee Club Studio can support director led brand concepts with a lean but focused production model.
It demonstrates:
Director driven brand storytelling
Fashion and lifestyle commercial production
Movement based cinematography
Run and gun street production
Wardrobe and style coordination
Large ensemble talent coordination
Music driven editing
Professional color finishing
Portfolio building for emerging commercial directors
Brand inspired visual world building
This project also shows how the Nuvee Club Studio can help artists create proof of concept work that feels client ready, even when the project begins as an independent creative exercise.
Credits
Director / Producer: LaChelle Chrysanne
Director of Photography / Editor: Sanjay Singh
Production Assistants: Niteka Creative, Miyoshi, Monbon
Colorist: Matthew Annitto / Nice Shoes
Music: X9 Beatz
Cast
Serena Nicole
Seazn
Holy Mel
Boudicca Taitano
Val Vannucci
Soft Jupiter
Paul Staylow
Ali Val
Daniela Ichiyanagui
Jay Train
The Work
Featured spot: Adidas Sambas Spec