The 2014-15 Houston Rockets Season was filled with one goal in mind, the "Pursuit" of a NBA Championship. Coming out of the west with a regular season record of 56-26, the Houston Rockets solidified their 2nd seed positioning during the 2015 NBA Playoffs. After blitzing through the Dallas Mavericks and coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Houston Rockets ultimately fell in the Western Conference Finals to the eventual NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.

As the 2015-16 Houston Rockets season begins, the same goal and marketing campaign remained....... the "Pursuit" of a NBA Championship. I've always believed that victory is fueled by defeat. There is not a better way to show the emotions a player goes through after getting so close to their intended goal than to relive those moments that led up to that point in the first place. 

For the 2015-16 Houston Rockets marketing campaign, #Pursuit, we quickly take a media flashback of the ups and downs of the 2015 Playoffs as Dwight Howard, James Harden and co. explain in their own words the steps, focus, teamwork and determination its going to take to ultimately win the NBA Championship.

Year: 2015-16 Season
Distribution: Broadcast, Web, Social Media

The 2012-13 season sparked a new age of basketball and change for the Houston Rockets as they completely overhauled their roster with the likes of Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin and James Harden. The marketing campaign " A New Age" was born. As the 2012-13 Season came to a close, I was given the task of coming up with a video concept that demonstrated how the marketing campaign closely tied in with the team's web, broadcast, social media, in-arena and marketing efforts.

Sports Illustrated PromaxBDA 2013 Best Integrated Marketing Finalist

I am way overdue for an updated demo reel. I Just cant seem to find 3 consecutive days of free time..... the amount of time it took me to complete this one back in the Fall of 2010. Until that day comes, this one will do. This 2010 Motion Graphics Reel mostly showcases projects from the 2007, 2008, 2009-10 Rockets seasons as well as miscellaneous freelance projects and previous employers.

What was supposed to be a spectacular 2014 NBA Playoffs run, homegrown Houston based rappers Bun B & Slim Thug came out and performed in front of Toyota Center before the opening tip of the game 1 matchup between the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trailblazers. I was able to secure a pretty good spot in front of the stage and ultimately turn this into the official 2014 Houston Rockets Playoff music video.

After losing the first 2 games at home, and the series momentum, I quickly shelved the project as the lyrics didn't quite matchup up to what the team was displaying on the court at that moment. Facing a 3-1 series hole, I decided to reintroduce the video as a trip down memory lane hoping that the team could somehow duplicate the success of the 94-95 Rockets team that faced the same 3-1 scenario, ultimately winning the championship. Damian Lillard pretty much put a stop to all of that.

Year: 2014 NBA Playoffs
Distribution: Web, Social Media

During the NBA lockout of 2010, Fox Sports Net (the broadcasting network of the Rockets at the time) began airing Classic games of the Championship seasons in place of the canceled scheduled regular season Rockets games. "Clutch City Classics" was born. 

IDEA 2012 Special Occasion Finalist

Year: 2010-11 Lockout Season
Distribution: Broadcast
 

If I hear this song ONE MORE TIME.

In the off-season, in the middle of the whole Dwight Howard sweepstakes, the Entertainment Manager of the Houston Rockets, Natalie Alvarado, approached me on the idea of spoofing the internet video sensation "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. Seeing the potential, I quickly began conceptualizing the project. Quickly recognizing the coincidental naming puns, I also thought it would be a shame not to do 2 versions just like the real video. Each version shot, filmed and edited within 1 day, "BlurRED Lines" FUNrated & REDrated versions, quickly made juicy topics of discussion on social media and popular blogging sites.

Sports Illustrated

Ultimate Cheerleaders 

Year: 2013-14 Season
Distribution: Web

The 2014-15 Houston Rockets season is all about the pursuit of the NBA Championship. In a collection of interviews and press conference soundbites, teammates Dwight Howard and James Harden explain their focus and determination to make that ultimate goal come to fruition.

Year: 2014-15 Season

Distribution: Broadcast, Web, Social Media

For the last 11 seasons, one of my primary duties is to conceptualize, produce and deliver various commercial spots throughout the season promoting ticket initiatives, themed nights, marquee match ups, 3rd party Rockets events, promotional nights, giveaways and marketing promos. On average, I am able to produce a spot (record VO, edit, mix audio, animate, etc.) within 1-2 days and push to various local networks such as KTRK, KHOU, KPRC, KRIV and CSN. Depending on the reach of the promotion, TNT, ESPN and NBA TV are also networks that we air on. 

