
Winner of two Emmy Awards for best TV spots of the year.
What we do
Public Interest creates bold, attention-grabbing public service advertising. We specialize in making people pay attention.
Partnership
Public Interest partners with nonprofit organizations to help them deliver their message. We learn everything we can about our partners, their message and their audience. Then we do what it takes to get the message through.
Why we do it
Public Interest is run by a small group of people who want to change the world. We work only on causes that we believe in, and we won’t produce anything unless we are convinced it will succeed. Our goal is to make a difference.
Getting seen
Public Interest spots get seen. We will not produce great work only to see it stranded at 4:00 a.m. in the slots that no paying advertiser wanted. We get our work on the right networks at the right times. So far, networks and cable operators have donated more than $350 million to run our spots.
Networks & cable operators
Public Interest has produced more public service advertising for MTV than anyone except for the network itself. We have also partnered with VH1, CBS, Nickelodeon, UPN, Univision and other networks. And we created all national spots for Time Warner Cable’s recent $100M five-year initiative, Connect A Million Minds. These relationships are part of the reason our spots get on air.
Quality
Public Interest produces PSAs that are disguised as entertainment. No one walks away from the TV when our spots come on. We always do what it takes to make people pay attention. Top-notch production values are essential to achieving this.
Cost
Public Interest has a knack for turning tiny budgets into big production values. We have special relationships with entertainment industry vendors and crew that allow us to keep costs way down. We know that donor dollars are precious, and we leverage each dollar at least four-fold in producing our spots.
Not just TV spots
Public Interest creates campaigns that span TV, print, online, outdoor and guerilla. Communicating simultaneously in multiple mediums multiplies the chances of breaking through.  Often most critical is earned media; we take great pride in our track record of creating news to focus attention on the issues our partners care about.
LEADERSHIP

MICHAEL FRANZINI
PRESIDENT / CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Michael Franzini has more than two decades of experience creating powerful ad campaigns for both nonprofit and corporate clients.  His work has garnered dozens of ad industry awards.
Franzini is also an Emmy-Award-winning director, and his TV spots have twice been highlighted by The New York Times as being among the best advertising on television.
As a photographer and writer, Franzini has published several books, including One Hundred Young Americans, the definitive survey of 21st century American youth culture, released by HarperCollins.
[WIKIPEDIA PAGE] Â Â [LINKEDIN]

NICHOLAS CARTER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Nicholas Carter is an accomplished television and print producer with a proven ability to maximize the impact of limited budgets, especially on geographically large-scale projects that span the country—or the globe.
Carter brings his peaceful and fun demeanor to every project, no matter how great the challenge. Â His goal is always to exceed expectations while staying on-time and on-budget, and he has a perfect record of achieving this goal on every project.
PRESS COVERAGE

NY TIMES STORY ON OUR MTV 'PROTECT YOURSELF' CAMPAIGN

LA TIMES WRITE-UP OF OUR PROJECT WITH ROCK THE VOTE

USA TODAY PIECE ON OUR WHITE BEDROOM CAMPAIGN

HERALD FEATURE ON OUR HOLOCAUST CAMPAIGN

ADWEEK REVIEW OF HOLOCAUST SPOTS

NY TIMES ON ROCK THE VOTE

GENRE MAGAZINE COVERS WHITE BEDROOM

ADWEEK FEATURE ON PUBLIC INTEREST

EDWEEK ON STAND UP

SF CHRONICLE ON WHITE BEDROOM

VARIETY FEATURE ON PUBLIC INTEREST

AD AGE ON MTV: PROTECT YOURSELF

GENRE FEATURE ON PUBLIC INTEREST

SHOOT COVERS HOLOCAUST SPOTS

FRANZINI ON ABC NEWS

METRO COVERS I KNOW CAMPAIGN

LA TIMES ON PUPPY THAT MOOS

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY REVIEW OF 100 YOUNG AMERICANS

NY POST ON 100 YOUNG AMERICANS

NY TIMES ON PUBLIC INTEREST
This is our work.
PLEASE BE PATIENT IF THERE’S A SHORT DELAY IN LOADING CONTENT.
MTV/USHMM Holocaust Campaign
More than half of American teens don't know what the Holocaust was. Here's what we did to fix that. See moreOne very intense hour with Al Gore
Al Gore and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan worked with us on this first-of-its-kind media event. See moreA day with will.i.am
We spent a day at will.i.am's house and got some unexpected footage. See moreNorman: the puppy that moos
This canine garnered international attention and sparked heated dialogue. See more30 seconds on MTV
We go to great lengths to get through to American teens in this MTV campaign. See moreOne baby from every state
Johnson and Johnson hired us to create this photo book they launched on the talk show 'The View'. See moreUsing currency as an advertising medium
We minted 200,000 coins that resemble pennies and snuck them into circulation in NYC. See moreWhy is the U.S. so far behind?
We interviewed teens in four countries to figure out why the U.S. ranks nearly last in math and science. See moreMTV—”Youth 2.0″
We worked with MTV to create this short look at how youth culture has changed in the 21st century. See moreWounded Warrior Project
WWP needed images and stories of its returning veterans; we traveled around the U.S. to get them. See moreA troubling social experiment
You'll be shocked to see how people reacted. See moreElton John’s White Bedroom
Young Americans largely believe AIDS is over. We got together with Elton John and Mary J Blige to do something about that. See moreA $100M five-year initiative to address the STEM crisis
We created all national TV spots. See moreLet's talk.
Public Interest
3435 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 107
Santa Monica, CA 90405
[email protected]
303.952.7826