In honor of Native American Heritage Month, Advance Auto Parts is looking for Native American filmmakers, animators, creators, and visionaries to produce short form social videos that reflect either an original story about what they love about the automotive industry or an informative story about a notable historical figure of Native American descent in the automotive industry.
Advance Auto Parts is calling on Native American filmmakers, animators, creators, and visionaries to step up and seize the opportunity to share unique automotive experiences, stories, and characters, in a fun and entertaining video.
For the month of November, Advance Auto Parts will be spotlighting Native American voices and history, and we’re looking for Native American filmmakers, animators, and storytellers to help share videos - up to 60 seconds in length - of positive experiences they or other members of their community have had within the automotive industry. We're open to authentic retellings of real, uplifting stories, but we're also open to original narratives, or something else more interpretive. This could mean anything from describing the quirks of working on your first car to creating an informative and honorable video of the significance of automobiles throughout Native American history.
If you’re wondering where to start, think about others in your community that you admire who own or work in car shops and their struggles or accomplishments. Consider the way classic cars have been showcased in Native American television shows and movies. Think about your community, your family, your unique perspective, what your car says about you, and create something that feels like a reflection of you and your style. Remember these are not ads and there's no need to include the brand or logo in your video. We’re looking to mainly highlight you as an artist. Feel free to mention Native American Heritage Month, but know that your video does NOT directly have to tie in to or reference Native American Heritage Month.
We are open to both organic, TikTok style live action video or animated executions with a voiceover component, show us the best way you can bring your compelling story to life. We are especially interested in maker's content like creating a mural that contains your love for your family's heritage and your favorite cars, or building a historical figure made out of car parts, we are open to all executions here, so get creative! Whatever the approach, AAP is also interested in the process, so please consider how you may set up a behind the scenes camera when pitching. We will be greenlighting 3 total creators who will each be responsible for producing 1 video for $3,000. You may have a lot of ideas for how you might want to tackle this, so for your pitch, we'd recommend submitting several different ideas for your video. If Advance likes where your head's at and you're greenlit, we'll work with you to develop ONE of your ideas during the pre-production process.
For more thought starters, take a look at some of the videos Advance had the community make for past Heritage Months and their general brand in the Background. For any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.
DELIVERABLES: There are 2 total video assets for each creator.
TIMELINE: HERE.
EXPOSURE:
TARGET AUDIENCE:
TONE: Fun, inspiring, uplifting, celebratory, respectful
EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:
By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a bid. Though most projects on our platform do move forward with a greenlit bid, we will notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any bids via the project forum. Regardless of the result, all submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and the project team.
REFERENCE VIDEOS OF PREVIOUS ADVANCE AUTO PARTS HERITAGE MONTH PROJECT FOR INSPIRATION OR TONE: In the past, Advance has had creators produce videos that were specifically about different communities, as well as the history and future of Advance Auto Parts. For this project, we would love to see videos similar to these in style and tone, but with a focus on Native American History or Heritage and original stories.
In order to be considered for this project, you must include the below materials in your pitch submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery.
The most compelling pitch will be greenlit, and the responsible creator will then receive an email from Tongal producers detailing next steps. All submitters will also receive an automated email notification that a selection has been announced. To ensure you’re receiving project updates, review your email settings to check that you haven’t unsubscribed.
Creators who’ve been selected will receive funding upon completing the Winner Affidavit and the IP Assignment. Payment of the pitch funds is subject to a payment schedule determined by Tongal. Please see the full payment schedule in the timeline.
PRE-PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS: Prior to shooting, filmmakers must receive the below approvals from the Sponsor.
For your convenience, we’ve provided some helpful templates to use at your discretion. They include templates for creating a treatment, production budget, storyboards, shot list, call sheet, and a music cue sheet. Additionally, there are templates that will help you clearly present cast, location, and wardrobe options to the Sponsor. They can all be accessed here.
BUILDING YOUR TEAM: Tongal supports inclusivity in all of our productions and strongly encourages you to hire diverse talent for your team. To find staff & crew in your area, check out these resources and partners.
REVISION REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: Once the Video Phase has closed, the greenlit submitters will enter the Revisions Phase. Filmmakers will perform reasonable edits on their videos according to the Sponsor’s feedback. Check out our Filmmaker Resource Portal to access helpful post-production resources like Text-Safe Guides for different platforms, Project File Organization Tutorial, Export Presets, and Captioning services.
MUSIC: If you use any music from a library for your content, you MUST use one of Tongal's three music providers - Jingle Punks, Universal Production Music and Epidemic Sound. Music from these providers is available to registered Tongal members at no charge solely for their incorporation into submissions to this project, and will not require a Music Release Form. To learn more about using each of these music providers, click on any of the providers’ names above.
If you choose to use custom or original music, you must fill out and submit our Music Release Form. Please ensure your composer reviews and signs this form BEFORE beginning their work.
(If Stock Footage is relevant to your project) STOCK FOOTAGE: Tongal has partnered with the stock footage library STORYBLOCKS, which can be used to source video clips, photography, and After Effects templates for your video submission to this project. Video or photo content from Storyblocks is available at no charge, solely for incorporation into submissions on this project, and content will not require a separate Release Form. If identifiable people or intellectual property appears in a video clip or photo, you may only utilize assets that are clearly marked “Model released: Yes” or “Property release: Yes” on the clip description pages. You may not use any audio.
If you intend to use Storyblocks, inform your Tongal producer beforehand, and an account will be created for you to access the library and its features. Once your video submissions are approved by the Sponsor, you must provide a complete list of all Storyblocks content that you used via our template HERE.
ASSET DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: You must also provide all project files, editing sequences and a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec in order to submit final payment. You are responsible for the costs associated the hard drive and shipping.
To ensure a smoother delivery, please review the Export Presets, Specifications, and Project File Organization Tutorial in our Filmmaker Resource Portal.