Ian Applegate

Shops At Yale

In 2014, Yale Corporation's commercial real estate division, The Shops At Yale, reached out to my @nhvorg X account (formerly Twitter) to request a meeting about some social media initiatives they were pursuing. At the time, platforms like Twitter were still relatively new, and Instagram was only four years old. Many, including myself, were exploring ways to utilize new media to direct attention to creative endeavors and projects. This outreach led to a collaboration lasting several years, during which I was selected by Yale to produce media representing their interests on a national stage.

During this period, New Haven was hosting the Connecticut Open, and Yale was given a 30-second commercial spot on the Tennis Channel to promote downtown New Haven as a destination for shopping and culture. They had already produced a radio commercial of the same length and asked me to shoot B-roll, synchronize it with the audio from the radio spot, and create a TV commercial.

To be honest, it’s not the greatest piece I’ve ever created; that probably came later. But for a guy with a Twitter account and a DSLR, it was a huge opportunity. At the time, I desperately needed the income, though I kept that to myself. The project was well received and gave me the confidence to pursue opportunities that have since taken me to places I could never have imagined when I was just a kid working at a coffee shop near Yale’s Law School only a few years before.