An Open Letter to Hollywood

Advertising | UI Design

A platform to source opinions from audience members and creatives about what they want to change in the film industry.

A smartphone displaying an Instagram profile called 'lettertohollywood', surrounded by colorful social media posts laid out on a light purple background.

Role Strategy | Art Direction | UI Design

Team Solo — FIT Thesis project

A person holding an iPhone displaying an Instagram post featuring a colorful artwork.

Challenge

General audience members and creatives in the film industry feel unheard by Hollywood, especially when it comes to creativity and originality in film.

Solution

Develop a microsite and social media campaign critiquing Hollywood with the purpose to educate and persuade people to share their thoughts in a communal space, giving them strength in numbers.

Process Highlights

Discover

Film students and film historians were interviewed and surveyed to discover their perceptions of remake culture and creativity/originality in filmmaking. Conversations quickly turned to critiquing the entirety of Hollywood, which included:

Research & Empathy Interviews

We need to give more chances and resources to young talent.

There’s still discrimination against women and people of color.

We need to fix unfair pay for actors, writers, animators, and other artists.

Read the thesis paper here.

Define

The research prompted these questions...

  1. What happened to the passion and creativity in Hollywood (and was it ever really there)?

  2. Does Hollywood listen to its audience?

  3. What do the audience and creatives have to say about Hollywood?

and created a big idea…

Hollywood doesn't truly listen to its audiences, and many creatives, as well as individuals interested in film, don't feel their voices are being heard.

Handwritten notes on graph paper with highlighted text and annotations.

Ideate

How Might We?
& Solutions

  1. How might we send a message to Hollywood?

  2. How might we continue the conversation?

  3. How might we give the project significant reach?

Microsite Create a website that elevates people’s voices in a central place, validating them with similar feelings.

User Submissions Prompt visitors of the site to submit their own thoughts and feelings.

Social Media Share more information on the abuses of Hollywood, as well as call the viewer to action.

Design & Development

An Open Letter to Hollywood

Microsite

Read and listen to quotes from interviewees, survey respondents, and visitors of the site.

User Submissions

Visitors of the site are prompted to submit their own thoughts to continue the conversation.

A webpage with the title "An Open Letter to Hollywood" on the left side, featuring colored text boxes with opinions about Hollywood, filmmaking, and the entertainment industry. On the right side, there are navigation links labeled "Home" and "About", and a video thumbnail with the title "Bring Art & Passion Back to Filmmaking". There is also a contact form asking, "What do you want to say to Hollywood?" and an email address for submissions.

Sound bytes from interviews

A webpage titled 'An Open Letter to Hollywood' with black text on a light gray background. The page includes menu options 'Home' and 'About' at the top right, with 'About' in blue. Below the title, there is a paragraph explaining the platform and its purpose. To the left, there is a colorful, hand-drawn illustrated art piece with yellow background featuring various doodles, words, and symbols related to Hollywood and African culture.

For further education and inspiration, the site features some works by other artists that aim to critique Hollywood.

A smartphone displaying an Instagram post with a black-and-white photo of a woman watering a garden, dressed in light clothing and a wide-brimmed hat, with a pink background and text discussing Cindy Sherman's film work and feminist film theory.

Social Media

The project also extends its reach to Instagram, where information on the abuses of Hollywood can be found, as well as more user submitted opinions.

Black and white photo of a woman operating a vintage movie camera, with a quote about women in the film industry over a green background.
The Hollywood sign on a hillside with a quote about ideas and culture in the foreground.
A person holding a sign that reads, 'See what happens when you don't have great writers... The IDOL WRITERS GUILD.' Subtext on a purple background discusses the lack of creativity and soul in certain work.
Three smartphone screens displaying social media posts with quotes and read more buttons, each in different colors: purple, green, and yellow.

Deliver

Visit the published site
Visit the Instagram

Takeaway

Aspects of Hollywood have improved over the years, however this does not exempt the industry from further critique. I aim to continue the conversation around filmmaking as a respected art, and grow the platform I’ve created with engaging and impactful content.

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