Web of Change

The Meatrix captured a lot of people’s attention when it was released in the fall of 2003. It ‘went viral’ in a way not seen before for an advocacy film. Since its launch, the animation has been viewed millions of times and won numerous awards at film and online festivals.

The film has now become the reference point for activists who want their issue to ‘go viral’, inspiring a word-of-mouse buzz that puts an issue in front of millions of people.

Every web content creator has heard a variation of the question “How can we make our film/animation/feature/report/press release the next ‘Meatrix”? I have always wanted to ask the people behind the Meatrix a few questions, so at the end of lunch Friday I asked Jonah Sachs three questions.

Keys to successful story-telling:

Focus your story where people already are.

Where is your audience at? Start from there, instead of trying to push them somewhere else.

e.g., Free Range Graphics’ Garth Brooks Wal-Mart movie

Wanted to make a point about labor issues, but the audience wasn’t already there

So instead they started where the audience already was: they knew about Garth Brooks, who had just signed a high-profile exclusivity deal with Wal-Mart