A&M©
Meet Anna and Myra — concept duo and pitch artists known for making things with a pulse: award-winning serialized content, narrative film & experiential campaigns, just to name a few.
As similar as they are different, they’re equally convinced that Diet Coke could solve the world’s greatest existential threats — and that working across timezones means nothing when you have kismet creative chemistry.
New Rules of Work
The rules of work have morphed, dissolved, and made half-hearted attempts to re-congeal — with mixed success. Out of the professional stew, something new has emerged: fluid relationships, freelance-driven careers, and non-local contributions.
We created this episodic web series to bridge a gap in that conversation. The core insight: a great professional doesn’t necessarily a great freelance professional make. Freelancing is it’s own skillset, with it’s own unique challenges — and it isn’t for everyone.
For those who have escaped corporate mandates, we weren’t about to reinstate new ones. Instead, we rallied real voices from Upwork’s global freelance community — and told story through animated metaphors of why they imagine themselves to be.
SOCIAL CONTENT SERIES
From raising your rates and building a client base, to the deeper work of knowing your worth and managing your mental health in the process, the series set out to offer candid, expert advice on what aspiring independents really want to know — without the buttoned up veneer or stiff insincerity that often comes with it.
The series was a wild success, outperforming all previous Upwork YouTube content by 350%, running for five consecutive “seasons”. It was also the recipient of the OneShow Merit Award.
Awards & Honorable mentions
Merit - Brand In-house
Credits
Creative Directors: Nick Scarlet, Dave Gonsalves, Adam Alshin
Associate Creative Director/Writer: Anna Schaefer
Senior Art Director: Myra Pervez
Designer: Lindsey Willis
Producer: Austin Maddox
Honoree - Best social series
Shortlisted - Social Media
Narrative Storytelling
Beautiful Coffee
This docu-style short film captures a true story of what’s possible when we break old systems to build one that works for everyone.
As the debut short for Upwork Presents, Beautiful Coffee won Brand Film of the Year from PR Newsweek, among other notable accolades.
The film featured the founders of Red Bay Coffee, an Oakland-based roaster we partnered with to create our own coffee line Wake & Make. We follow their journey into creating a more equitable working environment while producing a product and space that truly served their community.
Brand Film of the Year
The coffee bags themselves served as a billboard for the talent who created them — with a quick and clear way to hire them for your own projects.
Credits
Filmmaker: Antonio Riggins
Creative Director: Rebecca Faulkner
Senior writer / Story producer: Anna Schaefer
Designer: Akira Nakamura
Storyboard artist: Vincent Talbot
GFX artist: Ross Holter
Production: Zero One
CUSTOMER STORIES
UPWORK X UPWORK
When a brand is built by it’s own global users, there’s a story to tell. As a global freelancing platform, some of Upwork’s best stories come from the work we’ve done with talent from our own platform. And there isn’t a department that impact doesn’t touch.
Event Merch
Credits
Creative Director: Nick Scarlet
Associate Creative Directors: Anna Schaefer, Max Erdenberger
Senior Art Director: Myra Pervez
Motion Designer: Ross Holter, Zack Patterson
Designer: Laura Welch
Producer: Antonio Riggins
EXPERIENTIAL CAMPAIGNS
Talent on Tap
Remote work is great. But virtual happy hours? Not so much. The moments that actually build trust are the ones you can’t find remotely. Those barstool chats after a long day in professional mode.
We took a break from the glowing screen and brought Upwork’s global community right to the doors of our biggest enterprise clients, for a one-of-a-kind experience that would leave them thirsty for more.
Over cold ones from Athletic Brewing Co., clients got up close with the platform's best: award winners, high performers, and top earners from around the world. Getting to know them? More fun than a game of beer pong.
Awards & Honorable mentions
Bronze • Employer Branding
2x Finalist
3x shortlists
Credits
Executive Creative Director: Patrick Holly
Creative Directors: Nick Scarlet, Dave Gonsalves
Associate Creative Director: Anna Schaefer
Senior Art Director: Myra Pervez
Executive Producer: Jibrael Younes
Producer: Jorge Vallecillos
Associate Design Director: Akira Nakamura
Design Director: Stephanie Muñoz
Project Manager: Priscilla Siwan
Designer: Laura Welch, Jason Weiche
Photographer: Jack Strutz
Production: Pure Productions
AI-powered content
The Upwork Research Institute is a treasure trove of data and insights. The team just never had the resources to do much about it. With the scalability of AI, we were able to stand-up and run a podcast about the future of work. I’ll let you guess the hottest topic of conversation lately.
Work Week Podcast
Episodes inside Work Week dig into the latest and greatest questions about work — backed in equal parts by hard data and fresh perspectives. Listeners tune in each week(ish) to find out what the latest emerging research tells us about work.
With 41 episodes and running, Work Week hit top-trending list across multiple categories, and was one of the first successful demonstrations of how AI could effectively be used to scale production capabilities that were previously unattainable for the team.
Credits
Creative Directors: Lee Riley
Associate Creative Director/Writer: Anna Schaefer
Senior Art Director: Myra Pervez
Designer: Laura Welch
Producer: Antonio Riggins