The International Child Advocacy Network (YesICAN) is a non-profit organization whose mission is working worldwide to raise awareness of domestic violence and child abuse, and to break the silence and cycle of abuse.

Nashville singer/songwriter Hannah McNeil wrote and recorded Unbroken Angels, donating the song to YesICAN to honor children who have lost their lives to child abuse.

YesICAN then reached out to me to direct a music video for the song. I immediately started playing the song on a loop to brainstorm ideas for the video, but admittedly I kinda struggled at first. What does a music video look like for an organization like this? I finally realized that the piece actually needs to be a PSA about child abuse, to better raise awareness for both the cause and the organization… but the PSA could (and should) still be in the style of a music video.

As for content, I had some intriguing thoughts, but it wasn’t until I heard a certain statistic about child abuse that the idea really started to take shape.

“Approximately one out of every three boys who is physically abused will engage in criminal or anti-social behavior later in life, often including the abuse of his own children.”

That stat was like a punch to the gut, and instantly an idea sparked. A few days later I pitched that concept to the good folks at YesICAN, and they loved it. Soon after, YesICAN launched a crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter to raise the funds to make the PSA/music video. Fast forward a few months, and there we are!

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