The Church is looking for a wide range of inspiring and authentic video content - from 2D animated narratives to selfie-style testimonials and docu-style shorts - to explore four key themes, expand their YouTube channel, and inspire new viewers to watch and subscribe.
It is a basic principle of human nature to want to live a meaningful, happy, and fulfilling life. Even through adversity, confusion, and doubt, if people continue to live their lives with this goal in their heart, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' believes that there is always room for God's love to enter into their world and help them make a positive impact. Stories that explore this overarching message, that offer insights and meaningful answers about the transformative power of God's love, are at the heart of The Church's YouTube channel, and as The Church looks to expand their channel, they're looking for a wide range of new videos that will further that message, and that will explore four key themes. To do that, they're turning to you, and asking you to create content that is authentic and inspiring, and that brings new viewers to the channel.
This core objective of this project is to create a 2+ minute video for YouTube, but the project is an exciting opportunity because the creative possibilities are vast: The Church is actually open to ANY and ALL styles of filmmaking here, including all forms of animation, so long the content brings a compelling, authentic story that connects to one of their YouTube channel's themes. The themes themselves are quite broad and open-ended, and they revolve around connecting with God and inspiring the higher power's love within people, as The Church believes these principles can lead people to living a better life. You can find a more detailed breakdown in the Background, along with a number of thought starters, but your authentic video should connect to one of these themes here:
These themes can be interpreted in many different ways, and The Church truly wants to see a diverse range of interpretations and creative approaches, at a wide range of budget levels, and they may ultimately greenlight a variety of different pitches. You might approach this with a 2D animated and visually rich video about loving God and your neighbor; you might go much simpler and put together a selfie-style straight-to-camera recounting of how family is central to God's plan for happiness in life; or you might a docu-short showcasing someone's unique journey to Christ. However you want to approach it, The Church welcomes original voices and encourages you to bring your unique creative vision. For the right idea, The Church is even open to an ongoing series of content that would be produced and released monthly for the next 6 months, so keep this in mind as well as you brainstorm.
Each hero video should run at least 2 minutes, and it will need to be accompanied by short social teasers, but your video could certainly run longer if it makes sense. The maximum total budget for any one greenlit pitch is $40,000, but given the diversity of executions that we expect to see, your bid and budget should reflect your choice of medium, the complexity of your execution, and any other production realities that might be associated with your pitch, and you should NOT merely max out the budget. If you've got a good selfie-style testimonial pitch, we'd expect the budget to be significantly lower than a 3D animated video, or a large live-action shoot with multiple cast and locations. Less expensive and less complicated productions have just as much appeal as big, flashy productions, and the real value here comes in the nature of your story, and how your creative approach enables it to engage and inspire.
For your pitch, please be clear about what medium and style you'll use, and be sure to address the story and storytelling components as well. We're asking for a bid with each pitch, but for any pitch with Bid over $20,000, we'd also like to see a budget topsheet. The topsheet won't be necessary for bids under $20,000. Note that budgets should account for pre-production approvals on key production elements, but those requirements will vary, depending on the nature of your pitch and the complexity of your shoot. For example, a selfie-style video where you share a personal story might only require a treatment, whereas an animated video might require a script and storyboards, and a fully produced live action video might require talent, location, and wardrobe approvals. This will be a fluid process, and we will work with you to nail everything down upon being greenlit.
For any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.
DELIVERABLES: There are three total video assets.
EXPECTED TIMELINE: HERE
EXPOSURE: We expect content will be used on the platforms below, but if casting talent, be sure they review our required Talent Release before they're cast, as it is NOT limited to these platforms. You should also review our Music providers in the Project Requirements, as well as the platform best practices.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adults 18-34 years old, who are looking for content based around Jesus Christ and/or of faith, love, hope, and peace.
TONE/FEEL: Positive, Inspiring
EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:
OPEN BID:
Hi everyone - The Sponsor has decided not to move forward with a Pitch on this project. Though most Projects do move forward with a selected Pitch, we will always notify you in the event the Sponsor has decided not to move forward. Please note that regardless of the results, all submissions are reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and the Project Team. They've adjusted their ask for their YouTube content based on this project, which you might find under the two new briefs live on the site. We sincerely appreciate your time and effort on this project.
In order to be considered, include the below materials in your submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery. All Pitches remain private, even after a Pitch is selected, and Tongal strives to have Pitch selections made by the end of the Evaluation period, but additional time may be required by the Sponsor, depending on any number of factors.
The most compelling pitch will be greenlit by the Sponsor, 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, typically included with the project timeline.
PRE-PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS: Prior to the commencement of actual production, creators MUST receive final approval from the Sponsor on the elements below. There may be multiple rounds of feedback until an element is approved. As stated in the brief, Pre-Production requirements will likely vary, depending on the complexity of your shoot.
If you begin production before you have received final approval, you may need to reshoot or reanimate at your own expense.
For convenience, we've provided some helpful templates that you can consider using for pre-production materials, and they can all be accessed here.
BUILDING YOUR TEAM: Looking for help? Post crew and production opportunities connected to Tongal projects on Backlot. Backlot includes search tools to help you find collaborators and crew by role, skill set, location, and more, for productions of any size and type. Tongal also supports inclusivity in all productions, and strongly encourages you to hire diverse talent for your team. To find additional options for staff & crew in your area, check out these resources and partners.
REVISION REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: Once Content has been submitted and the initial Production Phase completed, greenlit creators will enter into Revisions. Creators 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 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, click on any of the providers' names above.
If you choose to use 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.
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 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, and an account will be created for you to access the library. Once assets are approved for delivery, 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 any costs associated with the hard drive and shipping. Tongal also reserves the right to request all raw files associated with the project.
To ensure a smoother delivery, please review the Export Presets, Specifications, and Project File Organization Tutorial in our Filmmaker Resource Portal.