Audience Consideration
#Likes4Lucas is born of a struggle for identity: how self-perceptions are warped by social media, how online avatars are at odds with reality. Are we so desperate to forge a “brand,” to craft a lasting legacy, that we’ve lost the thread of who we actually are? We all cope with self-doubt, we all experience stress and anxiety. Mental health in relation to the internet is an increasingly urgent issue—and young people are especially vulnerable.
Our goal is to help. As #Likes4Lucas Mental Health Advisor Ariel Stern has confirmed, the most effective way to reach at-risk teens—and to save lives—is through stories that speak to them personally, stories that they can “identify with.” As storytellers, we can do that.
Designed to appeal to the chronically online, #Likes4Lucas will entertain, first with a short film and then with a series. By exploring the influencers’ world that teens revere, by framing characters in the fast-moving, emoji-filled style they admire, we will draw our target audience in. By depicting both external and internal battles onscreen, we will expose viewers to more serious themes than their “For You” feed provides. This will be devious entertainment: a trojan horse which delivers a message.