High Steaks
A CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF CAMPAIGN
24-HOUR HERO TURNAROUND | MULTI-FORMAT CAMPAIGN | NATIONAL TALENT
OVERVIEW
What happens when you take a steakhouse experience thousands of feet off the ground?
High Steaks brought Certified Angus Beef® and Joel McHale together for an ambitious branded adventure — serving an unforgettable steak dinner high above the ground on the side of a mountain.
The campaign combined cinematic storytelling, comedy, food, and documentary-style content to turn an unexpected experience into a larger collection of stories built for digital and social audiences.
I helped establish the campaign's post-production identity through the initial High Steaks sizzle, then carried that creative language across a series of short-form nano docs and additional content featuring Joel McHale.
THE CHALLENGE
The High Steaks shoot had all the ingredients for a memorable campaign: an incredible location, a recognizable personality, great food, and plenty of unscripted moments.
But the first challenge was speed. Once the footage arrived via a hard drive overnighted directly from the shoot, I had just 24 hours to turn it into the campaign's initial hero sizzle.
That meant quickly finding the story within a large volume of new footage, establishing the campaign's editorial rhythm and visual language, and delivering a polished piece without the luxury of an extended post-production schedule.
At the same time, the film needed to balance the cinematic scale of the experience with Joel's personality, the food, and the people and craftsmanship behind Certified Angus Beef — establishing a creative foundation that could extend into the larger campaign.
MY ROLE
I led editing and motion design across the initial High Steaks sizzle, nano-doc series, and supporting campaign content.
My role included shaping story and pacing, developing the editorial style, designing and integrating motion graphics and typography, building social-first vertical edits, and using music and sound design to reinforce both the cinematic scale and comedic personality of the campaign.
Across the larger content ecosystem, my focus was maintaining a cohesive creative language while giving each piece enough flexibility to tell its own story.
THE APPROACH
With just 24 hours from receiving the footage to final delivery, I quickly immersed myself in the material — identifying the strongest story beats and using the edit to establish the energy, pacing, and visual language of High Steaks.
The hero film moved between sweeping adventure footage, intimate food photography, humor, and documentary-style moments, balancing the spectacle of the experience with Joel McHale's personality and the people behind Certified Angus Beef.
That initial edit became the creative foundation for the broader campaign. I carried its editorial language into a series of social-first nano docs, each highlighting a different piece of the High Steaks story. Rather than simply creating cutdowns of the hero film, each became its own miniature narrative — giving individual personalities, food, preparation, and behind-the-scenes moments room to lead.
Additional talent-driven content with Joel extended the campaign even further, while consistent editing, motion design, typography, music, and sound design helped connect each piece back to the larger High Steaks experience.
THE OUTCOME
High Steaks grew from one larger-than-life experience into a multi-format branded content campaign.
The initial sizzle established the world of the campaign, while the nano docs and additional Joel McHale content allowed individual stories and personalities to continue that experience across social.
The idea ultimately traveled beyond Certified Angus Beef's own channels as well, with Joel sharing the High Steaks experience during an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show — extending the campaign into mainstream entertainment and introducing the story to an even broader audience.
What started with a simple question — how far would you go for a great steak? — became a campaign designed to make the answer impossible to forget.