Misericordia Heart of Mercy & the Special Olympics visit
Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo partners with a number of organizations to increase their community outreach. Our goal was to focus on the programs aimed at helping people with developmental disabilities while examining how a connection with animals can help them progress and increase their understanding of the world around them. We made two short films documenting different aspects of the zoo’s outreach. Through these videos, we were able to expose more people to the kind of work the zoo does with the community. Operation Rhino in particular has almost 20 thousand views and garnered a few awards, including an Emmy.
Chicago / Video
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Operation Rhino
Produced in conjunction wit with Misericordia/Heart of Mercy, Operation Rhino shows how art therapy can be a gateway for those with developmental disabilities to better understand larger concepts. By painting a terra cotta rhino statue, residents explored ways to express themselves, learned about wildlife conservation and related what they learned to their own lives.
2011 Chicago Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Public Affairs/Current Affairs Programming - Feature/Segment
2011 Chicago/Midwest Emmy© Award (National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences)
2012 Gold Quill (International Association of Business Communicators)
As for the Serengeti Rhino, it made its debut at the Art Institute of Chicago at the Artist in All Exhibition and Silent Auction before going to his permanent home at the Kelly-Conway Work Center at Misericordia.
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Talking Tigers
Talking Tigers follows Z and her mother as they recount Z’s journey from being speechless to being employed by Brookfield as part of their Project SEARCH initiative with the Special Olympics. Unable to speak until the age of seven, the tigers helped Z find her voice.
“Syncro knows how to tell a compelling and insightful story. They took what was a simple story about people and animals and turned it into an extraordinary one that tugs at the heartstrings and encourages viewers to take action.”