Privacy Training Video - US VA

Client: U.S. Veterans Administration
Project: Privacy Awareness Training Film

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Challenge:
In the summer of 2006, Penobscot Bay Media was subcontracted by Emesec, Inc. to research, write, and produce a Privacy Awareness training film for the Veterans Administration in Washington DC.

In response to the epic breach of veterans’ privacy (23.5 million names were leaked when a laptop containing the data was stolen from an employee’s home), the VA urgently needed to increase awareness about privacy policy within the sprawling departments of Veterans Affairs.

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Penobscot Bay Media's Solution:
Penobscot Bay Media conducted interviews with key personnel at the VA to assess the efficacy of various media messages. Working collaboratively with the VA Privacy Partners, Penobscot Bay Media drafted a tentative script which was distributed to the privacy team. After a couple of weeks of revisions, the final script was approved and the real business of production began.

Casting calls and location scouts, were scheduled and conducted. The program was designated for high definition (to future proof) although the final delivery was standard definition, but the choice to shoot in hi def provided much more latitude for color correction which was helpful when the weather was not. Unfortunately it rained, poured actually, for the entirety of the shoot except for the last two hours or so when the crew scurried to shoot our designated exteriors. Our clients were on site for the entirety of the shoot and despite the raw, chilly weather enjoyed the chance to see firsthand the script come to life.

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Response to the film has been superlative. Several of the privacy partners echoed the sentiments of the program manager when she said “It’s so much better than we had hoped for . . . an excellent, excellent film.” Pretty good raves for what is so often dismissively referred to as a “training” film.