ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — An Asheville project wants people to fall in love with the city again.
“We want to bring tourists back. We want them to fall back in love with us. We’re here, and we want you guys here,” said Jay Schulz, who runs Side By Side Media.
The video project features a heart and several local businesses.
Schulz and Kristie Godin were brainstorming with the marketing team for ideas for a Valentine’s Day shoot.
“And then all of a sudden Jay and I started thinking like, ‘What could we do Valentine’s Day love-related?’ And I just came up with how about rekindle love for Asheville because we don’t want people to fall in love with Asheville. We want people to re-fall back into love with Asheville after the storm,” Godin said. “And then we’re just like trying to think how many people we knew personally and how many businesses that we might be able to get to do it.”
During a recent morning, the pair were at The Lion and the Rose Bed and Breakfast in Montford preparing for a shoot. Schulz hung a heart in front of the house using fishing line. The idea was to have Lion and Rose owners Steve and Karen Wilson stand on the front porch and wave while Schulz maneuvered a drone through the heart toward the couple and then back out again.
While waiting on the shoot to start, Karen Wilson looked around the yard at the bed and breakfast.
“There’s still debris there,” she said pointing to a pile of limbs. “We had four trees against the back of the house that, luckily, didn’t damage anything. They were just leaning against the back of the house.”
There was some damage to the fence.
“But, luckily, that was the worst of it outside,” she said.
The worst damage was in the basement, where she and her husband live.
“Unfortunately, we had to get mold remediation and, basically, they had to gut our area. So, we’re still rebuilding our little space. But everything inside is perfect for guests. It was just our living quarters that were damaged,” she said.
The video
The main sound in the video will be a heartbeat, Schulz said.
“Because these businesses are the heartbeat of Asheville,” he said.
As of now, they have about 10 businesses lined up to be featured in the video set to drop on Valentine’s Day.
Schulz and Kristie Godin said they might include some Asheville landmarks, too.
“Obviously, we’re still in recovery mode,” Schulz said. “But, we’re open. We’re, you know, everything’s good. We’re never going to be the same. But the people here are always going to be the same. So, if you came here and you loved the people, you’re really going to love us now.”
The plan is to post the video across social media platforms with the businesses collaborating with Side By Side Media to share it. They also hope social media influencers in the area will share the video, too.