Quake Heroes

The brief

The film's own description: “A unique blend of Hollywood storytelling and real-life heroism, designed to inspire individual and community resilience in preparation for the next big earthquake. Based on true stories from America's costliest earthquake.” The job was to turn a public-safety message into something people would choose to watch, honor the survivors and first responders, hold up as a documentary, and still land the Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety and the case for Community Emergency Response Teams.

“Quake Heroes is particularly exciting because they combine compelling story-telling with deployment of solid social science.”

The approach

Interviews, archival footage, and staged reenactments were woven into a narrative that follows the night of the quake and the days after, so the safety curriculum is carried by the people who lived it rather than by a narrator reading bullet points. The film is built to be shown: quakeheroes.org offers a free screening license, ticketing set-up, subtitles in several languages, and a moderator guide of facts and discussion questions for the conversation afterwards. It is recommended for fourth and fifth grade and up.

What we delivered

• Feature-length documentary, 55 minutes
• Trailer and short-form cutdowns
• Reenactment production with practical effects
• Outreach and screening program

Results

• Screened across California and beyond: the Natural Hazards Center's 2024 workshop at the University of Colorado Boulder, with a discussion afterwards; the City of Long Beach's earthquake expo in September 2024; the City of West Hollywood for Emergency Preparedness Month in September 2025; Washoe County, Nevada, for Earthquake Month; a CERT screening in Burlingame for the ShakeOut; and UMass Lowell
• The Earthquake Country Alliance built a run of Quake Heroes expos around the film, including the one at Cal State Northridge on the thirtieth anniversary of the earthquake, with people from the film there in person
• “Quake Heroes is particularly exciting because they combine compelling story-telling with deployment of solid social science.” Kate Long, Earthquake Program Officer, Cal OES
• “The documentary style makes the subject matter quite compelling and sends a much-needed message.” Jill M. Barnes, Office of Emergency Services
• “I think this tool is perfect as it serves as a real and relevant reminder of the devastation that earthquakes can inflict.” Suu-Va Tai, California Volunteers
• Still being booked: quakeheroes.org offers a free screening license, a ticketing set-up, subtitles in several languages, and a moderator guide