Director’s Reel from our “50 CAR” project.
When we set out to develop a concept that would connect all three partners (Mobil 1, 23XI Racing, Toyota Racing Development USA), NASCAR and the three drivers who would man the 50 Car, the goal was to create a content outcome capable of delivering a new way for audiences to experience a race event.
In a made-for-IG format, we created 3 x 3-minute vignettes for each of the three races, documenting each driver’s race day experience. As individual, stand-alone episodes, the audience sees each race from a different athlete perspective, in a style that’s fresh and made to meet the audience where they live — on IG.
The challenge on this project was architecting a layered story and building heroes in an authentic way that didn’t just feel like content marketing. The first problem we needed to solve was how to create IG-native content that combats the epidemic of sameness that’s so pervasive on IG.
Our answer: Story matters. It engages. It’s the difference between messaging AT audiences and connecting WITH audiences.
Story is the beating heart of everything we make at The Marcs Studios — no matter the format or the platform, the subject or the space.
“50 CAR” evolved into something that felt different in all the right ways — a positively disruptive, artful blend of style and substance.
The Partners -
Mobil 1
NASCAR
23XI Racing
Toyota Racing Development USA
The Drivers -
Juan Pablo Montoya
Kamui Kobayashi
Corey Heim
The Team -
The Marcs Studios
Duda Bertho
Blaine Suque
Adam Booher
Jordan Baese
This Director’s Reel is a creative re-imagining of a previous project — marrying a shoot The Marcs Studios did with JJ Redick in NYC, with audio from his inaugural press conference with the Lakers… day 1, hour 1.
A former Duke Blue Devil, 15-year NBA vet, ESPN analyst, and first-ever player to launch a podcast, JJ was one of three basketball players we shot for a tech client who developed a platform that granted users access to world-class athletes’ training programs.
We felt there was some untapped potential with the material and decided to try and play around with it a bit… we landed on a visually-led, Instagram-first short, with a cool jazz track.
Hope you like . It was fun ;)
THE TEAM
Talent: @jjredick
Director: The Marcs
DP: @evan_barlow
Editor: @dudaberthofilms
Producer: The Marcs Studios
Grateful to The Webby Awards for showing us love this year — being named an Honoree in the “Video & Film - Branded Entertainment, Documentary” category for our work with Mobil 1 and Toyota North America.
The piece — the first episode of a six-part series titled “ONE MAKE” — features a 17-year-old skater-turned-pro-driver, Mia Lovell, who also happened to be the best female driver in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Cup North America.
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“ONE MAKE”, an original series The Marcs Studios developed and made for Mobil 1, shines a light on a layer of racing often overlooked. If the high stakes, uber expensive top tier of racing is the endgame, and the development-focused karting scene is the starting point, then grassroots, accessible single-make series — where winning and losing is more squarely decided by the driver’s technical ability — is the bridge between the two.
In “ONE MAKE”, we were granted exclusive access to North America’s newest and most competitive single-make series — the GR Cup North America, where the driver archetypes run the gamut. But the most compelling stories were the drivers under 25, who were all young, (very) fast and hungry.
The Partners -
Mobil 1
Toyota Racing Development USA
Toyota Gazoo Racing North America GR Cup Series
The Driver -
Mia Lovell
The Team -
The Marcs Studios
The Lion Entertainment Partners
Two years ago, we filmed with @drake.maye at University of North Carolina for his Pro Day and told his story for Amazon’s “It’s In The Game: Madden NFL” series.
Drake was respectful and thoughtful throughout the shoot. It’s been great to watch his growth since then, and to see him now leading the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl!
Below are a few frames we dig from the shoot.
#drakemaye #patriots #maddennfl #uncfootball #documentary
Super excited to share the trailer for “Ninety One” — our new documentary short following @extreme_ryan_delena and his quest to ski all 91 backcountry lines in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range. This is a story about courage, perseverance, and love for something bigger than yourself. #backcountryskiing #allianceagainstseclusionandrestraint #sportsdocumentary #mountwashington
This was the first time we used what we termed the “alone in a room” interview. I wish it was my idea. It turned out that good.
For this piece on Kolohe (see redbullsurfing/“21 Days”), @themarcs_salomon and I decided to build our audio story using three different interviews — on-the-fly moments throughout the shoot, a traditional sit down, and something experimental… @koloheandino would go into a room, alone, and we would text him the interview questions — one at a time — coupled with the direction to vocalize his stream of consciousness and inner voice fully (and hope for the best).
