Case Study: Opening Video — 2025 Mayor's Design Awards

CASE STUDY · Government & Civic · Denver, CO · 2025

Client: City & County of Denver | Agency: Aguilar PR | Deliverable: Documentary film · 2:35 | Timeline: 3–4 weeks

300+ attendees · 5 locations filmed · 2:35 runtime · 20+ planning meetings

01 — The Brief

The Mayor's Design Awards is the City and County of Denver's annual recognition of outstanding contributions to the built environment — celebrating work that advances architecture, placemaking, sustainability, equity, and community impact. Every year, it brings together the people who shape Denver: city leadership, urban planners, architects, developers, nonprofit organizations, and community advocates.

For the 2025 edition, the Mayor's Office — coordinated through Aguilar PR and the City's Community Planning and Development communications team — commissioned Panamericana Media to produce the opening film. The brief was clear: set the tone for the entire evening, honor the meaning of design in people's lives, and build anticipation before the winners were announced to an audience of over 300 people.

02 — The Challenge

From the first brief to final delivery, the team had 3 to 4 weeks. In that window, Panamericana Media coordinated over 20 planning sessions across the PR agency and the City's communications layer — aligning on creative vision, interview subjects, filming locations, and review cycles simultaneously.

Key challenges navigated:

• Shifting interview subjects — The original lineup included the Mayor. When that changed, the team pivoted the entire interview structure without losing the film's authority and civic voice.

• Scope expanded mid-production — Drone cinematography was not in the original brief. Panamericana proposed and added it — at additional cost — because it elevated the final piece significantly.

• Multi-stakeholder approval chain — Creative decisions required alignment across a PR agency, city communications manager, and multiple departments, all within the same compressed window.

• Five locations across the city — Coordinating access and crew logistics for five distinct filming locations simultaneously, each a previous award winner with its own story and context.

03 — The Production

The film is built on the perspective of three respected civic and design figures, speaking to the relationship between the built environment and the quality of people's lives. Their interviews are woven together with footage filmed at five previous Mayor's Design Award-winning locations across Denver.

Featured voices:

• John Deffenbaugh — President & CEO, Historic Denver

• Peter Park — Director, Peter Park City Planning and Design

• Kendra Black — Former Council Member, Denver City Council District 4

Filming locations — previous award winners:

• McGregor Square — Winner 2021

• The Bosler House — Winner 2012

• Little Man Ice Cream — Winner 2008

• RiNo Outfall — Winner 2018

• Thomas Jefferson High School Bus Stop — Winner 2018

04 — The Result

The film opened the 2025 Mayor's Design Awards ceremony and was screened a second time immediately before the winner announcements — giving it a dominant presence throughout the evening.

• Screened twice on the main stage — as the event's opening piece and again before the winners were announced to 300+ city leaders, officials, and designers.

• Received enthusiastic praise from the Mayor's Office team and city officials in attendance at the ceremony.

• Published on the City and County of Denver's official website and distributed through the city's official communications channels.

• Available publicly on YouTube as a permanent record of the 2025 Mayor's Design Awards.

"The Mayor's team loved it. People really loved it as well — it was a great video."

— Aguilar PR, on behalf of the Mayor's Office, City and County of Denver

Watch the full film on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kqDtvr1c6XA?si=b1DeQz18NJMQLaRP

Credits: Panamericana Media (Production) · Aguilar PR (Project coordination) · City & County of Denver (Client) · Community Planning & Development (City liaison)