Desiline Victor Project

Client: Advancement Project, Inc.
Producer: Leila McDowell
Director/Editor: Paul Grant
Camera A: Paul Grant
Camera B & Audio Assist: Joshua A. Washington

 

Every now and again, our work allows us to touch history.  It's an electrifying yet fleeting moment. But we are thrilled to work behind the scenes while great stories that define the times in which we live unfold in front of our eyes.

Desiline Victor, a 102 year-old, Haitian Immigrant, was told  she had to wait up to six hours to vote in the 2012 Presidential Election at the polls near  her North Miami residence. Desiline persisted through the heat, the long lines and having been wrongly returned from the front to the back of the line because  it was though that she had the wrong paper work proving her residency.  Three hours later, she emerged from the polls with her "I Voted" sticker and throngs of cheering people, to become the symbol of voter frustration and for much need revamping of the U.S. voting system/ process.

Ascender was tapped by Advancement Project, Inc., a non-profit civil rights advocacy group, to document her experiences in Washington immediately leading up to her being an invited guest at the 2013 State of The Union Address.  Save for a few technical embellishments, this was story that ended up telling itself--and inspiring millions in the process.

 


US Coast Guard Recruitment Campaign (2012)

'This Is How I Serve'

This year,  Ascender  joined forces with the talented team at Washington, DC-based communications firm Penn Good & Associates to produce a series of :30-second commercials for the US Coast Guard.  The campaign targeted women and returning veterans--offering an peek into a typical day in the work  life of USCG civillian employee. See the full video campaign below:

Senior Producer / Director: Paul Grant
Producer : Tracey A. Grant
Director of Photography: Derek J. Allen
Second Camera: Sean Simmons
Hair/Make Up:  Christin Birkhead
Production Coordinator: Joshua A. Washington
Video Production & Animation: Ascender Communications, Inc.
Agency: Penngood, LLC
Client:  U.S. Coast Guard


Ascender Wins 2012 TELLY AWARD for 'Enlisted: Conversations with Five Generations of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Services (2012)'

MUSEUM & CULTURE   |  ORAL HISTORY  | DOCUMENTARY


ENLISTED: CONVERSATIONS WITH FIVE GENERATIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE U.S. ARMED FORCES (2012)

Our first museum video installation opened as a part of the Prince George’s County African American Museum and Cultural Center’s (PGAAMCC) ‘Coming Home’  World War II exhibition in North Brentwood, Maryland in, May 2011.  ‘Enlisted’, is our 16-minute documentary  featurette produced from oral histories of six African Americans  who lived in the  Washington, DC metropolitan areas that served in World War II, Korean War,  and two Vietnam War veterans– and their collective experiences in service to their country.

The exhibition, ‘Coming Home: How the African American Experience in World War II Shaped the Culture of Prince George’s County’ explains how the full integration of the U.S. armed services during the second world war actually opened the a new widnow of opportunity for many African Americans to seek and pay for, higher education and gain new professional skillsets. This was eventualy contribute to making P.G. County, Maryland the most affuent, predominately black county in the nation.

Tagline

ORAL HISTORY & DOCUMENTARY

‘Coming Home: How the African American Experience in World War II Shaped the Culture of Prince George’s County’  explains how the full integration of the U.S. armed services during the second world war actually opened the a new widnow of opportunity for many African Americans to seek and pay for, higher education and gain new professional skillsets. This was eventualy contribute to making P.G. County, Maryland the most affuent, predominately black county in the nation.