California Community Colleges
Reaching an audience of people in the language they actually speak.
The Problem
California Community Colleges needed to convince Latinx youth that financial aid made college affordable. The usual public-service messaging wasn't landing with an audience that had been talked at, not to, for years.
My Role
I was part of the creative team that developed Lupita as a bilingual character and campaign hook, then led post-production for the series.
My role covered editing rhythm and pacing, as well as the full visual identity, including titles, graphics, and the overall look and feel of the campaign.
The Move
The concept skipped a translated script for Spanglish dialogue, built in the language the audience actually lives in, code-switching included, riding on an existing telenovela property viewers already knew, "El Gran Sueño de María Esperanza" (2016–2018). Getting that voice to land wasn't just the writing, it depended on the cut. Post-production pacing kept the code-switching feeling natural instead of stilted, and a visual identity built for a phone-first, scroll-first audience, sticker graphics, hand-lettered titles, a look nothing like standard education marketing, made Lupita feel like a character with a point of view instead of a spokesperson delivering a campaign message. Distribution followed the same logic: geo-targeted social and YouTube aimed specifically at Latinx youth, in a state where nearly 40% of the population is Latinx and more than a quarter of households speak Spanish at home.
What Happened
The first two episodes and their supporting promotion generated nearly 1.5 million views in three weeks.
The series also received a Gold ADDY in Online Film, Video & Sound Series.
