“Power of a Box” tells the story of the CARE foundation’s beginnings and evolution into the organization that it has become today. The story is told in a symbolic graphic style that clearly portrays this long history in digestible moments.

As the piece opens, we see the original CARE package. Boxes are filled by volunteers and then travel overseas to bring aid to war-torn Europe. In the second act, we are taken through a variety of dire humanitarian challenges that CARE has devoted its resources to combat. Finally, in the conclusive third act, we are shown the impact of CARE’s work in the modern day, cycling through the broad spectrum of cultures and countries affected by the effort. Finally, we resolve on the symbol of the modern day CARE package, seeing 70 years of evolution since the original CARE package shown in the first shot.

We used a combination of 2D, 3D and cel animation in nearly every shot. Behind the simple look is a complex layering of techniques. Illustrators defined our graphic world and populated each scene. Characters were brought to life by cel animators. Complex transitions and dynamic camera moves were created in Cinema4D. All of this was brought together by compositors working in After Effects.

We spent three months concepting and working with the client to hone the idea. From sign-off on concept to near final delivery, we had four months to produce the film. At which point we used the near-finished film to attract a celebrity VO artist, Matt Dillon. Once VO and film were matched, we were able to deliver several weeks later.

The film and static assets were distributed across the organization’s own social channels, email outreach program, and CARE.org website.

In the first few months, “Power of a Box” had attracted over 215,000 total impressions on the web, with a 73% engagement rate. An impressive 14% of those viewers completed the nearly 2:30 minute piece, but what’s even more impressive is that 1 in 7 of the viewers who watched to the end of the film…donated. ALL WITHOUT ANY PAID SUPPORT.