Early in the pandemic, Ford repurposed its factory production lines from producing F-150s to making masks, face shields and ventilators. While most of the country was told to stay home to flatten the curve, Ford and United Auto Worker team members volunteered to report to work to make life-saving PPE.

To capture these efforts, Ford partnered with filmmaker Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and his team to shoot a documentary about the role employees played in responding to an unprecedented health crisis. The final result: On the Line, an eight-minute documentary short featuring the story of individuals coming together to help others in a time of need.

The video, which launched as part of a partnership with the Aspen Institute, premiered on Labor Day. Its release was accompanied by Ford’s announcement that it would donate 100 million masks and face shields to frontline workers and underserved communities. The debut was covered by a range of outlets, including Forbes, Yahoo and the Detroit Free Press.

“I was genuinely interested in watching this video,” one judge observed. “It’s a story I didn’t know, and it’s beautifully told through diverse voices who don’t feel overly scripted. It strikes a great, authentic tone.”

Within days of its release, the short documentary had generated 500,000 organic content views, while the minute-and-a-half cutdown of the film was viewed more than 2.4 million times.

In addition to hundreds of positive online comments, Ford received handwritten thank you notes from consumers and frontline workers alike.