Launching Courtwatchers

Dear Colleagues, Family and Friends,

I am very excited to announce that last week, Zealous, alongside local partners around the country, launched Court Watch, a national education and action campaign to raise awareness about the importance of open public access to courts, drive more people to volunteer for existing court watch programs, and help expand and build court watching programs in jurisdictions where they are less present.

Variant Strategies is proud to have co-produced and co-directed the centerpiece of the campaign:  a short, graphic-novel-style animated film scored by singer Fiona Apple (her first ever) and narrated by actor Jesse Williams — “The Court Watchers” — which highlights the experiences of court watchers across the country and tells an optimistic story about how this form of accountability is a racial and social justice imperative to encourage people to join the movement. 

The launch has been an immense success: Hundreds of thousands of views of the film, thousands visits to the site, a feature article in the Washington Post, a Washington Post Live event on 2/17/23 with Fiona Apple and Carmen Johnson, and a growing body of earned media from outlets including Upworthy, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Fader, and Stereogum. The film was awarded two Anthem awards in innovation from the International Academy for Digital Arts and Sciences. 

To learn more, check out our new webpage about the project and visit, and visit www.courtwatch.org where you can view the video, find out how you can take action, and learn more about the issue. Please help us share the video and campaign widely. The U.S. needs many more Courtwatchers to hold courts accountable throughout the country.

Also stay tuned as Variant Strategies releases two new videos and campaigns in the weeks to come.

Thank you for your partnership,

Abby Goldberg