America’s west coast entered the 2020’s in free fall. Cost of living soared, and homelessness spiked. Droughts and wildfires ravaged rural communities. Police and activists clashed in the cities. COVID-19 spread unabated.

In the midst of this chaos, the Dutch public broadcaster HUMAN asked us to reflect on our life in California with a short documentary about wildfire season for their award-winning series 2Doc Kort. 

Over the next two years, this commission grew into a highly-personal, three-film series covering climate change, the future of food, and social unrest in our little corner of the USA.

Educational start up Merlyn Mind brings safe, data-secure voice recognition and AI technology into the classroom.

If your eyes glaze over reading that first sentence, you’re not alone. That’s why the Merlyn Mind team brought in Jongsma + O’Neill to emphasize the humanity behind their technology.

The resulting spot—shot during lockdown in Los Angeles and starring Jongsma + O’Neill’s actual daughter’s actual kindergarten teacher—tells the story of an educator’s first day on the job with the Merlyn Mind’s Symphony smart speaker in her corner.