The Emerge Center: The Beauty of Brody

Credits

Executive Producer John Jackson

Producer Deirdre Peterson

Director Chris Jeansonne

Grip/Gaffer Ari Ross

Animator/Editor Taylor Stoma

The Emerge Center: The Beauty of Brody

The Emerge Center

2023 Addy Award Winning Project

Launch Media received a Silver Award for Branded Content and Entertainment Non-Broadcast for this project.

A Longtime Client

Since 2014, Launch Media has worked with and sponsored the Emerge Center. And, our team was thrilled to return to produce a new fundraising video for the annual 2022 Gala: Shaken not Stirred.

Elevating the Fundraising Video

Fundraising videos typically rely on interview footage with donors, faculty, and impacted families, resulting in an emotional yet informational message that has helped people connect with and financially support Emerge’s mission. However, we wanted to elevate this video with a new creative approach to convey the incredible impact of this Baton Rouge nonprofit organization through the perspective of people affected the most: the children.

Meet Brody

After the Emerge Center team approached us to begin work on the fundraising video, Chris Jeansonne had the idea to film a narrative piece using a child’s voice and sharing his perspective of Emerge.

Emerge connected us with Brody, a graduate of the Emerge Center on the autism spectrum; now thriving at a public school. Our team hosted several zoom meetings with Brody and his family to learn more about his experience and ascertain everyone’s comfort level with our creative concept and the logistics of video production.

Capturing Brody’s Story

It was clear that Brody’s personality and willingness to share his story made him perfect for the role. As a Youtube creator, Brody hosts his own channel for cooking and playing video games. Because of his experience at the Emerge Center, Brody has grown to be so much more vocal, outgoing, and independent.

Before production, we brought in a copywriter to sit with Brody to write a script that emulated his voice and conveyed his experience in an authentic way. It was important to hear from Brody in his own words to really understand his perspectives about the obstacles that Emerge helped him to overcome. The result is a beautiful story of Brody and his family and their journey with the Emerge Center.

The Gala

In addition to filming for the Beauty of Brody video. Our team helped Emerge with some fun, short promotional videos for the gala event. The gala theme was Shaken not Stirred, a nod to James Bond; so we had a fantastically fun shoot with kids from Emerge dressed up in tuxedos and pretty dresses.

Ultimately, the evening proved to be a tremendous success. And, the gala raised more than $180,000 to directly support Emerge’s therapy and education services for children with autism and individuals with communication challenges.

Working with the Emerge Center team

When working on projects that involve regular people as the main talent, scheduling out production can be a challenge. We have to coordinate the schedules of the talent while considering the staff and facility of an operating school. However, the Emerge Center team is excellent, and they always roll out the red carpet to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

We are so proud to be a partner in this mission, and we hope you enjoy the Beauty of Brody.