Make It Personal: Short Films for UCSF

UCSF is one of the top research hospitals and universities in the world. The institution takes on the biggest challenges in medicine with some of the brightest minds in science. UCSF has worked with Corduroy Media, a San Francisco Video Production Company, to tell their dynamic stories for 5 years. The Corduroy Media team was recently tapped to produce a series of films to support UCSF: The Campaign, which has a goal of raising $5 billion. The films needed to have strong emotional elements to show donors just how much impact UCSF has.  The creative team at Corduroy had one answer for the content: Make It Personal. Below is the first video in the series, profiling a bright light of a patient, Jazz Hardrict.

Ok, take a minute to wipe away the tears. Now imagine, what if that video was a talking head discussing the challenges of curing sickle cell? It's easy with medical stories to get too complex.  By following a highly personal, emotive story, a film can create emotional impact while also communicating a larger narrative. Simplifying a story to focus on one conflict creates the right roadmap to create a sense of time and place.  We see Jazz in her home, performing, and in the midst of a pain crisis to create a personal connection to her story.