The Chicago Hearing Society's attention to intention
FCB Chicago and creative partner Rakish Entertainment's project, Caption with Intention, sees the first major overhaul of film and television captioning since the 1970s.
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Credits
View on- Agency FCB/Chicago
- Production Company Rakish
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Credits
View on- Agency FCB/Chicago
- Production Company Rakish
- Chief Creative Officer Andres Ordonez
- Executive Creative Director Bruno Mazzotti
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Credits
powered by- Agency FCB/Chicago
- Production Company Rakish
- Chief Creative Officer Andres Ordonez
- Executive Creative Director Bruno Mazzotti
If you're deaf, hard-of-hearing, or just can't get the balance right of your fancy new soundbar, you're probably familiar with closed captions.
However, the basic design and implementation of captions, albeit useful, haven't actually been updated since the 1970s, and can prove frustrating to viewers struggling to keep up with the whos, whats and whys of the dialogue. Until now...
FCB Chicago, in collaboration with the Chicago Hearing Society and Rakish Entertainment, has launched Caption with Intention, a new caption design system aimed at enhancing the cinematic experience for Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences.
Developed over a year through close consultation with the Deaf community, it addresses longstanding issues in captioning such as speaker attribution and intonation, using animation, colour, and dynamic typography to convey emotion, tone, and pacing.
Available as an open-source tool for global industry adoption, the clever tech has even picked up an Award of Merit by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, adding to its chances of mass adoption.
“We brought together a diverse group of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, whose lived experiences and expertise guided the team in shaping a system designed to serve our community and beyond. Centering Deaf perspectives was essential to ensuring the authenticity of this new caption design system,” says Karla Giese, Coordinator of Training and Education, CHS.
“Our world evolves every second, and we have to evolve with it, through creativity. Caption With Intention was born from that very idea: a belief that even the smallest details, like captions, hold the power to connect, include, and move people,” said Andrés Ordónez, Global Chief Creative Officer at FCB. “What began as a conversation with creatives like So A Ryu and Bruno Mazzotti quickly became a new way of seeing. Through their lens, we realised captions could be more than functional. They could be emotional, intentional, and deeply human. This project is proof that creativity, when led by empathy, can spark lasting change. Because true inclusion isn’t just about being heard, it’s about being understood.”
“I grew up with two Deaf parents, so we only watched captioned programming in our house. As someone who could hear, I could tell just how much was missing: sarcasm, anger, joy, fear. All of it lost in plain white text,” added Bruno Mazzotti, Executive Creative Director at FCB Chicago. “That experience stayed with me my whole life. This project was a chance to finally close that gap, not just for my parents, but for millions of people like them.”
“As a Hard of Hearing designer, I believe accessibility isn't just about delivering information, it's about delivering the full creative expression,” commented So A Ryu. “This project brought that belief to life to deliver a total cinematic experience.”
