Nice For What – Drake

Nice for What is a celebration of female representation and all its nuance. It’s a display of empowerment, and an exploration of how the meaning of empowerment can shift from person to person. For each of the 16 women in the video, Karena creates a unique world for them to play within; to rule and reign over. Collaborating closely with them in the creative process, Karena made sure to speak specifically to what makes each of them feel powerful, using a futuristic aesthetic to drive the narrative that the future is female, and the future is now.

Indeed, the energy of every woman contributed to the process, inspiring the creative and influencing the vision behind their particular sequence. And beyond those on camera, the female filmmakers and crew all made huge contributions to a story that Drake wanted driven by women.

When it came to the shoot itself, capturing the different worlds that Karena was creating meant moving to multiple shooting locations, making for a lengthy 4-week production. Travelling to New York, London, and LA, there was no time to rest, even with this longer process. All pre-production, production, and post-production happened at the same time, with the entire team living and collaborating in a single house in LA. Karena was writing creatives for each feature while also location scouting to shoot the next day, then going home to edit scenes that had already been captured.

Working under this intensity, with everything happening at once, it was necessary for much of the process to be defined as the project evolved. This was epitomized with just 3 scenes left to shoot, when Drake dramatically changed the song they were working to. Adding the breakdown at the bridge that we have all come to know and love, the tempo shifted completely. However, as a director that thrives when she thinks on her feet and follows impulse, Karena then used these final scenes to build the tempo, ultimately capturing moments that were pivotal to carrying the tone of the video.