It’s not very often that a business forms as a byproduct of a social initiative. That, though, is indeed the case with one of Louisville’s latest production companies.
In late 2021, a photographer and videographer — both a few years away from being able to order a bourbon — had decided over a cup of coffee to form what would become Louisville Creative Connection, a movement to unite creatives to help solidify the city’s art scene.
“We were putting in so much work into Creative Connection. We all [said] ‘Oh, we’ve got to make some money,’” Jason Morales, the photographer, told me.
“Along the way, we realized that we really should just create our own production company,” Sage Delaney, the videographer, added.
Morales was working with Delaney, and another videographer Austin Ozier, to build up LCC by staging social events out of their own pockets — which began with a large kickoff party in June last year.
“As of right now, this is something that we do out of our heart, because this is something that we want to see for the city,” Morales said.
Morales, Delaney and Ozier met each other at a photoshoot for the Phenotype fashion line produced by Louisville native and mutual friend Kase Fenley, who currently lives in New York City.
Having all worked together on several projects, the trio founded Medici Creative in January 2022, as a way to put all of their undertakings as freelancers under one umbrella, while using their collective youth — the average age of the three is 22 — to their advantage.
“We started our company because we saw time and time again, potentially impactful and important stories falling flat because there were no local creative agencies that had developed an understanding of how to create content and tell stories effectively in today’s digital and short-attention-span world,” said Delaney, who was named to our Inno Under 25 list in September.
“We’ve kind of come up with that fresh, Gen Z perspective … We have a very different look and a very different vibe than just about any other production company in the city," Morales added.
Medici has been using its connections in the city’s social scene to create large opportunities since it began. Highlights include doing video spots for Woodford Reserve and Louisville Tourism, event coverage photos for startup Party Horse’s bash at the Ice House in Downtown Louisville on Oaks Night in May and the release party of Jack Harlow’s “Come Home the Kids Miss You” album, also in May at the same venue.
Through making a connection to Los Angeles-based sports agent Zach Soskin, co-founder of Voltage Management, Morales landed a deal doing the creative work for the new “Flyville” brand is being launched by incoming University of Louisville freshman quarterback Pierce Clarkson — in the strange new world of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with NCAA athletes.
Morales also has done several photo shoots with recruits when they have been on official visits, as well as current UoL football players. He had initially started to earn his stripes in the local sports scene when he served as a part-time photographer for the Louisville Bats during the 2021 season.
“They come to me when they basically need to look cool on social media,” Morales said of UoL student athletes. “That way, they’re more likely to get more NIL deals and everything else.”
'The renaissance of Louisville'
Medici’s name stems from the surname of the Italian family composed of wealthy bankers who largely funded the Renaissance from their home city of Florence.
“We don’t necessarily want to provide money, but we want to kind of produce the renaissance of Louisville,” Morales said.
Delaney said that although the company will continue to take on projects involving events, commercials and fashion shoots, it will also be shifting some of its focus to producing narrative content for nonprofit and social-impact-focused organizations. Although he could not list any clients in this space by name, he did say that several partnerships were in the works.
Going forward, Medici hopes to add to its current employee count of three by bringing on two more team members to handle paid advertising and social media management of clients — as well as two other contract workers.
The startup currently does not have a studio space, but the founders are hopeful to secure one in the near future.
Medici, at the moment, is not currently seeking outside funding from investors, but they are looking for sponsorship help to assist with funding the next iteration of the Louisville Creative Connection. The collective is on a bit of hiatus, after Morales said that it grew faster than they had thought. The hope is to officially pick the operations back up again in the early spring.
"If you look at any major arts city in the United States … New York City, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, L.A. ... At their core, the reason they've become such big art cities is because they have gigantic communities of artists,” Morales said. “And that's something that when we started Creative Connection, we knew wasn't quite there. And that's what we hope to build.”
