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The end of the year is a time of giving, as people and companies open their wallets during the holidays and charities capture the bulk of their donations for the year.
One company makes sure its giving spirit is strong all year long by building community support into its operating model.
LA-based production company Spark & Riot reinvests the profits it makes on all shoots back into the communities it works in by partnering with local nonprofits. In the last year, the company helped with wildfire cleanup in Maui, empowered women in Mexico to start small businesses, and supported foster youth in Los Angeles, among other efforts.
In 2023, Spark & Riot invited its agency partners to join in its giving efforts by using a percentage of their profits to help fund the Maui wildfire clean-up effort. Agencies including Gotham, Terri & Sandy, Saatchi & Saatchi, Y&R, Taxi, and Digitas participated.
Spark & Riot also helps brands give back to local causes, enlisting Adobe to help bring clean water to Chiapas, Mexico, and working with Clorox and FCB Chicago to help Venezuelan refugees in Colombia.
“We tie [all of our events] to our nonprofit cause, and we invite agencies, clients, and all of our crews to become involved with a nonprofit if they choose to,” Spark & Riot founder Ana de Diego told ADWEEK.
Inspired to give back
De Diego started Spark & Riot in 2018 to service branded content work. She then pivoted into features and long form films, including producing and co-creating “Impact,” with Gal Gadot, a documentary series that followed the stories of six women who made an impact on their communities.
That project gave de Diego, who had always wanted her company to represent diverse and international talent, the idea to give back with each project.
Rather than just write checks to certain causes, Spark & Riot helps clients identify nonprofits that align with their social responsibility mandates. Following the production, the client then works with the nonprofit and their own staff to complete the project, documenting the process along the way.
After working with Adobe on a shoot in Mexico, for instance, the software giant partnered with nonprofit IXIM to help provide clean water systems to indigenous populations in the Chiapas region.
“We installed all these water filtration systems in these remote, rural, dirt road neighborhoods and in schools. And we also drilled wells to make sure that we were active in providing clean water. Because without clean water, you can’t really fix any other problems,” said de Diego.
