The world we’ve created is one of unease and disorientation, the script is a jarring mismatch to the visuals. There’s a lingering sense of unease, as the audio ramps up in dramatic tension, the visuals stay steady and constant. Suspense builds as the viewer searches for danger where nothing is happening. Only at the end when the two come together, bringing the ancient themes of the myth to relevance in today's world. The phone on the nightstand lights up the space–revealing no danger in the shadows of the room, because today’s Trojan Horse is actually concealed in our screens.

Children today are swapping teddy bears for technology. Predators don’t just know it – they count on it. The Horse, the newest PSA from The Canadian Centre for Child Protection, sheds light on the role unregulated platforms play in child exploitation. As part of The Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s mission to protect children online from sexual violence, the warning calls for governments around the globe to enact legislative change. The Horse is a powerful wake-up call, shedding light on the dark and pervasive threats that can harm children through their digital devices, and these threats continue to grow. Over the past five years, reports of online sexual luring of children to Cybertip.ca, Canada’s national tipline for reporting online child sexual violence, have increase by 815%.

We slowly glide down a hallway in a family home while an omniscient narrator recounts the myth of the Trojan Horse. There’s a lingering sense of unease, as the audio ramps up in tension but the visuals stay steady and constant. Suspense is built as the viewer searches for danger in a nighttime home where nothing is happening. And then a phone buzzes on a child’s nightstand, lighting up the room–because the danger isn’t in the shadows of the home. Today’s modern Trojan Horse is concealed in the brightness of our screens.

We told our story with the pacing of the camera and moves, something that was really important not to rush - the pacing adds suspense and emotion. With a location that didn’t feel like a haunted house but that had an eerie quality to it. The moody, nighttime lighting also helped to deliver the unsettling feeling as well.

Predators have a new way in – through a child’s cell phone. Most kids have a phone by age 12, creating the opportunity for predators to make contact under the cover of social media. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection wanted to create a PSA that spoke directly to parents about the role of unregulated online platforms in child exploitation, with cell phones being predators’ new way in. To contextualize the massive scale of this problem, we turned to the Trojan Horse, a story so famous it has become shorthand for concealing true intentions. In our spot The Horse, we leveraged that instant connection to drive home the magnitude of what we’re facing online.

We open in a house, in the middle of the night. All the lights are off and we can faintly hear the sounds of family members breathing evenly in their slumbers. We’re in the hallway, which is shadowy in the dark, which certain details visible through the natural light from the windows. Frames on the wall have drawings from the kids, family photos, etc.

Overtop, we hear VO of an older British man – a BBC style historian.

VO: Long ago, the Greeks and the Trojans were at war. They fought for ten years, but the Greeks could not penetrate the walls protecting the city of Troy.

At the end of the hall is an open door, with a bedroom faintly visible on the other side of the frame. We, the camera, move steadily down the hall towards it. The sound effects of the horse moving get gradually louder.

VO: So they built a wooden horse. A horse so big they could hide their soldiers inside. And they left it in front of Troy.

As we get closer, we can make out further details of the room – a single bed with a teenage girl sleeping in it. The foot of the bed is closest to us, and a side table with a lamp is directly beside. It’s a typical teenage room – some clothes are scattered on the ground, a water glass or two is on the side table.

We move uninterrupted into the room, up to the foot of the bed.

VO: A symbol of peace, the Trojans cheered, as they brought the horse into their city. In the night, while they danced and drank, the Greek soldiers climbed out of the horse and opened the gates.

All of a sudden, a glow lights up the room momentarily – the cell phone on the bedside table received a message. The girl rolls over in her sleep to reach out and take the phone.

VO: And in came all the soldiers.

A super appears overtop the scene.

SUPER: Today’s trojan horse looks different. And it’s in every child’s hand.

The last two words of the super fade off, and are replaced. It now reads:

SUPER: Today’s trojan horse looks different. And it’s in every predator’s hand.

SUPER: Relying on companies to do the right thing isn’t working. We must act to protect children. Support the regulation of online platforms.

LOGO: Canadian Centre for Child Protection