Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center 2010 Humanitarian Awards Dinner

Our Role

In January 2010, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center retained JT to create a video to be shown during its Annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner. The Illinois Holocaust Museum wanted a video that would recount the highlights of its first year in operation—showing the depth and breadth of programming and services provided to both the general public and targeted audiences.

The Challenge 

The Museum requested that the video showcase programming and events from the past year. However, there was limited video footage available and some events had not been filmed at all. While initially the Museum had a long list of programs to be included in the video, JT advised that to create an engaging, captivating video that would hold the audience’s attention and be appropriate for the Annual Dinner, it should focus on a few special events for which the Museum had video footage available, and that an overview of the variety of programming could be conveyed through the interviews interspersed throughout the video.

The Solution

To create a powerful video that showcased the highlights of the Museum’s year, JT prepared a video treatment outlining three Museum events happening in January and February that could be filmed and also represented programming that had occurred earlier in the year. JT suggested that the Museum interview select individuals to share their experiences throughout the video: 

• Rick Hirschhaut, executive director of the Illinois Holocaust Museum
• Sergeant Diane Shaw, Chicago Police Department, whose team of recruits participated in the Museum’s Law Enforcement and Democracy Initiative
• Mike Isaacs, reporter for the Skokie Review, covered events hosted by the Museum during its first year of operation
• Malual Awak, president of the Sudanese Community Center
• Morgan Sendor, student and president of Youth United for Darfur 

JT coordinated the filming of on-site events in January and February and conducted interviews with individuals on how they were impacted by the Museum. JT selected video footage and photos from other Museum events to include in the video, and also managed the editing of the final piece.

The Results

JT provided the Museum with an eight-minute video that was shown during the Annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner on March 8, 2010. The video was well-received by all in attendance and instilled a sense of pride to all who were involved in supporting the Museum.