Our Top Five Videos of 2017
From the rural towns of Namibia to the suburban neighborhoods of Flint, Michigan, we’ve been fortunate to tell incredible stories from near and far over the last 12 months.
It’s been an incredible reward to watch our films reach so many people thanks to exciting distribution opportunities with partners like Upworthy, The Atlantic, The Guardian and USA Today.
To celebrate the end of a great year, we’ve listed our five most widely shared projects below.
Collectively, they’ve touched the hearts and minds of millions. We hope they’ll make an impact on you too!
Earlier this year we met Tim Bartow, a young man with a rare form of cerebral palsy that affects just 100 people in the U.S. Despite his illness, Tim has hopes and dreams including traveling the world and becoming a screenwriter. Realizing that virtual reality would give Tim an opportunity to experience many of the things on his bucket list, we gifted Tim a VR headset and captured the magical moment he experienced the immersive medium for the first time.
Working with United Cerebral Palsy, the film raises awareness of illnesses like Tim’s and shows Tim’s humanity before his disability. We partnered with Upworthy, USA Today and others to share Tim’s New World with millions of viewers. We were overwhelmed by the touching responses.
Thanks to the film’s global reception, Tim has befriended people around the world who have offered him everything from pints of Guinness to the opportunity to have his screenplay read in front of a live audience.
On behalf of SEE International, a charity that works to restore sight to those in need, our team traveled to Namibia to meet the incredible Dr. Helena Ndume, an ophthalmologist who has performed sight-saving surgeries on 35,000 Namibians.
While in Namibia, we had the opportunity to capture Dr. Ndume as she performed surgeries free of charge. Once completed, National Geographic and Upworthy shared the film with their audiences. As we watched the reactions roll in on social media, we were overjoyed to see thousands of kind and positive responses to both SEE International and Dr. Ndume’s heroic work.
The film has won multiple awards including a Rosey Award for Best Web Video and Best Philanthropic/Human Rights Campaign at the Cynopsis Social Good Awards, among others.
As part of our ongoing collaboration with Pearson Education, we told the story of Ricardo, a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and immigration activist from Oregon.
Like many undocumented immigrants, Ricardo’s parents have faced a great deal of adversity to give their children a better life. However, Ricardo and his siblings still struggle to access higher education, particularly since the Trump administration ended the DACA program.
On Sept. 1, 2018, Pearson released a letter including Ricardo’s Story, calling for the preservation of DACA and highlighting the importance of education for all. In order to help Pearson spread this important message, Upworthy shared Ricardo’s Story on it’s Facebook page where it received thousands of views.
We were honored to work with filmmaker Dana Romanoff to edit, Noah, her film about a young man from Flint, Michigan, who turned his life around following years spent on the wrong path.
Noah Patton was going down a one-way street backward. With a gun on his hip and always in search of the next lick, he had many enemies and was living on borrowed time. But Flint is a city of survivors. And like the phoenix, Noah and his city are rising from the ashes. Noah returned to his deep-rooted faith in God, and with the help of a pastor, he is turning his life around and helping to positively shape the future of his community.
From The Guardian and National Geographic to The Atlantic and RYOT, “Noah” appeared on multiple websites and social channels and received comments from people around the globe. The film was also noticed by film festivals and competitions and has gone on to receive a number of awards including “Best in Show” in the Video Editing category from the W3 Awards and an “Award of Distinction” in the Documentary category from the Communicator Awards.
5: LeBron James: Welcome to Season 15
When our friends at Portland ad agency Must Be Something invited us to work them on a film about LeBron James for Nike Basketball, we couldn’t have said yes faster.
This film was created to celebrate LeBron James’ fifteenth NBA Season and featured the renowned actor, Idris Elba, as the wise voice of basketball alongside an array of clips that pay homage to LeBron.
Following its release, the film was picked up by websites such as AdAge and Sports Illustrated in addition to being shared by LeBron on his Twitter page!