Year: 2007- Present
Distribution: National/Local Broadcast, Web, Social Media

Using the project that I already created for the 2012-13 Marketing Campaign - "A New Age", I maximized my time by switching out the music, voiceovers and slides creating a similar but totally different feel to a rehashed project. This promo advertised our various social media outlets Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Rockets.com.

Year: 2013-14 Season
Distribution: Social Media, Scoreboard

A :30 second commercial spot displaying the many features and benefits of the Houston Rockets Official Mobile App.

Year: 2013-14 Season
Distribution: Broadcast, Web, Social Media, Scoreboard

The 2014-15 Houston Rockets season is all about the pursuit of the NBA Championship. In a collection of interviews and press conference soundbites, James Harden, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, Terrence Jones and Patrick Beverley each individually explain their focus and determination to make that ultimate goal come to fruition.

Year: 2014-15 Season
Distribution: Web, Social Media

The 2014-15 Houston Rockets season was a huge success. Even though they came short of the ultimate goal of winning the NBA Championship, they came pretty close before being eliminated on the road in the Western Conference Finals. As they arrived home from a 2 and a half hour flight back to the city of Houston, loyal Rockets fans surprised their favorite hometown team at the airport and showed their appreciation while chanting their favorite Houston Rockets chants in the blistering Houston summer heat. The Rockets happily returned the favor by taking pictures and signing autographs to the delight of the fans.

Year: 2014-15 Season
Distribution: Web, Social Media

James Harden's former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, were scheduled to storm through the city and take on Harden's Rockets in a epic showdown of old and new. What better day is there to play on than Throwback Thursday!? Featuring old school rapper Tone Lōc as the Halftime performer, this splash page advertisement properly promoted this classic showdown of epic proportions. Let do it.

Year: 2014-15 Season
Distribution: Web, Social Medis

"A Familiar Foe" came to life as Toyota Center was blessed with the largest in-arena Scoreboard in North America. With a video display resolution real estate of 2960 x 1080, these served as animated bookends of a 1920 x 1080 screen displaying live shots of the opposing team while information about the current match-up animated for all to see.

Year: 2012-13 Season
Distribution: Scoreboard

A popular spin-off of the AT&T "Its Not Complicated" advertising campaign, the Houston Rockets quickly saw the potential of spoofing the commercial spots and using it to their advantage as they headed to the first round of the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Going with the playoff tagline "Younger. Faster. Fearless.", NBA Legend Calvin Murphy asks various kids what's better? Slower or Faster? Older or Younger? Oklahoma City's mascot, Bison or Houston's Mascot, Clutch the Bear? I think you get the picture.

Year: 2012-13 Season
Distribution: Web

This project came to fruition as RPD Coach Natalie Alvarado came to me with the idea of remaking Beyoncé's hit music video, 7/11. Having never seen the actual music video, I quickly watched it and realized I had the perfect location for the balcony scenes. My balcony! Shot on location at my apartment and within the halls of Toyota Center, RPDeyoncé - 7/11 turned out to be a faithful remake of Beyoncé's carefree video..... RPD style.

Year: 2014-15 Season
Distribution: Web, Social Media, Scoreboard

As Toyota Center was upgraded with one of the largest scoreboards in sports, so was everything else. Including a state of the art control room and robotic cameras filling up the arena and hallways. This gave way to new ideas and concepts such as "Backstage Pass", a behind the scenes look into the hallways leading into the player's locker rooms, areas normally inaccessible to the casual fan. This animation was built into the control room switcher and was usually cut between a on-court shot and hallway shot.

NBA Seasons:
          2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

In a push to place Dwight Howard & James Harden in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, this commercial spot demonstrated the different voting techniques a fan could use by the way of social media, casting votes online and texting.

Year: 2014-15 Season
Distribution: Broadcast, Social Media, Scoreboard

In- Arena crowd hype feature based off the popular mobile game "Angry Birds". Intended to excite the crowd during down moments within the game.

Year: 2009-10 Season
Distribution: Scoreboard

An animated James Harden bobblehead promotion displayed on the Rockets.com home page. As a user logs on, a 3 dimensional box unfolds on the bottom half of the page and unveils the bobblehead giveaway promotion as a voiceover details the promotion. 

Season: 2012-13 Season
Delivery: Web, Interactive