Upstander Project is a non-profit educational and filmmaking collaborative that develops documentary films and related curricula that challenge false historical narratives and help bystanders become upstanders. One of their releases was the documentary short film Bounty,  a collaborative project between the National Emmy Award-wining team at Upstander Project and Dawn Neptune Adams and Maulian Dana, citizens of Penobscot Nation.

The film’s producers, seeking to generate public attention around its launch, challenged Hollywood Agency to develop a ten-week media relations campaign with three overarching goals:

• Educate the broader public about the historical role of scalp-bounty proclamations in perpetrating genocide against Indigenous people
• In support of Penobscot, Wabanaki and other Indigenous people who defy erasure by telling their own stories, establish a local and national conversation to reshape the narrative around the origin story of the United States
• Drive viewership and downloads of the documentary, which was available for free on the website

Utilizing the film’s spokespersons to tell the story of scalp bounty proclamations and celebrate the survival of the Penobscot people, Hollywood focused on establishing a conversation with regional New England media before shifting resources to multiple national fronts. The team secured stories in key regional media outlets, a contributed opinion piece in The Guardian, and a feature story by The Associated Press that aligned with the campaign’s stated goals around education and appeared in 500+ publications.

The ten-week campaign resulted in:

• 600+ pieces of earned media coverage for Bounty
• 2 million estimated views
• 21,000+ social media shares

Over the first two days of the film’s launch, Upstander Project‘s website experienced a 1300% increase in visits from the prior year. Combined, the sites for Upstander Project and Bounty handled more than 25,000 visitors across those two days.

Additionally, Bounty received multiple film festival selections and was picked up for broadcast on Maine’s PBS stations.