"Essentials" began as an idea from the production company EP, who pitched the concept to Mailchimp in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. The series was filmed between the end of March and July 2020, during a time of unfathomable loss, where so much work needed to be done and so many things needed to be figured out. Less-heard-about employees and small business owners were starting to explore ways to modify their capabilities to provide needed services to their communities, ultimately bringing a new meaning to "essential.” The intent of the series was to showcase the resilience of people, everyday heroes, during a seemingly testing and uncharted time. To achieve this, the series would tell people’s stories in real time, documenting the lives of nine essential workers and inviting the viewer to become a part of this world where people are caring for one another ferociously.

The show focuses on often less-heard-about employees and small business owners who are exploring ways to modify their capabilities to provide needed services to their communities, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. These workers are bringing a new meaning to "essential," telling their stories in real-time. All are striving to help their communities while the pandemic rages on.

Timely and timeless, the show invites the viewer to become a part of this world where people are caring for one another ferociously - enough to put their own lives, safety, and money on the line. These intimate stories hold all the cliffhangers and emotional variations of dramatic episodic television, while the cast members improvise, make mistakes, and try again. The series doesn’t offer a solution to the crisis, but rather portraits of selflessness and resilience in these seemingly impossible times.

As the reality started to sink in that the world was about to begin a pandemic, MailChimp Presents, the content arm of MailChimp, wanted a series which documented the struggles and stories behind small business that were about to be tested for an uncertain amount of time. They looked to reinvent themselves not only in terms of how they work day to day, but in how they could keep their businesses open in the long term.

Filmed between the end of March and July 2020, the production team pulled off a seemingly impossible task: producing a series about nine essential workers spread across multiple US cities (New Orleans, Chicago, Houston, and NYC), in the middle of the raging Covid-19 pandemic. Directed entirely remotely, the series features evocative self-shot imagery collected by the cast, who were guided by lists provided for them by the director. This approach not only ensured the safety of the participants, but also resulted in an intimate look into the lives and first person experience of each worker. Their cameras recorded moments of both work and reflection, as the pandemic raged on in real-time.

View count on Vice YouTube as of April 15th, 2021:

Ep. 1: 910,454

Ep. 2: 1,042,806

Ep. 3: 362,023

Ep. 4: 362,023

Ep. 5: 351,148

TOTAL views = 2,666,431

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQxrUCeNwkk