VO: In the heart of the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador, Lies one of the world’s most bio-diverse habitats
VO: YASUNI National Park
VO: How bio-diverse?
VO: A single hectare contains more tree species than in all of Mexico, US and Canada combined.
VO: This untouched landis sitting on billions of dollars worth of oil reserves
VIDEO: background darks and fades to black
VO: Would you try to preserve it or cash it it in?
VO: To protect this world biosphere from irreversible damage, Ecuador created the Yasuni-ITT Initiative
VO: Declaring its commitment to leave the oil reserves underground indefinitely, while asking for the global community’s financial co-responsibility in preserving this unique environment.
VO: With little to no international awareness towards this initiative, there was little to no response from other nations, which ultimately meant few to no donations.
VO: We learned that what hindered donations was the belief that preserving Yasuni is not the world’s problem or that it is too far away to make a difference.
VO: Unless the problem affects them directly.
VO: The solution: Make Yasuni a personal issue. And position Yasuni as a global concern. So we brought the problem closer.
VO: First we created a complete communications platform called I AM YASUNI. Simply to make it personal. Then we brought it icloser by creating a stunt in the Capital of The World
VO: During the stunt, New York residents started to come and complain. And the media arrived to ask questions. We had the answer. While still in production, we had the main U.S. news organizations talking about Yasuni.
VO: Before releasing the video to the public, We needed to build momentum.
VO:A social media platform was created for consumers to engage, share and donate, and included Facebook pages in English, French, German, Spanish and Arabic.
VO: KLOUT was used to identify the biggest environmental influencers in the country and give them a sneak peak of the video. Then we asked them to share the message within their social network.
VO: Previous to the official launch of the campaign, the video had gone viral receiving 10,000 views in less than 24 hours…
VO: 48 hours after the video was shared on social networks , we officially launched I AM YASUNI at TEDxHarlem, a theme that examined the notion of an idea happening in one place but the impact being felt somewhere else. Ecuadorian Secretary of StateIvonneBaki presented the initiative and Madison Square Park video.
VO: The next step: transform I Am Yasuni from a NY stunt to a Global Social Movement?
VO: To legitimize the message, a documentary of Yasuni was already in the works.
VO: Established documentary director, Nicolas Entel, took on the assignment.
VO: It was supported by prestigious organizations, and was ready to screen at the most recognized film festivals.
VO: Bringing even more reach to the initiative across all media platforms including social media, online publications,
