Black Sunshine.
NIKI’S ROLE:
Concept, direction & production
MADE FOR:
Nick Jr. · At Nickelodeon Brand Creative
A joyful affirmation of childhood.
FORMAT:
Live action & animation hybrid music video
BLACK SUNSHINE · Nick Jr
THE CREATIVE APPROACH
Real families.
An imaginative world.
Live action, original illustration & animation.
Black Sunshine was developed to center the warmth and spontaneity of real family moments, bringing live action, poetry, illustration, and animation together into a joyful celebration of Black childhood.
Niki shaped the spot’s message and structure, then directed and produced the resulting music video. The creative challenge was making footage captured across different locations feel connected. The idea was to give each family’s personality room to shine while building a cohesive visual world.
Illustration by Andrea Pippins.
FINDING A WAY TO MAKE IT
A shoot without a shared set.
COVID meant we couldn’t bring children and families together for a conventional shoot.
I developed a distributed production with Black directors of photography and families filming in their own locations. I directed remotely, then brought that footage together with illustration and animation.
Filmed locally. Directed remotely.
One cohesive film.
BEYOND THE LINEAR AIR
Black Sunshine // 1515 Broadway - Time Square
A message out in the world.
The spot also appeared in Times Square and on Nickelodeon’s 1515 Broadway building for Black History Month.
BEYOND THE LINEAR AIR
Selected credits:
Work completed by Niki Williams while at Nickelodeon Brand Creative.
Concept, spot development, direction & production
Niki Williams
Narration
Written by
Illustration
Illustration
Alicia Keys
Brandon N. Caddell
Christian Branham
Avery Gunn
Andrea Pippins
First Fight