Choose Hope story is a 4 minute movie done by 250 filmakers. It was a challenge launched by the Portland based production company Muse Story Telling. The objective was to make a short film as a message of global hope despite the Covid 19 pandemic. It all started with Richard Hendrick’s poem Lockdown which had gone viral. Muse Story Telling, inspired by the poem, decided to engage the community to make this movie; 760 people from around the world answered the call, including 250 filmmakers.
Matthieu Meynier is a French filmmaker based in San Francisco and he participated in this project called Choose Hope Story. He loved being part of this movie which was 
completed in 10 days.
Each filmmaker had to illustrate one of the sentences of the poem (below) and submit their rushes to the editing team, then the community leaders and / or region managers were asking some to go back and film missing part of the script.
Thus, after having filmed Lombard street, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the empty streets of San Francisco, Matthieu was asked to add a scene illustrating the solidarity. He went to film in the kitchen of Food Runners, a San Francisco non-profit that prepares meals for the homeless and shelters. At this stage, it was important for Matthieu to emphasize the fact that this was done in full compliance with sanitary precautions (wearing a mask and gloves) and physical distance measures.
Blown-away by the remote organization of this large scope project and proud to be part of it, Matthieu highlights that “the more the project progressed, the more we realized how much the movie could create a positive impact and we hope that Choose Hope won’t stop there. We challenge people around the world to continue to come together with stories of hope by sharing their inspiring moments on social media with #ChooseHopeStory ”
Finally, Matthieu pays tribute to Muse Story Telling who just started, free for all, a 4 weeks session of online workshops on “The Art + Science of Story Telling”. He thinks that “it is interesting for people at this time to find their way of expressing their creativity and use this moment to slow down, and learn new things ”
Merci Matthieu, Merci Muse!
Lockdown, by Richard Hendrick
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise,You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet. The sky is no longer thick with fumes.
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them. They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on. Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness. Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness. Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love. Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love. Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
