Coco & Breezy on Their Directing Debut for L2M

Last week, shots introduced the creative brains behind L2M – a new-age girl group assembled to support the launch of LEGO Friends movie, Girlz 4 Life.

The five 11-12-year-old members were officially unveiled at a live launch event in New York earlier this month where they performed for fans and entertained guests at a venue decorated in their animated theme.

L2M's debut video (below) - for single Girlz - was released at the end of January and encapsulates what they are all about with dance routines, animated emoji acrion and general good times aplenty. The directors behind the footage are twin creative duo and eyewear designers, Coco & Breezy, who also represent a strong, female entrepreneurial spirit having built their successful brand in New York.

Below, the pair talk about their involvement with the project, including making their directing debut on the video and how they’ve been channelling their experience and creativity to make the girl power passion shine through.

Tell us about your path into the creative industry…

We’re entrepreneurs and started our business, an eyewear company, at 19. That’s how we started in the industry, by designing sunglasses for people like Prince, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Nicky Minaj, pretty much all the top celebrities. That developed our inspiration to work with music and music and fashion coincide very well. Being the owners of the company, we were able to brand and market ourselves by ourselves. We started by doing all the creative direction and directing for our own branded videos but we had so many ideas that we wanted to work with other people.

And what attracted you to the L2M project?

The way we got in contact with the L2M crew was through Luti Media, our representation company; they hit us up and the deadline was the next day. They said there’s a kids’ song for a girl group and needed a treatment. It sounded great and they knew we’d get it. We worked with Leighton Pope (co-director Girlz) and stayed up all night to submit by the next morning. We were so inspired when we heard about the inspiration behind the song and all came together to really implement something that we could all relate to, including their young generation and adults too.

Tell us about the experience of co-directing your first music video…

We were a little nervous to be on set with the girls at first, because they were 10 and 11 year olds and we were wondering whether they’d be able to take the direction as it was their first video too. It was the first time they’d performed in front of the camera, but it turned out that anything we said and asked of them they just did with ease. We also wanted to have that natural feeling so we told them our concept and allowed them to make it their own.

There were a lot of fun times off camera and we were dancing with them behind the scenes the whole time. We might be older than them but our generation kind of merges together with the millennials idea, and we were taking selfies, Snap Chatting, Instagramming... When you’re working with kids of that age, you don’t want them to feel like it’s work and they have to switch on and off. It should be fun to hang out and we live that every day through our creativity.

And after the video came the physical launch event in New York. How did that compare?

We wanted people to come inside and get a taste of L2M and their world. It was very inspired by the video and the art work with a nail bar, signing and selfie sessions and the girls performing. Not only are we directors and producers, we’re really great at marketing and understanding what a consumer wants. It’s all about brand equity and making it real. Letting the fans and supporters know that these girls are human and they do all the things other kids do.

And what was it like to interact with the fans you’ve been targeting at the event?

It was really amazing, as soon as the kids walked in and came into the L2M universe, seeing their eyes light up made us so happy because that was the goal, for kids and adults to just come in and have a great time. Something we’re also excited about is that even from directing the video a year ago and now seeing the girls dance and perform, we’ve witnessed their growth. These girls are so smart and they’re growing tremendously, from their dancing and singing performance, the synergy together is so natural.

And how does it feel to have hosteed the launch event in your home city?

 It feels unreal bring it to life in New York. It makes sense because it stands for unity. We’re in the most amazing city in the United States and we’re bringing so many different people together under one roof so it shows what L2M really stands for; bringing people together whether you’re a boy or a girl, no matter what culture or where you’re from, everyone can come together and have that emotional connection. We’re all leaders.

And what are your hopes for L2M now that the video is out there?

We hope they continue to influence the youth. They’re at the exact age when kids are evolving into adults so I can’t wait to see their influence. They’re so talented and inspiring.