Lightfoot launches ‘Chicago Connected’ with Jason & Blue

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City of Chicago launches vital “Chicago Connected” campaign with directors Jason & Blue

Chicago is making history. In an awareness campaign helmed by commercial directing team Jason & Blue, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot announced the launch of an urgent social initiative titled “Chicago Connected.”

Taking aim at the digital equity gap, the program—the first of its kind in the United States—will bring free high-speed internet to over 100,000 students for four years.

“Internet access should be as essential as having food, water, and a place to stay,” says a Parent Ambassador in the campaign’s three minute flagship video. Another, “The internet is a like a window to the world. Without it we’re at a standstill.”


ALSO READ: Chicago launches free high-speed internet to CPS students


Although a number of organizations and individual philanthropists are responsible for Chicago Connected’s creation, the video directors felt it critical to spotlight the families on the receiving end of the project: “Hearing directly from those actually experiencing this need is so important because too often their voices are not at the table.”

Chicago Connected

Jason & Blue were brought in early to help develop the awareness campaign, which necessitated an unusually quick schedule as well as a number of workarounds due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Among their solutions, for example, the project’s timeline meant Jason & Blue needed to collaborate in near real time with Chicago’s Utopic for post-production.

As is often the case, though, the challenges production faced were well worth it in the end: “The Parent Ambassadors who are on the frontlines advocating for parents in Chicago schools were so passionate and tender-hearted. They were really inspiring to connect with,” says the directors, Jason & Blue

The initiative’s announcement runs the gamut of marketing outlets, utilizing the city’s social media channels as well as digital billboards and physical screens around Chicago. The robust promotion is reflective of the stakes of the campaign: “If we don’t bring that kind of connectivity to those families, we are saying they don’t matter,” stresses Mayor Lori Lightfoot, “By giving them access, we are giving them true power.”


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Full Credits:

Client: City of Chicago
For the City –
Colleen Stone
Connor Brashear
Directed by: Jason & Blue
Camera Operator: Josh Tallo
1st Assistant Camera/B-Roll Camera
Operator: Matt Keeth
Sound Mixer: Tyler Lang
Production Coordinator: Katie Collins
Post Production by: Utopic Chicago
Edited by: Katherine Pryor
Executive Producer for Utopic: Heather Mitchell
Graphics & Animation by: Daniel Cervantes
Assistant Editor: Victoria Aquende
Sound Design & Mix: Sam Fishkin (Mix Kitchen)
Interpreter: Israel Vargas (Metaphrasis)
Special thanks to Alba Ilrahora who helped
With Spanish translation in post production