Homeless Extras

Background

For advertising productions, agencies often need background actors, also known as extras, to complete the picture or a scene. The extras don't need great acting skills since they are but a detail in the background. So the compensation paid to these extras could just as well go to people who really need it: the homeless. This insight sparked the idea to establish the first homeless extras agency in collaboration with De Volksbond, an Amsterdam-based organization that supports the homeless.

Idea

With the help of DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Amsterdam, De Volksbond assembled a large group of homeless men and women from Amsterdam, who fit the role of extras in a, soon to be aired, commercial production. Going forward, De Volksbond would fulfil the permanent role of casting agency for which the charity would receive half of the compensation an extra gets paid for the job, in order to help other homeless people in the country. The other half of the payment for each job would go directly to the homeless person employed. In this way, the initiative positively impacted homeless people in two ways: by subsidising support for the wider homeless community and, at the same time, empowering and paying the person who works in the production.

Results

• Homeless Extras incites confidence in people. Initiatives like these encourage rehabilitation and raise funds most effectively.
• Homeless Extras generated over 5 million PR impressions without any budgets.
• This positive buzz helped establish the project, plus helped shift the negative public image around homeless people.
• But most importantly:
• Two months after the release multiple shoots have been booked with Homeless Extras.
• One booking even featured a homeless as main Model!

link to the video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enaCuK_bkKA

Website: http://www.homelessextras.nl/