The film is a music video for a poem. It begins with a poet in an empty theater reciting the opening lines. Scenes of more people reciting parts of the poem are intercut with historical footage, typographic treatments, and animations. The poem speaks to how connectivity is the catalyst for change. The pacing of the poem and the edit are seamlessly intertwined, creating a mesmerizing rhythm. At the end of the spot, a card reads: CONNECTING CHANGES EVERYTHING.

For many years, telco as a category has been all about sales activations and less about creating brands people care about. While this strategy has maintained sales, it creates a risk of commodification over the long-term. With the launch of the Connection Changes Everything campaign, AT&T sought to change that and to build a brand connection that could support their business goals for years.

After eight shooting days, we gave countless hours of content to the editing house. We also readied a massive folder with curated historical footage and stock animation. With all that material, our team of five editors collaborated on this cut using an approach called “the swarm.” Each editor started from scratch and posted their cuts to each other. In the second round, they created a v2 that combined their preferred parts of their own and others’ cuts. This process was repeated with access to everyone’s v2. We’re thrilled that the approach of “the swarm” aligns with the film’s concept of change based on connectivity.

Humans have always sought growth and change, whether in our diet, salary, style, or society. In 2023, connectivity is more crucial than ever to effectively bring those changes to life. In our spot, we only showcased individuals who use their connections to promote change in a range of fields, including TED talkers, e-commerce owners, environmental activists, YouTubers, and online educators.