Engaged Media: We Are HBCU

Credits

Engaged Media: We Are HBCU

Engaged Media

The HBCU Microsoft Partnership

Engaged Media Co-founder, Chairwoman, and CEO Jacqueline Beauchamp is an African American technology pioneer and thought leader in the space of augmented reality.  In 2021, Jacqueline and her team needed to design an augmented reality and interactive exhibit for the Black College Hall of Fame and NFL Hall of Fame. She wanted to deliver a story-driven, immersive experience. So, her team asked Launch Media to produce a video highlighting the company’s support of its partner, Microsoft and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across the country.

The Power of a Personal Narrative

This video was a personal story. It was about Jacqueline, “the little girl from Scotlandville who fell in love with technology.”

But, we needed to convey more than her early interest in tech. We needed to share her parents’ insistence and support of a quality education. We needed to emphasize the role that Southern University, one of the country’s leading HBCUs, played in Jacqueline’s educational journey and eventual success in the tech world. And, we needed to capture the power of her story in a way that would also highlight her company’s partnership with Microsoft.  

We decided on a video concept that combined cinematic live action with animation and augmented reality created by Engaged Media. Normally, a project of this size and scope would take a month or more. But, while it was easy to see the power of Jacqueline’s story, the project timeline proved to be more of a challenge. 

One Week Deadline? Challenge Accepted.

Our team had one week. One week to scout locations, create storyboards, write scripts, secure talent, and edit the nearly four-minute video. Not to mention, we shot all of the footage in just one day.

So, we may have gotten a very small taste of what Jacqueline’s father meant when he said to her: “You will need to be 5 times better in order for them to take you seriously.”

The video made its debut during The Battle of the Bands event, as part of the festivities of the Bayou Classic Southern versus Grambling football game weekend.