the center for juvenile justice reform | georgetown university
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the people's lawyer
Janet Reno lived her life with one guiding principle – “do the right thing.”
It was a mantra passed down from her mother, one of the strongest influences in her life. In all the research, conversations and pre-interviews we engaged in during this project, “do the right thing” was used to describe how Janet moved through the world, as a child, a teenager, and into adulthood.
This idea was a central theme throughout the short film we created for Georgetown University to launch an endowment honoring the life and legacy of Janet Reno.
project context & Goals
The goal of this project was to create a short film that offers a glimpse into Janet Reno’s impact on the justice system, particularly as it pertains to juvenile justice and the lives of children and youth.
You can read more about the endowment here.
our client
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform | The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University
our role
Story Design
Film Production
Editing
Our team
Story Contributors:
Shay Bilchik
Berta Blecke
Eric Holder
Maggy Hurchalla
Directors and Producers:
Catherine Orr
Elena Rue
Cinematographers:
Elena Rue
Kelly Creedon
Nick Michael
Editors:
Catherine Orr
Elena Rue
Archival Provided By: Wolfson Archives
on-going partnership
The projects we’ve created for CJJR are emblematic of the power of creating a video strategy that supports a holistic communications approach.
After creating the Janet Reno fundraising film, we created a video series to celebrate CJJR’s 10-year anniversary. The work we had already done together made it possible to swiftly identify where the power of video would have the greatest impact in their communications strategy.
That strategy was used to develop a consistent organizational narrative.
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video content that adapts and grows with an organization
Our most recent project with CJJR was a video to feature at the 2021 Janet Reno Forum.
The focus of the video was telling the story of the challenges facing crossover youth – young people who touch both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems – and the profound impact The Crossover Youth Practice Model has had on jurisdictions across the country.
We were able to pull from video content we’ve created for them over the last five plus years to create a robust video story that only required a small amount of new filming.
You can learn more about the approach for this project, including creating short social media excerpts, here.
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