DIME: The Next Gen of Investors

DIME is a financial-literacy program for high-schoolers, teaching wealth literacy to Black and brown students. They'd worked with us before and liked the results, and this time they asked us to capture their end-of-year gala in New York.

The brief

The original ask was event coverage. We suggested a slight pivot: rather than simply documenting the gala, tell the story of the program and the students in it — a short documentary with the gala as its finale. The client agreed, and the project became something more durable than a recap.

The hard part

The hotel. We'd planned to shoot our key interviews in the hotel lobby, had rented a large backdrop and had a lighting crew ready to bring the look to life. Then hotel management stopped us.

How we made it work

We moved the whole interview setup into our hotel bedroom. That meant lifting the bed and mattress and wedging them into the far corner, then building the backdrop, lights and cameras in what was left. A tight squeeze — and it produced exactly the interviews we needed.

On set

Chelsea, New York, over two days. Interviews at the Dream Hotel, b-roll around the Financial District and Times Square, then the gala itself. Crew: Maurice Victor II as DP, Jazzlyn Victor producing, Christian Jamarillo on B-camera and a lighting team of two. Shot on Blackmagic with DZO lenses.

The result

DIME: The Next Gen of Investors won a Silver award at the 5th Annual Anthem Awards in the Awareness / Short-Form Video category for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion — out of more than 2,000 entries from 42 countries. The Anthem Awards recognize work that amplifies the voices sparking change; we're glad this one was among them.

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