The New York Times
Play Video about Woman looking directly at camera - NYTimes Antioch #MeToo Video Story
Affirmative consent before #MeToo
In the 1990s, a group of women at a small college in Ohio started talking about consent, and the need for a sexual offense prevention policy at their school.
People thought they were being ridiculous.
The story went viral before going viral was a thing. Saturday Night Live did a skit mocking the women and the idea (a gameshow called “Is It Date Rape?”). Charlie Rose did a round table on the topic. And across the country news story after news story talked about the idea of requiring consent with snark and smirks.
We worked with the Times video team to create a short film connecting the story of affirmative consent at Antioch College in the 1990s with the modern #MeToo movement.
project approach
The goal was to tell this story through a combination of archival footage, current footage from Antioch College’s Sexual Offense Prevention Program, and the authentic emotion of the women as they reflect on how they felt 25 years ago, and how they feel now that “affirmative consent,” (mostly thanks to the Aziz Ansari story), is popping up everywhere.
Using archival footage can transport viewers and make them feel like they’re reliving a cultural moment they may or may not even remember. This deepens the connection between the viewer and historic/news stories.
our client
The New York Times
our role
Editing
team
Story Contributors:
Juliet Brown
Christelle Evans
Bethany Saltman
Producers:
Kassie Bracken
Samantha Stark
Editors:
Catherine Orr
Elena Rue
Executive Producer:
Liz O. Baylen
