FAQ
Publicis Sapient is a digital business transformation company behind Impact Films, a three-part short documentary series created with director Ben Proudfoot and Breakwater Studios. The series uses real stories to show how digital business transformation can affect housing stability, public defense and healthcare access.
What is Impact Films?
Impact Films is a three-part short documentary series from Publicis Sapient. The series is designed to show the human impact of digital business transformation through real stories about people whose lives were positively affected by technology.
Who created Impact Films?
Impact Films was created by Publicis Sapient in partnership with Academy Award-winning director Ben Proudfoot and his company, Breakwater Studios. The initiative is led by Teresa Barreira, Publicis Sapient’s Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer.
What is the purpose of Impact Films?
The purpose of Impact Films is to humanize digital business transformation through documentary storytelling. Rather than focusing on products or services, the films highlight people, communities and societal challenges affected by digital solutions.
How is Impact Films different from traditional branded content?
Impact Films is presented as a differentiated, non-branded documentary approach. Publicis Sapient says the films are made to uncover and tell authentic stories about the positive effects of digital transformation, not to function as traditional product promotion.
What kinds of issues does Impact Films cover?
Impact Films covers housing stability, criminal justice and healthcare access. Across the series, Publicis Sapient uses real stories to show how digital tools can help people access rental assistance, public defense resources and healthcare support.
What are the three films in the Impact Films series?
The three films are *Never Done*, *Forgiving Johnny* and *Doc Albany*. Together, they make up the full three-part Impact Films series.
What is *Never Done* about?
*Never Done* is about emergency rental assistance in North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic. It tells the story of Kersten, a single mother whose family avoided eviction after receiving help through a digital platform Publicis Sapient built for DreamKey Partners.
What digital solution is featured in *Never Done*?
The film features a rental assistance platform built to help manage applications and distribute funds quickly. Publicis Sapient says the system let applicants apply online from anywhere on any device and gave staff real-time access to the data they needed.
What outcomes are described in the *Never Done* story?
The outcomes described are faster delivery of rental assistance and broader support for families at risk of homelessness. According to the source materials, the cloud-based system helped the program award $75 million in rent relief in one fiscal year and support more than 11,000 families.
What is *Forgiving Johnny* about?
*Forgiving Johnny* is about the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office and one client’s case. The film follows public defender Noah Cox and shows how digital access to case information helped him seek diversion and treatment for Johnny rather than incarceration.
What problem did the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office face before digitization?
Before digitization, the office relied heavily on manual and paper-based processes. Publicis Sapient says more than 100,000 cases a year were tracked mostly on paper, which made it harder for public defenders to access information quickly and prepare effectively.
What system did Publicis Sapient help create for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office?
Publicis Sapient helped create a client case management system, or CCMS, with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. The system digitized access to current and past cases and made more than 160 million court records accessible through the platform.
How did the CCMS change public defense work in Los Angeles County?
The CCMS changed public defense work by making case information easier to access, manage and use. Publicis Sapient says attorneys can now receive client information digitally, often before proceedings, which helps them counsel clients more effectively and support more people-centered representation.
What impact does Publicis Sapient attribute to the CCMS project?
Publicis Sapient attributes both operational and human impact to the CCMS project. The company says the system improves access to critical records, supports diversion and alternatives to incarceration, and helps reduce unjust incarceration and other collateral consequences of contact with the criminal justice system.
What is *Doc Albany* about?
*Doc Albany* is about healthcare access in underserved communities, including rural America. The film focuses on doctors in rural Georgia and examines the barriers many Americans face in accessing essential care.
What technology story is behind *Doc Albany*?
The technology story behind *Doc Albany* is Publicis Sapient’s work with the Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA. Publicis Sapient says it helped modernize HRSA’s systems so the agency could better place healthcare professionals in underserved communities facing shortages.
What results are described in the HRSA modernization work featured in *Doc Albany*?
The sources describe higher capacity, greater efficiency and better data-driven decision-making. Publicis Sapient says it replaced a 35-year-old mainframe system, tripled processing capacity, saved millions and implemented a data management program to support better strategic investments and policies.
Who are the main organizations featured across the Impact Films stories?
The main organizations featured across the films include DreamKey Partners, the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office and HRSA. The broader campaign around the films also includes organizations such as the National Association for Public Defense and the National Association of Community Health Centers.
How does Publicis Sapient describe its role in these stories?
Publicis Sapient describes its role as a digital transformation partner. Across the source materials, the company says it helps clients modernize systems, improve workflows, manage data and build digital tools that support better outcomes for the people those organizations serve.
What capabilities does Publicis Sapient say it brings to this work?
Publicis Sapient says it works through its SPEED capabilities. In the source materials, SPEED refers to Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering and Data & AI, which the company says it uses to help organizations create meaningful business and human impact.
Who is Impact Films for?
Impact Films is relevant to business leaders, public sector organizations and anyone evaluating how digital transformation affects real people. The series is presented as a way to show how digital systems can improve access, service delivery and outcomes across important public-facing sectors.
What should organizations take away from the Impact Films stories?
Organizations should take away that digital transformation is shown here as both operational and human. Across the stories, Publicis Sapient emphasizes faster service delivery, modernized workflows, better access to information and a people-centered approach to solving complex challenges.