Author: Jon Groat
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The Pandemic, Livestreams and 2020 Election
Once the pandemic hit in 2020, we resorted to remote production for a large part of the cycle at the Human Rights Campaign. Instead of livestreaming in-person events, we pivoted to programmatic livestreams with hosts, guests and themes. I helped worked on finding the technology, deploying the solution and training staff, while supervising all the…
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“We’re All In This Together”
I supervised creation of a 0:30 PSA to air on Warner Media properties—HBO, CNN, TBS, HBO, Cartoon Network, POGO, Warner Bros, New Line Cinema, TNT, Cinemax, HLN, Adult and Swim—on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The Foundation wrote a script that would uplift and support LGBTQ+ folks of color during minority mental health…
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Shorty Impact Award: “Rebekah”
As part of HRC’s legislative work each spring that monitors all 50 states for anti-LGBTQ+ bills, the nonprofit wanted to push back on legislation taking aim at trans youth. One of my proudest moments was seeing the political producer I hired and mentored, Wes Jones, create this amazing video—he had really grown into an amazing…
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Global: “How One Gay Man Escaped Anti-LGBTQ Violence in Chechnya”
As part of our HRC Foundation Global program, we brought awareness to international stories of LGBTQ+ discrimination and perseverance. An awesome Foundation producer I had hired, Laura Franco Velasco, produced, filmed and edited the piece while I supervised the production start-to-finish as director of video for HRC. Client: Human Rights Campaign Role: Executive Producer Run…
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Heartland Emmy Nom: “Unconditional Love”
HRC wanted to push back on anti-LGBTQ+ bills flowing through state legislatures, especially ones taking aim at LGBTQ+ adoption. As part of a broader comms plan, the org decided to highlight an emotional story of LGBTQ+ adoptive parents. Working with HRC’s Foundation, I helped find the subjects of the film, then hired and guided the…
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Shorty Award: “No Trolls”
I overheard an HRC colleague telling an amazing story about how one mom took an incredible leap of kindness to support another family in her small town, without the two ever having met. I knew immediately it would make a great social video, and I put it into production after pitching it up. I had…
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“Meet the Human Rights Campaign\’s New President Alphonso David”
Client: Human Rights Campaign Role: Producer, Editor Run Time: 5:54
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Guerilla Marketing & Projections
As part of a small team, I traveled to Helsinki, Finland, for the infamous Trump-Putin presidential summit where along with some expert projectionists we guerilla broadcast LGBTQ+ messaging and HRC branding onto the presidential palace. Our director of comms had picked an amazing spot in view of all the live TV networks, and I livestreamed…
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“Hillary Clinton’s Rousing, Inspiring Tribute to Edie Windsor”
The directive was to clip Hillary Clinton’s speech at Edie Windsor’s funeral, which the Human Rights Campaign had a big hand in organizing, for social media. I edited the piece with music and broll, making a rousing homage. While it took a few additional hours, the video was shared thousands of times and earned millions…
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\”Liar. Liar.\”
Early in the Trump presidency at the Human Rights Campaign, after he started attacking the LGBTQ+ community and banning trans troops, I pitched a creative approach to calling Trump out while painting him as a carnival barker. The SVP comms liked it and in a matter of hours we posted this video across all our…