MICHAEL KUSHNER’S PORTFOLIO
01 Stink Studios
Sep 2025-Present
KALSHI — YOU CAN TRADE ON THAT
Kalshi is a “Prediction Market for Trading the Future”. You can legally trade on things like: the Rotten Tomatoes score for an upcoming movie; the weather; the price of bitcoin by the end of the year, and yes, politics.
For a relatively unknown brand and product, we wanted to keep the message extremely simple: You can trade on that.
Concept: a regular guy walks into a gas station at night and interacts with a potentially mythical woman behind the counter. The clerk seems like she knows something we don’t.
We got to work with director Gary Freedman and learned a lot about casting and getting the best performances out of the actors. And DP Lachlan Milne (Minari, Stranger Things) taught us about lighting, composition and rigging just about anything.
BELLA — FITS ANYWHERE. EVEN THERE.
A brand campaign that takes Bella’s space-saving kitchenware on an epic adventure.
Bella came to us to help them launch their space-saving kitchenware line. A world awash with bland, minimal, Pinterest-style kitchens, the kitchenware category has forgotten how to have fun. But Bella’s space-saving designs gave them permission as a brand to show up in spaces where kitchenware has never gone before. Turns out, Bella fits anywhere. Even there.
We got to work with Argentinian director Maca Rubio who gave us a master class in framing, art direction and set design. All sets were built on location in Buenos Aires.
CASPER — COZY IS CALLING
Casper had one ask for their new product launch — we must own the word “cozy”.
We decided to anthropomorphize mattresses by way of three distinct “Cozies” that were a nice mix of creepy and cute.
These Cozies couldn’t comprehend why you (the Casper owner) would ever leave your cozy bed. So while their owners were away, they sang songs to get them back into bed.
This one was a week away from the shoot and got postponed. We had monsters fully built in Bulgaria, full rights to the song Right Here Waiting, and hotels booked for the entire crew.
Putting this in here to show what’s to come.
Treatment here from Director Hernan Corera.
Other clients include: Google, Meta, Nike, Spotify, Zillow, Hasbro, WeTransfer.