Client: Prison Fellowship

Volunteer and Donor Recruiting

"You're watching your life day by day, tick by, from inside a brick wall." -Jonathan Poehner, Ex-Prisoner

Prison Fellowship is a non-profit ministry operating programs designed to help prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families all over the world. When Prison Fellowship needed to created a series of messages aimed at several distinct constituents within their networks, they turned to 15Four for help.

For more than 30 years Prison Fellowship has had a sterling record of effective work inside correctional facilities, as well as supportive programs operating outside of prisons for those seeking to re-enter society. In order to operate their extensive network, Prison Fellowship needs cooperation and engagement from volunteers, mentors, Department of Corrections staff, and donors.

The Task:

Create films which will communicate the capabilities and credibility of the organization, while engaging several distinct but critical constituent segments.

The Process:

15Four began the pre-production process by meeting with Prison Fellowship staff and researching their current communications. We then created a script which would tell their story. Even though this treatment called for a documentary style film, with our staff interviewing ex-prisoners, Dep. of Corrections staff, volunteers and others, we still began with a script. This helps our clients understand and agree on the story that we intend to capture. After that, its up to our skilled staff to glean that content during the filming of real people, telling their real stories. Once the script was final, 15Four worked with Prison Fellowship to schedule filming and interviews in training centers and correctional facilities at locations in San Diego and Minneapolis. We created some original music for the film, and utilized tracks from a local band who gave us permission to use their music to help tell the story. (It helped that one of our staff plays keyboards for the band!)

Ongoing Work:

While shooting the main film, 15Four also gathered content for a series of other shorter pieces which Prison Fellowship will be able to share with their international network of staff, volunteers, correctional facilities staff and social workers.

Distribution:

Prison Fellowship has a well developed web presence where rich media can be shared instantly and often throughout their vast network. 15Four is helping them strategize how to distribute this new content across various social media outlets and distribution channels already available to them.