The Crew & Mission
The main goal of Partager C’est Sympa is to make activism cool again. Through video & social media, they empower new generations of activists in France and beyond. They are proud idealists fighting for a just and sustainable future for all. The premise is simple. The crew manage a Facebook page (75k subscribers) and a YouTube channel (12k), and produce a video a week, upbeat and inspiring, which inspires viewers to engage individually and collectively for an ecological, social and democratic transition.
Partager C’est Sympa have produced high-quality videos to support the campaigns of French NGOs such as Alternatiba, Friends of the Earth France, ANV-COP21, ATTAC, Réseau Action Climat, Oxfam France, Greenpeace France, Bizi!, Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme-FNH) and international NGOs (350.org, Friends of the Earth International, ATD Fourth World).
The team is young and dedicated (26-27 years old), with a proven track record that shows they know how to talk to millennials. They work hard and fast, and are efficient at getting videos shared far beyond the usual NGO crowd. One of the ways they achieve this is by collaborating with famous youtubers. For instance, one of their videos about divesting private finance from fossil fuels, was crossposted by MinuteBuzz (an entertainment page with 4.6 million fans) and reached 1.6 million young people who are not at all used to political or environmental content. For a taster and overview of their work check out their channel.
They are a small core team of young French people. Vincent, 27, is an activist videographer and a Youtuber. He is the host, the protagonist of the videos and the initiator of the project. He co-writes, shoots and edits the videos. Juliette, 26, and Victor, 27, receive NGOs or citizen groups’ requests, research the subject, talk to the relevant NGOs, organise the production and write the script. Vincent and Juliette are based in Lyon, and Victor is in Paris where most of their networking/collaboration with NGOs is done.
The Numbers
Since 2016, their videos have had over 23 million views on Facebook. Six months ago, they launched a new format called « Le Vlog des Gens qui se Bougent » (“the vlog of the people who take action”). This series raises awareness of environmental, social and political issues, and showcases active citizens who are working hard to solve them. As the narrator, Vincent uses humour and internet memes to convince his audience of the need to take action. Since then, Partager C’est Sympa went from 5,000 to 77,000 subscribers and their videos have been viewed 15 million times. Recently they published a video to support a crowdfunding campaign for a 3 months-long and country-wide mobilisation to promote non-violent disobedience and sustainable solutions. In the week that followed its release, their audience gave over 10,000 euros.
The Guerrilla Grant
We provided funding to produce (research, shoot & edit) a stunning and high-energy video about Notre-Dame-Des-Landes and the people supporting the ZAD, that was released on February 11, the day after the national gathering celebrating a unique victory of the climate justice movement in French history.
The story of “la ZAD” in western France began more than half a century ago. On January 17th, the French government declared that the airport that the community have been fighting against will not be built. However, it was declared that the people still currently occupying the ZAD should leave, without giving any guarantee that they will not build something else on this unique natural ecosystem. On February 10th, thousands of people gathered on the ZAD to celebrate the victory, to show the world that a 150 determined people supported by a few thousand more can bend the decision of 4 consecutive governments.
Partager C’est Sympa want to show that this is a unique activist experiment & success story that should result in the guaranteed protection of the area and the people who live there. They have spent years cultivating the land and inventing new ways to organise and to live, and they should have a right to stay.
This is also a communication battleground. There is an intense campaign of misinformation by the mass media, saying that ZADists are violent vagrants. There is a need for a beautiful, energetic video to show what it is really like on the ZAD, and who these people really are. It was the Notre-Dame-Des-Landes residents who asked for Partager C’est Sympa’s help, and we instantly jumped to offer our Guerrilla support in this vibrant, exciting activist initiative. Enjoy the ZAD video & share widely.
