We are looking for an incredibly savvy and innovative creative director - or team - to help us develop an exciting multi-platform campaign that brings big ideas and fresh approaches to H&R Block and their various brands and channels. Depending on your production capabilities, this project could be a springboard for you to lean in and produce the campaign, or step back and manage other teams of filmmakers, or simply consult on the creative.
Everyone has to do their taxes, but most people only think about their taxes in the last couple weeks before April 15th, and they end up doing themselves a huge disservice. There's so much they can do to get ahead of tax season and to boost their tax returns – and this knowledge exists, right now, year round, on H&R Block's website, and largely for free. It's there along with guidance for small business owners, as well as a mobile banking platform that helps you gain financial literacy, and even more tools, tips, and tricks. In other words, the resources are out there for people to do more, but most people just aren't aware, and we want to change that. We don't just want to create awareness around all the cool stuff you can learn and do with H&R Block, we want to create excitement. Around taxes. Across the entire internet... but we can't do that without you.
We're looking for the perfect creative partner to help conceptualize a big multi-platform campaign and address this challenge: someone smart, savvy, and unconventional. We say "creative director," and you might call yourself just that, but you might actually be an incredibly savvy team, or a visionary filmmaker who's got their finger on the pulse of social media. It doesn't matter who you are: this is about developing a big idea first. To that end, this project is primarily about coming up with a campaign for H&R Block and translating it into a visually dynamic "Treatment" or "Pitch Deck" that can presented to their leadership.
Will you be asked to produce something? It depends. We're not requiring that you even have that capability. If H&R Block responds positively to your treatment, the scope of your continued engagement would vary based on you and your team: if you have production capabilities, we'd want you to produce some of the content for this campaign, but it's unlikely you'd personally produce every piece of content in the campaign. If you don't have production capabilities, you could be a traditional "creative director" or act as copywriter for various teams, with more of a birds-eye view, or - if you specialize in post-production - you could even end up overseeing all edits. We're open to animation here too, but you need not be an animator to pitch something with animation. Either way, if chosen, we expect you'll work closely with Tongal, H&R Block, and other filmmakers to help bring this sprawling vision to life.
H&R Block needs something really exciting and unique, and it's probably going to be digital-first, but it could include broadcast or even live events and activations. We'd suggest you focus mostly on the digital footprint, but we don't want you to think this is merely about coming up with a single YouTube series, or a suite of TikTok videos. Check out H&R Block's "Responsibility Island" as an example of something BIG that they did earlier this year. While we don't want to lean into or build on this campaign, it's a completely unexpected and novel way to get people to lean in and learn more about H&R Block.
Whatever your approach, you'll be working with us to develop what it looks like, so be prepared for this all to take some time, and require some mean deck making skills. Your presentation should be full of visual examples and references, and we're open to including actual storyboards, but that's not a mandatory. This is exactly the kind of ask though where AI-generated images could be valuable and illustrative for the purposes of your Treatment, though we are NOT looking to include AI in the campaign, so don't go down that route. If you think a Pitch Video is helpful here, we'd love to see it, and you can include reference videos or rip reels of what you might do. Don't fixate entirely on one platform or medium here though: you should come prepared to dig in and work with us across the full campaign and multiple platforms, including – but definitely not limited to – YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Linkedin, Facebook, broadcast, and maybe even out-of-home ads or podcasts.
We're starting with a Pitch Qualification Phase, where two creatives or creative teams will be selected and then receive funding to put together a full pitch deck detailing your approach to a multi-platform campaign. For now, we're calling the creative budget "$100k+" to give you a benchmark to plan against, but the whole campaign could be 10 times larger, and it would ultimately be a conversation with the greenlit creator, Tongal, and H&R Block, and depend on on the greenlit creative campaign approach and needs. Also, to be frank, with a project this ambitious, it's worth acknowledging that a full greenlight is not guaranteed. It's on us (Tongal included) to get H&R Block excited and make the greenlight happen.
THE PROCESS
For any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.
DELIVERABLES:
EXPECTED TIMELINE: HERE. This only accounts for development. Timeline from there is TBD too.
RELEVANT ASSETS: You can find logos, brand colors, and hero font files for H&R Block, Block Advisors, and Spruce HERE.
EXPOSURE: We expect content will be used on the platforms below.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Americans seeking tax advice and guidance, small and medium business owners, anyone on a path towards financial literacy or seeking a mobile banking option...essentially, everyone!
TONE/FEEL: Attention-getting, relatable, exciting, authentic, informative, entertaining, encouraging.
EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:
By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a submission. Though most projects do move forward, we'll notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any submissions via the Project Forum. Regardless of the result, all submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and project team.
PITCH QUALIFICATION PHASE:
In order to be considered for the full Pitch Phase, you must include the below in your Pitch Qualification submission. This Phase gives filmmakers the opportunity to submit a short 500-character synopsis with some initial creative thoughts for the content, and tell us a bit more about your team. Five creators will then be given $1,000 to develop robust treatments as part of the Pitch Phase.
PITCH PHASE:
If selected to move forward to the Pitch Phase, you will be sent additional information about the campaign to create a more robust Treatment as part of your pitch. You must include the below materials in your pitch submission to be considered.
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.
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.