On one of the shoot days, we found a bench at the top of Avenida Del Mar in San Clemente, outside of where we grabbed lunch and we workshopped the 10 questions for the interview script.
The prompt we gave Kolohe was as stripped down as we (two over-explainers) could make it:
- Find a quiet room upstairs. There is no video being recorded in this interview. You will be wearing a mic.
- Once you’re ready, we will text you the first question. Read it out loud, then (when ready) begin your answer.
- When finished, text us, and we’ll send the next question.
Honestly, we had no idea what to expect. I mean, we’ve never said it, but I think both of us half expected it to fail... But as soon as he started talking, we knew we had something. We listened, huddled at the base of the stairway, as he gave us absolute gold.
His response to the first question, “Who am I?”, is what you’re hearing. It’s something we’re calling “The Interview”. An IG-first format where old becomes new again, re-imagined into a more current application. Our hope is we’ve landed on a package that highlights our favorite interviews from past projects.
@dudaberthofilms flexing on the edit.
Excited to share that our film, Parting the Waters, will be screening at the Chelsea Film Festival @chelseafilmfestival on October 16th, with an encore screening on October 22nd!
We’re so proud to be part of this inspirational story about one woman’s courageous journey to find herself in a world filled with immense obstacles.
If you’ll be in NYC during those dates, come check it out! Tickets are going fast.
@michelekupfer@partingthewaters_film@akasefilms@themarcs_salomon@marc_levy
Soccer has always been my passion. It’s how I connect with my community, with myself, and now something I share with my two sons.
While it’s been a lifelong passion, it has rarely crossed into my professional life as a filmmaker.
That’s why this project mattered. It was a chance to bring those worlds together — purely for the joy of doing so.
Enter @bradleymulvey , founder of @firststrikesoccer . Someone whose passion for soccer not only informs but defines his life’s work. At the level of success he’s achieved, being a great coach on the field is a given. But what sets him apart is the way he ties his own success so deeply to the outcomes, growth, and progress of his players.
With Bradley, it's not just about how someone kicks or runs — he sees who they are, how they carry themselves, and he focuses on the person they can become.
As he puts it: “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄.”
This vignette may be short, but it carries something larger: a glimpse of what happens when 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 and 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 align.
- Marc Salomon
Co-Founder, The Marcs Studios
#soccer #soccerlife #soccergame #soccertraining #soccerskills
#filmmaking #film #cinematography #visualstorytelling #storytelling
#youthsoccer #coachlife #sportsfilm #reelsvideo #passionproject
Thrilled to share that “Parting The Waters” just won Best Feature Documentary at the Rhode Island International Film Festival @flickers.riiff !
So grateful to everyone who embraced this story and to the audiences who felt it as deeply as we do. Here are some of our favorite frames from the film featuring our hero and Co-Director, Michele @michelekupfer
For nearly three years, we collaborated with Michele Kuvin Kupfer @michelekupfer and Austin Kase @akasefilms to create Parting the Waters @partingthewaters_film — a documentary feature about identity, personal actualization, family, and the weight of history. The process was one of love, struggle, discovery, and joy — an experience we’ll always be grateful for.
Now, as the film prepares for its world premiere at the Rhode Island International Film Festival @flickers.riiff on August 8, 2025, we’re honored to finally share it with the world.
We are beyond excited to announce that Parting The Waters will have its Premiere at the Oscar-Qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival! ♥️🙌 Thank you to everyone who has stood by us and supported us on this journey. We can’t wait to share this story with you all. Tickets will be on sale soon but hold the date: Friday, August 8th at 6 pm. 🏊♀️ See you in August! @flickers.riiff #PartingTheWaters #documentary #swim #swimming #riiff #flickers
“My life without breaking…I probably would have been stuck in Kissimmee for the rest of my life.”
In this clip from @redbull 's “Remember the Name” series, B-Boy Victor - Olympic medalist and BC One champion - ponders the tremendous impact breaking has had in his life.
#VictorMontalvo #SupaMontalvo #TeamUSA #BreakingForGold #RedBullBCOne #MexOne #BboyLife #BboyCulture #Breakdancing #Breakdance #BboyDocumentary #BCOneAllStars #RedBullDance
#SonyAlpha #ShotOnSony #SonyCine #SonyAlphaUniverse #DocumentaryFilm #DocLife #BehindTheMovement #FilmmakersLife #Cinematography #CreativeDirection #ThrowbackDoc #DanceDocumentary
