SHINOLA

A Detroit-based luxury design brand with an unwavering commitment to crafting products that are built to last—from timepieces to leather goods, jewelry to audio. With quality as their foundation, they celebrate thoughtful design and the beauty of the industry through every product made.

Concept Ideation
Director Treatments
Script writing
Story Development + Producing
Art Direction & Narrative Style
Pre Production + Tech Scouting
Location + Talent Management
Production + Equipment Management
Director + DP Talent
Editorial
Sound Design
Music Supervision
Music Composition
VO Talent

How do you make an icon?
The simple answer is—you don’t.

Making an icon

After 10 years of direct marketing, Shinola had little penetration in other markets outside the midwest and east coasts. They needed to broadcast a story.

They asked themselves “what is it that we make?"

We knew there could be no actors here. “It should just be us because that’s the only thing we know how to be."

We can’t have an actor sketch the watch, we can’t have an actor stitch the leather, we can't have an actor do the hand setting—it had to be those who live it.

For 10 years, Titus worked alongside an elite team, traveling to Switzerland and Belgium to learn from master watch makers. He then went on to teach Shinola employees how to build them, iterating over prototype after prototype and refining time pieces to be nothing but well-made.

All for the exalted honor of becoming well-worn, Titus’s story was the story of Shinola.

Director | Ariel Ellis
Executive Creative Director | Rory McHarg
Executive Producers | Nate Segall, Jon Braue & Joseph Talbot
Producer | Stevie Ansara
Director of Photography | Dimitrius Ramirez
Editor | Joseph Talbot
Post Producer | Carly Atto
Composer | Zak Engel

True story: A Shinola Runwell was lost at sea and it was found a year later, still ticking. We retold its incredible journey back to the factory in hopes of reuniting it with its owner.

Is This Your Runwell?

Jay Sullivan found the Runwell at the bottom of a marina in Virginia, still ticking. He sent the watch back to Shinola with the hope that they could track down the owner. In most cases, a registered serial number is the way, though this one was not registered.

The story was broadcasted over the internet and in stores.

Then, 18 months later, the owner came forward and was reunited.

It was a testament to the quality of manufacturing and a brand story not even the brand could write.

Writer / Director | Rory McHarg
Executive Producers | Jonathan Braue & Joseph Talbot
Producer | Anthony Bommarito
Director of Photography | Tommy Daguanno

Production Designer | Pat Bird
Editor | Nikki Finn
Composer | Orbital Sound

VFX | Rory McHarg