Client: CoorDown
Campaign Title: Include Us From The Start
Agency: Publicis New York
Agency Location: New York
Chief Creative Officer: Andy Bird
Executive Creative Director: Luca Pannese
Executive Creative Director: Luca Lorenzini
Associate Creative Director - Art: Rodrigo Panucci
Associate Creative Director – Copy: Alex Abrantes
Senior Producer, Integrated: Jakub Popadiuk
Chief Production Officer: Lisa Bifulco
Executive Producer: Jennifer Guliner
Business Manager: Brittany Dursi
Animation / Editor: Doug Zaner
Post Producer: Elisa Gougoux
Director: Hadleigh Arnst
Director of Photography: Stephen Frandsen
Honey Mix: Conrad Sanguineti & Eric Thompson
Colorist: Gene Curley
Original Music by Alessandro Cristofori and Diego Perugini | Stabbiolo Music
Illustrator: Richard Allen
Illustrator’s Representation: Gail Gaynin at Morgan Gaynin
Art Producer: Michelle Findlay
Print Producer: Bill Grant
Prodigious Studio Director: Glen Fix
Prodigious Studio Artist: Camilo Francione
Published: March 2018
Synopsis:
Publicis New York and CoorDown, Italy’s national organization for people with Down syndrome, continue to change the conversation around Down syndrome debuting the short film, Lea Goes To School, addressing inclusive education. The film is presented as an animated children’s storybook and features voiceover by Grace, a 11-year old student with Down syndrome. The film debuts for World Down Syndrome Day, March 21.
Lea Goes to School is the story of Lea, a little girl with Down syndrome, as she sets off on her first day of school. An alternative “special” life path seems to have been laid out for her -- a “special” classroom, a “special” job and a “special” home -- but the young protagonist expects to have the same beginning as every other child and voices a clear message: “include us from the start.” In 2017, Publicis New York and CoorDown launched the film #NotSpecialNeeds, blending humor and honesty to shift the cultural conversation around Down syndrome.
An inclusive education is more than an aspiration, it is a fundamental human right of every child. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in 2006 and has been ratified by 176 countries. Article 24 of the Convention establishes, together with other UN instruments, the human right to an inclusive education and calls on Governments to expedite the transformation of their education systems, to ensure an inclusive education for students with disabilities in their regular schools and classrooms. Research shows inclusive education confers social and academic benefits for all: students without disabilities learn the value of diversity and are less likely to develop discriminating behaviors, and the benefits for students with disabilities extend beyond academic learning to increased social connection, and better employment and independence outcomes.
Lea Goes to School was created together with DSi – Down Syndrome International, with the support of Down Syndrome Australia, Down’s Syndrome Association (UK), All Means All - The Australian Alliance for Inclusive Education and Movimento Down (Brazil), and under the patronage of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. The http://www.includeusfromthesta... website contains more information on the campaign, articles and research on inclusive education, other insights on the subject and first-hand stories. The official campaign hashtags are: #IncludeUsFromTheStart and #WDSD18.
#IncludeUsFromTheStart