For the past two years, we’ve been working with the dedicated folks at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) on educational resources and training that magnify the impact of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Distressed Cities Technical Assistance (DCTA) Program.

Phew, that was a lot of acronyms, but this three-way collaboration has yielded some work we’re super proud to share.

Our first project was to create an educational video to support the Community Development Block Grant team at HUD. Our goal was to give them a resource that’s effective at scale in helping communities understand how they can take advantage of the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program.

The concept we presented was to create the fictional “everytown” of Websterville, where Sally, the mayor, and Jorge, the town clerk, explore how they can improve two local properties in need of revitalization.

Discovery and Script

We had a lot to learn about housing policy, local government, and development finance, so research came first. Fortunately, the LISC and HUD teams were incredibly supportive. Our consultations with them resulted in a script that balanced the dense, complex subject matter with some levity and dialog designed to keep viewers engaged.

Storyboard

Once the LISC and HUD teams were happy with the script, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work on shot sequencing. Here’s a look at a small section of the storyboard, which ended up spanning about 70 panels.

Moodboard

To nail down the desired visual language of the project, our art director compiled a moodboard with several potential options. HUD had already produced some animated videos, but we worked with them to raise the production values of previous efforts. Below is the option that was ultimately chosen for production.

Production

Once all of our art assets were produced, we combined motion graphics and character animation to create the world of Websterville and tell an actual human story about the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program. To date, the video has more than 6,000 views on the HUD Exchange, far outstripping the vast majority of videos living there.

It’s not a stretch to say that the team at HUD was super happy with it. One team member exclaimed, “We are all crazy about the video.”

We’re Just Getting Started

Our work with LISC and HUD is ongoing. We just wrapped a forthcoming, 8-episode series on financial management best practices that takes us back to Websterville. The series focuses on helping small towns get their financial houses in order so they can be better positioned to win grants and funding from HUD. Sally and Jorge have a lot of work to do as they continue their journey to building a stronger community for their constituents!

If you haven’t heard, we’re releasing our first episode of The Unexplored in segments, for free, on YouTube. Prepare to be fascinated by this journey through the history of women artists and their work from Prehistory to the Baroque.

Part One looks at who may have created early cave paintings, and why.

Part Two travels to the Middle Ages to meet Hildegard von Bingen, a German abbess with divine artistic talent.

If you want to catch all the segments as they release, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. And if you want to see the full, 11-minute episode without ads or censorship, it’s available on Patreon for the price of a drip coffee in a fancy zip code.

As election season heats up, we’re working on a number of get-out-the-vote spots for our old friends at The Environmental Voter Project. Their mission is to “identify inactive environmentalists and transform them into consistent voters to build the power of the environmental movement.” If you want to dive deeper into what that means, here’s the launch video we made for them several years ago.

For the 2024 election, we’re making a series of YouTube spots that are specifically targeted at known demographics in select “battleground” states that — thanks to our quirky electoral college system — will likely decide the presidential election. The target demographic contains potential voters that not only are environmentalists, but also consistently under-participate in elections.

Here’s a look at a recent one we did for Arizona. As you watch, pay close attention to the messaging. Each shot is carefully considered…

EVP founder and executive director Nathaniel Stinnett walked me through the behavioral science “nudges” that inform each script line:

• More and more Arizonans are voting each year: This leverages the behavioral psychology concept of “trending norms.” Most people — because we’re social animals — feel pressure to conform to normative behavior (i.e., what your peers are doing), but that pressure is even greater when the norm is trending away from you (i.e., more and more people are doing this thing that you’re not doing!). It essentially elicits FOMO from our targets.
• Record-breaking numbers: This is basic peer pressure.
• Don’t be left behind: This reinforces the FOMO feeling related to the trending norms mentioned in the first bullet point
• Be a good voter: This is turning our desired action (voting) into a description of someone’s identity (good voter vs. bad voter). It’s much more powerful to equate the act of voting with the type of person someone wants to be than it is to try to logically convince them of the value of voting.

So there you have it: The science behind persuading unengaged voters to get out there on election day and make a difference. We’re looking forward to releasing spots for more states before November 5!