Back Call for Application: Engagement of Consultant to Produce Short Videos

Search is seeking a consultant who can produce creative short video drama contents to dispel hate speech, misinformation and disinformation as well as promote inclusive processes for women, youth, PWDs, IDPs. Following our programmatic activities ahead of the general elections in February 2023, we are primarily interested in dispelling stereotypes and narratives around issues that inhibit participation of target groups in electoral processes. Consultant’s proposal should include a plan laced with creativity and innovation to script, film and produce the video contents which will be posted on Search’s social media platforms in order to promote inclusion in electoral processes.Search for Common GroundSearch for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict with headquarters in Washington, DC and a European office in Brussels, Belgium. Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. Search seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With a total of approximately 600 staff worldwide, Search implements projects from 50 offices in 35 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.The Project In 2023, Nigerians will return to the polls to vote for a new president, following the two terms of President Muhammadu Buhari. Civil society’s participation will be critical to ensuring a transparent, inclusive, and credible electoral process. For many citizens, the 2019 elections represented a setback to the progress made in earlier polls, notably in 2015. Yiaga Africa’s pre-election and Election Day observation in 2019 highlighted a number of challenges that threatened the credibility of the process: the quality of election administration fell short of expectations; parties and their supporters engaged in vote-buying, hate speech, and violent acts to impede the electoral process; and voter turnout was at 35 percent, the lowest in two decades.Building on lessons learned from this past electoral process, the Consortium for Election and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), under this program represented by the National Democratic Institute (CEPPS/NDI), the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (CEPPS/IFES), and CEPPS Associate Partner Search for Common Ground (Search), is embarking on a five-year program to further strengthen the engagement of Nigerian civil society in support of credible elections and democratic progress in the country. The program would enhance citizen observation and analysis in advance of, during, and after the 2023 elections cycle; increase participation of marginalized populations in the electoral process; and counter hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation while promoting civic education.ObjectivesTo further strengthen the engagement of Nigerian civil society in support of credible elections and democratic progress in Nigeria, CEPPS proposes the following objectives: 1' SEED Objective 1: Enhanced citizen observation and analysis in advance of, during, and after the 2023 elections cycle2. SEED Objective 2: Increased participation of marginalized populations, such as women, youth, persons with disabilities, and internally displaced persons in the electoral process3. SEED Objective 3: Strengthened civic education and efforts to counter hate speech, misinformation, and disinformationSearch, contributing to SEED objective 3 will be using radio programs, media components, and other media approaches to counter hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation to enable marginalized groups (women, youths, PWDs, and IDPs) to have civic education to be more involved in the electoral process and actively participate in civic spaces.MethodologySearch, plans to work with citizens to increase access to positive messaging that dispels misinformation, disinformation and mitigate hate speech focusing on inclusive electoral processes for women, youth and persons with disabilities. To this end, Search will fund the production of a 10 episode short video skits to support this initiative. Search will leverage the skills and resources of experts to create innovative and inspiring video drama content that has the potential of changing the narratives. Search is now looking to work with a contracted creative hub for the scripting, recording, production and editing of these contents. The 5-6 minutes long video drama will promote peace and unity by highlighting inspiring stories, messages, and raising awareness on the objectives of the project. Additionally, topics of interest highlighted in Search’s monthly hate speech reports will also form the content of the video drama episodes as a means of responding to the issues pinpointed in the reports. The creative vision and content of the media product will be envisaged by the consultant. Search will upload these contents on its social media handles which can be listened to both locally and internationally by a wide range of internet users, especially the target audience. The audio drama content will be scripted in the most-widely spoken language (mainly English and Pidgin English) so that the messages and themes are more relatable and accessible to a wide range of people.

Expected Output

• • Promote inclusive participation of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities in electoral processes
  • Improved narratives on voters participation in electoral processes
  • Mitigate hate speech, misinformation and disinformation as well as create safe spaces for interactions on social media platforms

    Deliverables

    • • The consultant will develop a 5-6 minutes long video drama content which will include introductions, cast and transitions for ten episodes.
      • The consultant will provide all necessary production, and post-production equipment. No equipment or software (i.e., computers, audio editing software, etc.) will be purchased under this activity. The consultant is solely responsible for engaging all personnel to facilitate all aspects of this contract as necessary. All costs associated with the production and will be the sole responsibility of the consultant and should be incorporated in the contract cost proposal.
      • The consultant will establish operations rapidly and efficiently in consultation with SFCG, to accomplish formative scripts and other preparatory work. The consultant is expected to hold a meeting with the project team to further familiarize with the project goals and objectives.
      • The video drama should convey core messages of the SEED project and tell engaging stories through creative and well scripted content.
      • The content should include professional high quality transitions, voice-over or peace message at the end of every episode, and appropriate supporting background music. The content should be so appealing to the viewers that the key message is passed across laced with humor and wit.
      • Search will provide expert field knowledge, and expects the consultant to incorporate in his/her work when developing these contents.
      • The Consultant will work closely with the Project Coordinator and project team to ensure the delivery of quality content in line with project requirements.

