On April 18, Ryot News conspired to make a film about a gathering so monumental that its only appropriate backdrop was perhaps not so coincidentally the National Monument in Washington D.C.

It was Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day, and what was laid before a sea of 270,000+ people that day was no concert.

Instead, we witnessed something seismic. A fleet comprised of some of the world's top musical acts offered the soundtrack to an all-in push to double down on the movement to end global poverty and climate change.

World leaders found themselves flanked by musicians, actors, humanitarians, and visionaries, all of whom came to collectively bellow a profound statement the world’s been aching to hear. Their message was a composite of pledges sealed with painstaking vows, and condensing it into a brief visual moment felt nearer to impossible than not.

How could a small crew of storytellers take a faithful snapshot of such a powerful outburst of good? The short answer: we couldn't. At least not in any way that could honor the scale and brawn this radical gathering.

So what we did instead was found a way to share what we all felt that day in glimpses of conversations and intimate moments with some of the inspirational people around which so many had gathered. Being there as filmmakers became incidental to being spectators as the day unfolded. We were participants in something far more important, and we just happened to have the cameras rolling for it.

Because suspended in that humid air was an inescapable buzz, a rattling excitement descended from greater currents of empathy for mankind and planet Earth as a whole. It was there in the raised fists, smiles and the humming of the crowd that we felt the future's promise escape its shell.

Even backstage, where we traded the thrill of the crowd (where we all know the music sounds better), we felt there was a chance to show everyone else how humanizing this experience was.

Image: RYOT


The countless individuals there who are household names let their guard down and had with us the same types of conversations that were no doubt taking place in the crowd. Those visionary sentiments that fuel humanitarians around the world and brought 270,000 people to congregate in the nation's capital, they're what we hope are echoed in this retelling of a moment that we all hope will be remembered for triggering the avalanche.


And we couldn't help adding some pretty epic photos too:

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Image: RYOT

Editorial

Demand Equity

Where were you on Earth Day 2015?

By Ryot