Real Mothers. Real Stories. Real Life. That's Motherhood Maternity's ethos, and since 1982, they've had mamas' backs (and bumps) when it comes to what to wear, from belly to baby and beyond. And when it comes to breastfeeding, Motherhood Maternity believes that all boobs are good boobs; all boobs are created equal; and all food is good food. So you do you, mama.

Check out Motherhood Maternity's 2019 Breastfeeding Awareness Month series here:

And before you pitch, take a look at these references for tone/style:

The Evolution of Dance – a great use of consistent talent across different time periods with a straightforward, consistent visual style
Portrait of Lotte – Similar to the Evolution of Dance, this video uses timelapse to effectively show the passage of time with consistent backgrounds/visual style and talent
100 Years of French Fashion – While we aren't fans of the type treatment, the use of closeups and seeing "BTS" elements like the stylists interacting with the talent is fun

Finally, these blogs do a great job of showing the timeline of breastfeeding, with some interesting photos/images:

Objectives

How do you feed your baby? It's a question that mothers have dealt with for generations; the "proper" responses constantly shifting with changes in social norms around motherhood and parenting. Nursing mothers have been idolized in art, and vilified in public; they've been applauded while privately dealing with cracked nipples and latching issues, chastised for pumping or supplementing with formula, and everything in between; and mothers who can't nurse or choose not to nurse have dealt with these issues and more. At the end of the day, all that actually matters is feeding your baby; how you do it, a personal question fraught with public and private scrutiny, shouldn't matter.

In other words, you do you, mama.

Every August, Motherhood Maternity celebrates all things boobs and baby-feeding for National Breastfeeding Awareness Month. In previous years, they've built their campaign around real moms and their babies talking candidly about their personal breastfeeding/baby-feeding experiences. These interviews have been uplifting, raw, inspiring, and tear-jerking – just like parenthood itself. For 2021, Motherhood Maternity is turning to the Tongal community for an anthemic video that dives into the timeline of breastfeeding since the 1800s: how science, attitudes, and clothing have changed over the decades; how social norms have come and gone; and how much we have – or, maybe, haven't – evolved our societal point of view around all things breastfeeding, culminating in a truism we can all agree on: feeding your baby is what matters most.

Your anthem video should be honest and unapologetic, bold, snappy, and to-the-point, but shouldn't shy away from humor or some of the darker aspects and attitudes around breastfeeding both past (think wet nurses) and present (like social norms around breastfeeding in public). Your anthem video should take a global, universal view, including breastfeeding experiences and attitudes in various countries and cultures, and can go as far back in history as you deem necessary: consider what breastfeeding/baby feeding looked like in ancient times, in Greek mythology, during the industrial revolution, and the class and gender politics surrounding everything from wet nurses to male doctors and scientists developing formula.

Think about how you'd literally bring this timeline and history of breastfeeding to life by combining live-action, motion graphics and/or animation, archival footage or stills, and more. Timelapses, montages, and collaging different visual formats and styles are all strongly encouraged and off-the-wall approaches are fair game, too. And be sure to check out the Background/Additional Details section for more info, tone references, and links to Motherhood Maternity's previous Breastfeeding Awareness Month campaigns. For any questions or other project updates, check out the project forum.

DELIVERABLES: There are 36 total video assets and 10 still assets. These deliveries are split between two target dates:

July 26 Delivery (28 Assets):

One 3-5 min hero video (16x9, 9x16)
Nine :15-:30 Social Assets:
- Three :15–:30 Instagram In-Feed (4x5)
- Three :15–:30 Instagram Stories (9x16)
- Three :15–:30 Instagram Paid (1x1)
Seven Cutdowns:
- Three :04–:06 GIFs (600x500)
- Two :08–:12 Video-only Site assets (Desktop) (16x9)
- Two :08–:12 Video-only Site assets (Mobile) (3x2)
Ten Stills, pulled from the video (16x9, but with flexibility to crop for 1x1 or 9x16 as needed)

August 6 Delivery – 18 Assets:

Nine Social Assets:
- Three :15–:30 Instagram In-Feed (4x5)
- Three :15–:30 Instagram Stories, (9x16)
- Three :15–:30 Instagram Paid, 1080x1080
Nine Cutdowns:
- Three :04–:06 GIFs (600x500)
  - Three :08–:12 Video-only Site assets (Desktop) (16x9)
  - Three :08–:12 Video-only Site assets (Mobile) (3x2)

TIMELINE: For the full project timeline please see the Assets section. Please note that this project has rolling delivery with two delivery milestones on July 26 and August 6.

EXPOSURE: YouTube, Instagram Stories, Motherhood Maternity's website, both on desktop and mobile, and email blasts to subscribers. Please review the platform best practices page.

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mothers, parents, and mothers-to-be

TONE: Honest, inspiring, uplifting, encouraging, celebratory; genuine, authentic, and engaging. Don't shy away from humor and irony, either – there's a lot of silly ideas and contraptions to explore in the history of breastfeeding!

EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:

Your video should include depictions of some key breastfeeding contraptions, including the suction pump, nipple shield, and more. Lean into how wacky and weird some of these inventions were – we encourage you to bring some humor into this strange and specific bit of history.
Instagram Stories content should feel app-native and can be a mix of stills, video, GIFs, etc. More direction around the social assets will be worked out with the greenlit filmmaker during pre-production.
Your on-screen talent must be real mothers with their real babies/toddlers.
Casting must be representational and diverse across all ethnicities, ages, body types, sexual and gender identities and presentations, and lifestyles.
Your video must clearly convey two core messages:
- You do you, mama
- Feeding your baby is what matters most
Your video should touch on the full range of emotions that come with feeding a baby: excitement, confusion, surprise, fear/concern, delight, joy, pride, and, yes, discomfort. Don't shy away from the humor, either: there's a lot of room for eye-rolling, irony, and poking fun both in the ups and downs of breastfeeding and the history surrounding it!
While this is not a product-first project, Motherhood Maternity nursing bras must be shown in the video, and will be provided to the greenlit filmmaker.
Rolling Delivery:This project has rolling delivery, with the hero

OPEN BID:

This is an open bid project, so you will get to set your own budget proposal, up to $42,000. The Sponsor is interested in seeing tiered pricing options, so please feel free to submit various versions of your pitch at budget, target, and reach price points within that price range.
By participating in this open bid project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a bid. Though most open bid projects on our platform do move forward with a greenlit bid, we will notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any bids via the project forum. Regardless of the result, all open bid submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and the project team.

Shooting live action or stop motion? Our priority is ensuring everyone's safety, and we're now requiring a COVID safety protocol plan for all relevant productions. Please review our COVID-19 Production Safety Guide and check federal, state, and local rules before and during your shoot to make sure your on-set protocols are up to date. We're working hard to keep people working during this extraordinary time, and you should ensure your submission is executable within the anticipated timeline and budget, while also ensuring everyone's safety.

Details

In order to be considered for this project, you must include the below materials in your pitch submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery.

TEXT (REQUIRED): 500 or fewer characters synopsizing how you plan to approach and execute this video.
TREATMENT (REQUIRED): A detailed narrative description of what's going to happen in the video. If it's helpful to you, we've provided a treatment template, which you can find here.
LINKS (REQUIRED): To your previous video work. Please specify your role (producer, director, cinematography, etc.) and DO NOT INCLUDE LINKS TO YOUR SHOWREEL. Please link to individual videos.
BID (REQUIRED): This is an open bid project, so you’ll get to set your overall bid. The Sponsor would like each producer to create all of the videos listed in the Deliverables section within a total budget of up to $42,000. Please ensure that your budget factors in appropriate COVID safety protocols (i.e. testing, PPE, cleaning supplies, backup talent, etc.).
COVID PROTOCOL (REQUIRED): Please let us know your team’s COVID safety protocols for production. If you’re doing everything yourself, or your team will be working 100% remotely, let us know that this won’t apply. Otherwise, at the very minimum, your safety plan must include information about:
- What city and state you plan to film in
- Whether you are filming interiors or exteriors
- Approximately how many people you plan to have on set
- How you’ll account for testing, PPE, and distancing on set
- How you’ll handle talent and backup talent, including any hair, make-up, and wardrobe needs
- Whether you’ll have a dedicated compliance officer on set
SCRIPT (Optional): This should include dialogue from the video you intend to create.
STORYBOARDS (Optional): Additional concept art, storyboards, shot list, anything that helps get your point across. You can download the Tongal storyboard template here.
HEADSHOTS/CASTING BOARDS (Optional): Casting notes or concepts, headshots of actors, etc.
PITCH VIDEO (Optional): This is your opportunity to be face-to-face with the Sponsor and show them what you're capable of. Consider submitting a pitch video in which you tell the Sponsor what they can expect should they choose your pitch. Also, test videos, animatics, etc. are welcome. For some examples of effective Pitch videos, check out this gallery. All Pitches will remain private until after the Sponsor gives creator(s) the green light to move forward.

Requirements

Preferred format for upload to the Tongal website is HD 720p 16x9. Acceptable file formats are .mov, .avi, .mp4, .wmv. Acceptable codecs are H.264 (MP4), MPEG-4, H.263, MPGV, WMV, DivX. Should your submission be greenlit, you will also be required to provide a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec.
Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.
In the event you utilize any third-party materials, such as music provided by a third-party music provider not provided by Tongal, you must obtain full written license and consent from the owner of such third-party materials and provide such license and consent forms to Tongal.
BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES THE SOLE PROPERTY OF TONGAL OR ITS ASSIGNEES – SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEBSITE OR VIDEO HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.
You may not contact any employees or members of the Sponsor’s organization, their affiliates, or any of their partners. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in disqualification of your entry in the project.
Submissions cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.
Submissions must not portray Sponsor in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Sponsor.
By submitting to this project, you acknowledge that your work may become subject to public voting on the Tongal site. Public voting may be used to help the project sponsor determine the final rank order.
Videos must be in the English language or subtitled.
Limit 5 submissions per member, per Phase.
You must be at least thirteen (13) years or older to enter.
The Sponsor reserves the right to repost the contest.
In addition to the judging criteria stated in the OFFICIAL RULES, Pitches will also be evaluated on that member's ability to execute the final Video based on their prior work and experience as a filmmaker.
The Sponsor will be entitled to reasonable revisions on the finished Videos without providing additional compensation. Remember it's easier to re-edit than re-shoot so try to get as much coverage as possible.
In addition to the standard Tongal W-9, Winner Affidavit, and IP Assignment, greenlit Video creators MUST also provide Talent, Location, Music (or other) Releases for all assets appearing in their Videos, as well as a photograph/headshot OR copy of a photo ID for all On-camera Talent releases. You must also provide all project files, editing sequences and a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec to claim your earnings.
See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.