2021 Winner
2021 Winners
Reel Start
Give New Voices a Voice
Systemic barriers and discrimination in the film industry have led to a lack of diversity in the voices and stories being shared onscreen. Reel Start is a non-profit that was formed to help break down those barriers.
Their mission: Provide a point of entry into filmmaking for youth from underrepresented communities. Give them the tools, the knowledge, and the platform to amplify their voices, tell their stories, share their perspectives, and ultimately change their lives through film making.
The social justice movements of 2020 primed the world for a more honest discussion about representation, including in film. Knowing that, it was their job to share this mission authentically, in order to build awareness in a loud marketplace. They had to establish the charity’s credibility to lay the foundation for future fundraising campaign efforts, all with zero media or production dollars. Reel Start had dissolved their relationship with their incumbent agency and took a chance on FUSE Create, their first project together.
The KPI’s established were all centered around building awareness for Reel Start: Double their Instagram following and increase website traffic by 200%. Their audience is increasingly seeking out these compelling, relevant, and authentic stories. In addition, they’re looking for ways to make real change and a real difference. So they turned the camera to the most important, authentic, and real part of Reel Start; its underrepresented students. Their passion, optimism, and their most genuine stories are at the heart of the organization, so they needed to harness that.
To introduce Reel Start, they introduced viewers to its students. And to one in particular, Gabe. Through Gabe and the other student stories, viewers would get the chance to better understand what the organization was about, and why it’s so important. Through their voices, Reel Start’s story could be told. So they invited their audience to hear the students’ stories in a series of videos. To hear their passions and their dreams. Except they couldn’t, because they turned their audio off, silencing their voices to demonstrate the struggle of generations that have been silenced.
This unexpected and indelible treatment called out the barriers that exist without question. And ironically, gave these new voices a voice.
At the heart of the creative idea were the underrepresented students of Reel Start and their voices, or lack thereof. The silencing of their voices in 30 second and 15 second videos, in sound-on environments like YouTube, generated a disruptive response. One where viewers “leaned-in” and one that engaged viewers through to the end of the videos.
Upon completion, they would learn how and where to hear Gabe and the other students’ actual stories. Sixty-second videos, with full audio, lived on the Reel Start website; stories from unrepresented filmmakers that have been silenced for too long. The website was redesigned by FUSE Create to aid in the campaign’s effectiveness and to further the conversation around how viewers could support Reel Start.
As the organization did not have any media dollars, to drive further awareness and “leaned-in” engagement, they crafted their message and the production value specifically to resonate with cinema lovers, including those already in the industry, to drive interest and shares. The video content resonated with this audience, garnering tens of millions of views, completely organically. In addition, a PR plan helped drive awareness of the “Give new voices a voice’ campaign through TV, online, and digital news outlets.
In just four weeks, the campaign blew Reel Start’s objectives out of the water, generating huge awareness in reaching more than 35.4M people and earning more than 50.4M impressions in the process. The creative effectively delivered a powerful message and was highly engaging, driving meaningful conversations about Reel Start and the importance of its mission, all with zero paid media dollars. Website Traffic grew by 4,500%, Instagram followers grew 5x (550%), 8,492 total Engagements were earned and brand mentions increased by 5,636% YOY.
Through the ‘Give new voices a voice’ campaign, Reel Start grew its presence, awareness, followers, and engagement. They are now ready for the next leg of their campaign: donations, which they’ll embark on with FUSE Create, their now present-day incumbent agency.
Their mission: Provide a point of entry into filmmaking for youth from underrepresented communities. Give them the tools, the knowledge, and the platform to amplify their voices, tell their stories, share their perspectives, and ultimately change their lives through film making.
The social justice movements of 2020 primed the world for a more honest discussion about representation, including in film. Knowing that, it was their job to share this mission authentically, in order to build awareness in a loud marketplace. They had to establish the charity’s credibility to lay the foundation for future fundraising campaign efforts, all with zero media or production dollars. Reel Start had dissolved their relationship with their incumbent agency and took a chance on FUSE Create, their first project together.
The KPI’s established were all centered around building awareness for Reel Start: Double their Instagram following and increase website traffic by 200%. Their audience is increasingly seeking out these compelling, relevant, and authentic stories. In addition, they’re looking for ways to make real change and a real difference. So they turned the camera to the most important, authentic, and real part of Reel Start; its underrepresented students. Their passion, optimism, and their most genuine stories are at the heart of the organization, so they needed to harness that.
To introduce Reel Start, they introduced viewers to its students. And to one in particular, Gabe. Through Gabe and the other student stories, viewers would get the chance to better understand what the organization was about, and why it’s so important. Through their voices, Reel Start’s story could be told. So they invited their audience to hear the students’ stories in a series of videos. To hear their passions and their dreams. Except they couldn’t, because they turned their audio off, silencing their voices to demonstrate the struggle of generations that have been silenced.
This unexpected and indelible treatment called out the barriers that exist without question. And ironically, gave these new voices a voice.
At the heart of the creative idea were the underrepresented students of Reel Start and their voices, or lack thereof. The silencing of their voices in 30 second and 15 second videos, in sound-on environments like YouTube, generated a disruptive response. One where viewers “leaned-in” and one that engaged viewers through to the end of the videos.
Upon completion, they would learn how and where to hear Gabe and the other students’ actual stories. Sixty-second videos, with full audio, lived on the Reel Start website; stories from unrepresented filmmakers that have been silenced for too long. The website was redesigned by FUSE Create to aid in the campaign’s effectiveness and to further the conversation around how viewers could support Reel Start.
As the organization did not have any media dollars, to drive further awareness and “leaned-in” engagement, they crafted their message and the production value specifically to resonate with cinema lovers, including those already in the industry, to drive interest and shares. The video content resonated with this audience, garnering tens of millions of views, completely organically. In addition, a PR plan helped drive awareness of the “Give new voices a voice’ campaign through TV, online, and digital news outlets.
In just four weeks, the campaign blew Reel Start’s objectives out of the water, generating huge awareness in reaching more than 35.4M people and earning more than 50.4M impressions in the process. The creative effectively delivered a powerful message and was highly engaging, driving meaningful conversations about Reel Start and the importance of its mission, all with zero paid media dollars. Website Traffic grew by 4,500%, Instagram followers grew 5x (550%), 8,492 total Engagements were earned and brand mentions increased by 5,636% YOY.
Through the ‘Give new voices a voice’ campaign, Reel Start grew its presence, awareness, followers, and engagement. They are now ready for the next leg of their campaign: donations, which they’ll embark on with FUSE Create, their now present-day incumbent agency.