Rewind 2-5 years from the moment when a nurse enters the US: if they are working with PassportUSA, then that nurse has had not just a recruiter but an entire team by their side throughout the entire process. Someone to remind them to do the study modules for their exams. Someone to prep them for the cultural differences between their home country and the US. Help them find a 3-year job assignment (with higher-than-average pay in a better-than-average healthcare facility), and even eventually a full-time career in the US, once their green card has been approved. PassportUSA also covers the cost of the green card process and sends an arrival team to the airport to meet the nurse when s/he lands, show them around their new community and get them situated. 

PassportUSA from Health Carousel is a leading provider of U.S. careers for internationally-trained RNs, PTs, OTs, and medical technologists. They abide by ethical international recruitment practices and have a stellar record of U.S. placement. U.S. healthcare organizations of all sizes choose PassportUSA for their great service and the quality of the healthcare professionals they offer.

Right now, PassportUSA has roughly 900 international nurses on assignment across the US; 85-90% of those nurses come from the Philippines. When these nurses come to the US, they often bring their families with them, changing and contributing to the fabric of the communities they join.

 

Check out the testimonials on this page (scroll down) for more insight.

PassportUSA's mission statement:

Every year, foreign-educated nurses dream of coming to America to begin or further their careers, pursue additional educational opportunities, and increase their bedside care experience. But for many of them, the American Dream feels out of reach; the process of immigrating to the US as a healthcare professional can take years, thousands of dollars, and hundreds of hours of study and preparation. It's a challenge big enough to discourage many. Until they find PassportUSA. 

For 15 years, PassportUSA has stood for ethical and responsible international healthcare recruitment. We've stood for the foreign-educated healthcare professional, the countries they leave behind, and the communities and patients that they will one day serve in the US. And PassportUSA is the partner (and financial sponsor) that can make the impossible-seeming goal of achieving the American Dream a reality for healthcare professionals all over the world. 

*If you're interested in this project, you should also check out the Nurse's Journey Authentic Story Project, which films in Florida. Health Carousel is willing to consider the same filmmaker for both projects.*

It's no secret that immigrating to America can be a complex, expensive, and arduously long process. For healthcare professionals, this involves additional prep and difficult exams on top of the typical EV3 Immigrant Green Card process. Depending on a nurse's birth country, the green card process can take anywhere from 2-5 years and cost over $20,000. Even with these additional hurdles, the "line" to immigrate to the US as a working nurse can be almost comically long, because of the opportunities working as a nurse in the US can offer: higher pay, more eligible working years, and, often, a less discriminatory hiring process, not to mention more opportunities for their families.

So when one of these nurses finally steps through customs at a US airport it's a really big deal, and that's why the goal of this project is to document the moment when two nurses arrive in the US next month. This will involve two suites of videos, as well as some travel, and you must be prepared to hit the ground running to capture the nurses' arrivals. Here's what you can expect:

• August 2nd, Jacksonville, FL: Nurse Sharmaine Liezl Go will arrive from the Philippines to start an assignment at Baptist Health and meet her PassportUSA arrivals team, led by coordinator Angela Cotter. 
• August 23rd, Baltimore, MD: Nurse Tariro Saburi will be arriving from Zimbabwe. Nurse Saburi will be assigned to Great Baltimore MC, and her arrivals team is led by Hunter Showalter. 

More information on each nurse's background and story will be provided to the greenlit filmmaker.

We're looking for filmmakers who know how to tell these nurses' – and their coordinators – authentic stories in a compelling and compassionate way. We'd like the filmmaking process to start before the nurses' arrivals in the US, where you'll guide them both through capturing video diary-style footage of the end of their visa application process and build a rapport with them before they land on the ground in the US. Then you'll meet them and their PassportUSA teams to document their arrivals in America. We'd also love to capture video diary and/or interview footage with both nurses coordinators to round out both sides of the recruitment and immigration process and show how PassportUSA goes above and beyond to be good partners to their international nurses.

 

If any part of either nurse's story resonates with you in a personal way, we'd love to hear about it in your treatment; while certainly not a mandatory requirement, your own personal perspective could bring added value to this project. Check out more information in the Background / Additional Details, and for any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.

DELIVERABLES: There are 18 total video assets:

• For eachnurse's story:
  • One :60–:90 hero video (16x9)
  • One :30 cutdown (16x9, 1x1)
  • One :15 cutdown focused on the nurse's POV (16x9, 1x1, 9x16) 
  • One :15 cutdown focused on the PassportUSA team's POV (16x9, 1x1, 9x16)

 

TIMELINE: Please note that this project will hit the ground running with a kickoff call with Nurse Go's arrivals team at 10am PT/1pm ET on July 30 and filming on August 2. For the full project timeline please see the Assets section. 

 

EXPOSURE: Social media, including Facebook and Instagram; PassportUSA.com and other Health Carousel websites. Please review the platform best practices page.

 

TARGET AUDIENCE: Internationally-trained nurses, especially those based in the Philippines (85-90% of the nurses PassportUSA works with are Filipino)

 

TONE: Inspirational, uplifting, celebratory, exciting, dramatic, cinematic.

 

EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES: 

• You MUST be able to travel to BOTH Jacksonville and Baltimore to capture each nurse's arrival. 
• You must be available to talk and work with the nurses and PassportUSA team members over phone, video conference, etc. before their arrival in the US and guide them on capturing video diary content for you to include in your edits. 
• Your videos must not be disparaging of any other nurse recruitment programs, hospitals, or origin countries. 
• Your videos should be honest about any concerns the nurse has before their arrival: sometimes, these can be based on discriminatory practices in their own countries, but often the nurses have concerns about gun violence and social justice issues in America. 
• If either nurse is arriving with her family and the family is willing to participate in the project their story should be included as well.

By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a pitch. Though most projects on our platform do move forward with a greenlit pitch, we will notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any pitches via the project forum. Regardless of the result, all pitch submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and the project team.

 

Our priority is ensuring everyone's safety, so 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.

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.
  
  
• STORYBOARDS (Optional): Additional concept art, storyboards, shot list, anything that helps get your point across. You can download the Tongal storyboard template here.
  
  
• 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.

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.
   
   
5. 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.
   
   
6. Submissions cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of Sponsor.
   
   
7. Submissions must not portray Sponsor in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with Sponsor.
    
8. 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.
    
9. Videos must be in the English language or subtitled.
    
10. Limit 5 submissions per member, per Phase.
     
11. You must be at least thirteen (13) years or older to enter.
    
    
12. The Sponsor reserves the right to repost the contest.
    
    
13. 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.
    
    
14. 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.
    
    
15. 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.
    
    
16. 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.