20th Anniversary Video Consultant

Background

Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is the world’s leading global coalition working to secure the land, forest, and resource rights and livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples through bold, collective action that puts people at the center of development, conservation, and climate solutions. In 2025, RRI will celebrate its 20th anniversary.

In anticipation of this, we are seeking an experienced video specialist and communicator to produce a documentary that tells RRI’s story and highlights its far-reaching contributions to the Indigenous and local community rights sector over the last two decades.

Project Description

We are looking for an expert video storyteller who can film a series of in-depth interviews with RRI’s co-founders, senior coalition members, and leadership team to identify some of our biggest achievements of the past two decades. These achievements will span our three focus regions (Asia, Africa, and Latin America) as well as key themes within our work (gender justice, private sector engagement, climate and conservation, and community livelihoods).

The final deliverable is twofold:

1. The first is a suite of up to 17 interviews with RRI’s coalition members packaged into 4-to-7-minute clips for use in various multimedia communications products. These individual clips will be created using up to 7 interviews filmed in person by the Consultant in various international locations, and up to 10 additional interviews recorded by RRI’s Communications Team.

Each interview will help tell RRI’s story and summarize its impact on national, regional, and global movements for Indigenous and local community rights over the last 20 years, for use in various multimedia products by the Communications Team.

 2. The second deliverable is a documentary (approximately 6 minutes) using a selection of the most powerful interviews from the above recordings. The documentary should apply a “big picture” lens to the stories told by interviewees, using them to show the collective fingerprint of the RRI coalition as a solidary movement. It will also establish a compelling narrative around RRI’s impact on the international development ecosystem and its role in moving the needle toward a greater global awareness and recognition of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community land rights, including the women and youth within these groups, and their link to global development.  

Activities

Filming and editing interviews

• In collaboration with RRI’s Communications Team, film 7 interviews with selected senior RRI members located in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
• Edit up to 17 interviews, including the 7 filmed by the Consultant, into up to 7-minute clips with guidance from RRI’s Communications Team.

Documentary pre-production

• Provide feedback to refine the storyboard created by RRI Communications Team, ensuring that its narrative arc celebrates RRI’s achievements in the last 20 years, starting with how it began, showcasing key successes, and concluding with a vision for the future.

Documentary production

• Transform interview footage from up to 17 interviews and b-roll provided by RRI, featuring its areas of work, into a first draft of the documentary.
• Edit the documentary based on feedback and timecodes provided by the Communications Team, including captioning and visual effects.
• Subtitle the documentary in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Indonesian using translations provided by the Communications Team.

Deliverables

• A suite of up to 17 edited interview clips, including original files and the clips uploaded to RRI’s YouTube channel.
• An up-to 6-minute documentary, including original files and the documentary uploaded to RRI’s YouTube channel.

Timeline

The timeline for this project is November 20 to April 15, 2025.

• Collaboration with RRI Communications Team to finalize the storyboard: November 20, 2024 – December 15, 2024
• Filming: January 10, 2024 – February 20, 2025
• RRI delivers its recorded interviews to Consultant: February 15, 2025
• First draft of edited clips: March 1, 2025
• Second draft of edited clips: March 15, 2025
• First draft of documentary: March 15, 2025
• Second draft of documentary: March 31, 2025
• Final draft of documentary: April 15, 2025

Budget

The anticipated budget for this project is up to US$25,000 in addition to international travel costs.

Desired Qualifications  

• At least 10 years of professional experience in video journalism. A background in broadcast journalism is strongly preferred.
• Strong communication and project management skills.
• Experience synthesizing complex information into compelling visual stories.
• Experience working with diverse cultures in the Global South.
• A passion for stories and using them to promote deeper understanding of vulnerable communities and their issues. Familiarity with human rights and Indigenous issues is an asset.
• Fluency in French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Indonesian is considered an asset but not required

Submission Requirements

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Portfolio including at least three examples of documentary filmmaking.
2. Brief financial proposal detailing the Offeror’s total fixed price in U.S. dollars for all activities, as well as hourly rates and an estimated total number of hours should RRI decide to award a contract on an hourly rate basis.

The deadline for submission is 5:00pm ET on November 13, 2024.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be scored based on the following parameters:

• Consultant work history and experience in video storytelling (70%)
• Costs (30%)