Ameelio uses explainer video to combat criminal injustice
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13,004
Letters Sent
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2,785
New Users Signed Up
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6,264
Loved Ones Impacted
UNSDG 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
“The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich, and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities while tackling climate change and environmental protection. ” – United Nations
The Cause
Ameelio is the first free prison communication platform engineered for incarcerated people and their loved ones. This technology non-profit enables users to customize and deliver hard copy letters to any prison or jail in America — free of charge. They are expanding their offering to provide video calls and e-messages to reunify families who have been disconnected by an inhumane justice system. Ultimately, Ameelio seeks to combat the exploitative monopoly of the prison phone industry which charges extortionate prices for messages. But beyond this, Ameelio challenges the United States to transform its prison communications and push for a data-driven movement to rehabilitative justice.
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Our Partnership
Our video with Ameelio became a major priority as the COVID-19 pandemic banned in-person visits to prisons, leaving families with the barriers of sky-high calling fees. As Shelby, an Ameelio user, reminds us: “A deadly pandemic like we are facing now is even deadlier in prisons all over the world.”
As a new non-profit founded in 2019, Ameelio sought an emotive video that would offer instruction for unfamiliar users to connect with their loved ones. VidMob created a net-new creative that offers a clear and comprehensive “how to” of Ameelio’s communication services. The :45 second explainer video captures the entire journey of a message — starting with a user’s mobile device and ending at the hands of an incarcerated person. Gaining the trust of potential users is extremely important to non-profits, like Ameelio, and the first step in that process is being transparent about how an organization and its technology works. Video can bridge this information gap.
VidMob had precisely :44 seconds to capture the current crisis of unaffordable prison communications while also portraying Ameelio as a powerful alternative. The goal was to make the video easily digestible with clear and straight forward graphics, so more people could be informed of the problem.
The Result
Through our video, the viewer was intentionally taken on a virtual journey to see the A to Z of message delivery. July marked the launch of explainer video; since then, Ameelio has been able to deliver 13,004 letters and benefit 6,264 families in the United States. Furthermore, our video played a prominent role in Ameelio’s kickstarter which has raised over $48,000 in just 5 days.
At VidMob, we are constantly measuring how best to represent our clients through consistent branding and high-quality creative. But the ethical and humane representation of incarcerated individuals admittedly presented a new challenge for us. From the outset of our campaign, our partners at Ameelio reminded us to refrain from dehumanizing language such as “inmates” or “prisoners”. We also wanted to position incarcerated peoples outside of jail cells and into families and community networks. As illuminated in our video, the incarcerated are our parents, our siblings and our friends.
VidMob Gives was founded on the premise of supporting emerging nonprofits who may not always have the resources for explainer videos or high quality promotional materials. More than ever, VidMob is committed to creating content that addresses critical issues of race and criminal injustice in the United States. We thank Ameelio for their meaningful work and we are thrilled that our video could be part of the change.
“Our Project Manager, Jennifer, worked with us on an original idea and then quickly adapted once we decided to pivot. She talked with me on the phone extensively about the vision and did outside research to ensure that the video captured our message and mission. She had a video back to us within a week and changes done the day of.”
Emma Gray
Head of Partnerships & Outreach, Ameelio
The Creator Network
The VidMob Foundation is fueled by the active engagement of incredible freelance creative professionals on the VidMob platform. They’re some of the world’s most talented creators, and, time and again, have willingly dived in to offer their time and skills for charities around the world. No matter the size of the ask, or the significance of the cause, these creators believe in using creativity as a force for good, just as we do.
