Sextortion is one of the biggest risks that kids and teens face online, but most parents don’t understand how it happens. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) wanted our help in spreading awareness about this rising threat in a way that would both inform parents about the issue and establish NCMEC as the leader in the fight to protect children online.

As an adult, it’s easy to forget what it feels like to be a kid. You might think you’d be able to navigate a situation like sextortion and instantly spot the warning signs, but we wanted to show parents it might not be so easy. 

Our story plays out against the backdrop of a normal day—playing basketball with friends, chatting with his mom in the car, teaching his sister to skateboard—creating a poignant juxtaposition between what our character’s life looks like from the outside and what’s secretly happening on his phone.

It was important to show parents that sextortion could be happening to their teen and they wouldn’t even know it from the outside. Any child with a phone is at risk of being a victim.

As the film plays out, parents are prompted to engage in conversation with what appears to be another teenager. At key points, they’re presented with decisions about how to proceed, but there’s a catch—they don’t always have all the options they think they do. Certain selections trigger pop-ups that force their hand toward the decision a teen would actually make, helping them understand why their kids make the choices they do. Before they know it, what started as a friendly, flirtatious chat has escalated into a stressful, very adult situation.

All the text exchanges featured in the film are inspired by real transcripts from reported cases of sextortion, adding a layer of chilling authenticity to everything you see.

The intention of the film wasn’t just to stir up fear, it was designed to inspire empathy and action. The more people learn about sextortion and bring it out of the shadows, the more children could be saved from ever falling into the trap. The experience ends with opportunities to share the film and to connect to NCMEC’s many resources for parents, teens, and children who want to know more about how to stay safe online.

We targeted parents with a series of paid ads designed to capture them mid-scroll—on the very platforms where these crimes are initiated. 

I was the lead on story development and copywriting, tasked with digging into heartbreaking transcripts from real cases of sextortion to make sure we told the most authentic story possible. I also supported our CD through design and production across the film shoot, site development, and final launch. Even though the subject matter was dark, it was really rewarding to work on a project with the potential to make a real difference.

Made at Grow