When we made Fired Up almost a decade ago, we were looking for a way to capture that fleeting Obama optimism in the wake of the 2016 election. The origin story of his famed rallying cry "fired up, ready to go!" spoke to us, and felt like the right message for the moment. We worked with a team of artists from around the world, blending many styles of animation, to bring President Obama's powerful voice to life. The film went viral on the last day of his presidency, and millions of views later it still brings chills. One recent Vimeo commenter said: "I always come back to this video when I need an emotional booster shot." We've loved seeing how much the film continues to resonate and inspire others to stay hopeful.

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Fast-forward to today.... a lot of that hope has faded. Trump has won for a second time, and we find ourselves again feeling lost in the wilderness. How do you stay fired up when democracy is in constant danger? Like so many people, we've been horrified by so much of what’s transpired in 2025 that it's been hard to know where to direct our outrage. We talked about making a follow-up to Fired Up to speak to this grim new reality, but didn't know who or where to look to. Then another voice spoke up and got our attention.

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The letters that Mahmoud Khalil wrote from ICE detention in Louisiana, published in various outlets in the weeks after his arrest, felt like the piercing call to action that we were looking for. His words had the same visually-rich quality as Obama's speech, but were decidedly darker and more urgent. “Who has the right to have rights? It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here.” 

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Instead of colorful church hats and campaign trail magic, it's a dark night of the soul in a far-away jail. Mahmoud's writing was vivid and brave, and felt like the right message for this moment.

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Our film Awake will bring Mahmoud's letter to life through striking animation and his powerful voice-over, recently recorded after his release and return home. As he narrates a long sleepless night behind bars, the film will seek to be a wake-up call for democracy and a meditation on the true meaning of justice in today's America. We believe Mahmoud's is a voice that can make a difference, and we're determined to help him try. 

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– Dan & Elyse

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