        Logistical Support

        • • Consultant will be responsible for organizing their own logistics for the pre, during and post production activities.Ethical ConsiderationsIt is expected that this activity will be ethically conducted. It should be inclusive of a range of relevant actors, while adhering to principles of Do No Harm and Conflict sensitivity. Proposals submitted should include what steps will be taken by the consultant to adhere to Do No Harm and Conflict Sensitivity, and inclusion principles (i.e. gender, age, ethnicity, religion, etc.) Steps to ensure informed consent and where needed should also be outlined. A risk assessment and plans to mitigate these risks should further be included.

            In addition, the consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:

            • • Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of production
              • Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
              • Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
              • Respect for people: Consultant respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.Data Quality Assurance and Management
              • All materials (Scripts and video contents) will be reviewed and approved by Search prior to acceptance of the final cut (episodes). All data and materials collected in the course of the pre, during and post production is to be safely stored and handed over to Search at the end of the engagement. TimelineThe period of production for this contract is approximately 1-2 months, from November 2022 to January 2023.
              • Development (November 2022): The consultant will work closely with SFCG to learn about the SEED project and its objectives. With this background, the contractor will generate initial ideas, propose storylines, and possible scripts for the video content. The work during this phase may be conducted remotely from the proposed start of the contract in November 2022.
              • Pre-production (November 2022): The consultant will work closely with SFCG in selecting characters, and method of delivery to ensure that idea of inclusion and conflict sensitivity are entrenched in the plots of the stories.
              • Production (November 2022): The consultant will script and start recording the content during this period. The consultant can work with the SFCG team, in case of clarity on some narratives, names of communities, stakeholders or any other intellectual resource they will be needing.
              • Post-production (December 2022- January 2023): The consultant will work closely with SFCG during the editing phase to finalize these contents and make corrections where necessary. The work during this phase may be conducted remotely.
              • Distribution (January - February 2023): The contractor will deliver to SFCG all 10 episodes of the content in a flash drive even if episodes are sent prior to the delivery of the final work for upload on Search’s social media handles. The consultant is not responsible for further distribution of these video contents.Requirements of Consultant
              • The following skills and experience are expected by Search for our Consultant for this engagement:
              • More than 5 years of experience in creating short films, documentaries
              • Experience working with local and international organizations around democracy, governance and peacebuilding

                Applications

                • • A technical proposal, of no more than four pages, describing how the video production objectives will be met within the stated timetable. Also a narrative “pitch” describing the basic video drama concepts and examples of how the content would be structured.
                  • Budget/financial proposal including a description of costs for personnel, per diems, logistics, any local production company support, and all audio production costs (script development, pre-production, production, and post-production). Include an overall cost for the contract. Final video content decisions will be discussed between the consultant and SFCG before production begins.
                  • Creative portfolios, including internet links or digital copies of relevant scripts developed by the organization.Interested candidates are invited to send their letter of application and proposals through our Career Portal, no later than October 18, 2022Submitted offers will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.Note: Only two documents can be submitted, so the technical and financial proposals must be combined, along with the short cover letter.As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities. Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work. All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Collaboration- Audacity - Tenacity - Empathy - Results. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest, and Anti-fraud. Search is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children, youth, and vulnerable adults with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children, youth, and vulnerable adults. Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. View our code of conduct here and our privacy policy here.Les descriptifs de pouvant ne pouvant être exhaustifs, le titulaire du poste pourra être amené à entreprendre d'autres tâches qui correspondent globalement aux responsabilités clés ci-dessus.Seuls les candidats invités à un entretien seront contactés. Pas d'appels téléphoniques s'il vous plaît. Veuillez consulter notre site Web www.sfcg.org pour tous les détails de notre mission.Tous les employés de Search doivent adhérer aux valeurs de Search : Collaboration- Audace - Ténacité - Empathie - Résultats. Conformément à ces valeurs, Search fait respecter le code de conduite et les politiques connexes sur la lutte contre le harcèlement au travail, la protection contre l'exploitation et les abus, la protection des enfants, les conflits d'intérêts et la lutte contre la fraude. Search s'engage à préserver les intérêts, les droits et le bien-être des enfants, des jeunes et des adultes vulnérables avec lesquels elle est en contact et à mener ses programmes et ses opérations d'une manière qui soit sûre pour les enfants, les jeunes et les adultes vulnérables.Search for Common Ground ne fait pas et ne doit pas faire de discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur, la religion (croyance), le sexe, l'expression de genre, l'âge, l'origine nationale (ascendance), le handicap, l'état matrimonial, l'orientation sexuelle ou le statut militaire, dans aucune de ses activités ou opérations.Consultez notre code de conduite ici et notre politique de confidentialité ici.