Meet Fast Fwd: Inside 's last year's interactive video

Take part in the above video, and read on to see how we built it.

 Capturing content of high quality

For the first time, we reached out to people in our community of talent worldwide creative directors in the Netherlands, filmmakers in the UK animators from Australia, and NGO activists in Nigeria for some.

After that, we requested them to use their cameras, phones, and laptops to address three questions about the year ahead:

•   What's your mission for the upcoming year?
•   What is inspiring you this new year?
•   What are the most significant challenges you anticipate in 2023?

Their responses spoke to the power of communities, like this gem from creative director of the film and Soursop co-founder Ravi Amaratunga Hitchcock...

"In the individual streams, we are able to only do so much However, when we work together we can accomplish massive enormous, huge, and massive things."

...and the endless possibilities that come with storytelling, like this sentiment of Staff Pick filmmaker Faith Briggs.

"I am not content to share cool stories. I'd like to share tales that are important."

 Streamlining the post process

When we edited all of the submissions to video, we knew we wanted each part of the video to be able to stand on its own. So, we created an assortment of supercuts featuring our favorite responses to the three questions above.

And, to prepare for creating interactivity, the's team developed a few principles to change the footage from sizzles to raw footage into an immersive experience.

•   Include an interactive element within the first ten seconds  
•   Allow for :15 20 -:20 interval between each hotspot  

The idea of an interactive user experience

"Making a video interactive can be about adding value" adds Jen Mendler, a Senior Designer at . "Our community performed all the heavy lifting, offering such insightful insights on the next year, and we followed suit with a multimedia experience that puts viewers in the driving seat. The focus is on deciding your destiny for 2023."