Diageo House of Spirits

PROJECTS

THE CHALLENGE

Theory House brought me in to photograph Diageo's House of Spirits Halloween campaign: a haunted mansion turned into ten distinct environments, each one built around a different Diageo brand. From the Bulleit foyer and Crown Royal parlor to the Tanqueray ballroom, Johnnie Walker study and Baileys bedroom, every room needed its own visual identity while still feeling like part of the same strange, atmospheric house. The challenge was finding enough variation to make each space feel specific without losing the thread connecting the whole campaign.

THE PLAN

I started with vision boards for all ten rooms, working out the lighting, color palette and mood around the personality of each brand before those concepts went through approval with the individual teams. Some spaces leaned dark and cinematic, others elegant, colorful or surreal, but they all had to belong in the same world. With ten sets to shoot, production ran a tight three day schedule with close coordination between photography, props and beverage styling. I worked alongside the agency and stylists throughout, refining compositions and lighting as each room came together, and the scope expanded mid-shoot to include an additional brand in its own room plus a half day of social content. I handled retouching for most of the campaign and brought in a second retoucher for the more complex composites.

THE RESULTS

Ten brands, ten rooms, one haunted house. Despite the number of sets, brands and approvals involved, we finished ahead of schedule, and the Diageo and Theory House teams called it one of the smoothest productions they'd worked on. The final campaign gave each brand its own distinct moment while holding together as one cohesive world, dark and moody in some rooms, playful and elegant in others, and just a little strange throughout.

BEHIND THE SCENES