Based in Berkeley and Washington DC, Free Range offers a wide selection of creative services for companies and non-profit organizations. "We know that our best work comes not just from our creative vision, but also from the creativity of those we serve. That's why every project at Free Range is a collaboration between designer and client. We've built our reputation on being collaborative partners." Company co-founder and President, Jonah Sachs, recently took time out of his busy schedule to tell me more about starting Free Range, unique projects you've probably never heard of, and a sneak peek at what's next.

Victoria E: How did you and Free Range co-founder Louis Fox decide to open a creative company with a conscience?

Jonah Sachs: Louis and I were childhood friends. Since we were 7 years old, we had been making home movies, games and haunted houses. We always collaborated really well and complemented each other's creative energies. After college, I started doing some freelance design and Louis was a production assistant on films. I was in DC and he was in NY. I was getting really excited about the possibilities of using graphics to influence people's thinking.

I had been on a journalism path but soon felt that it wasn't just words that taught people. It was also how those words were presented. The form was becoming as interesting to me as the content. But as I started running into some walls artistically, I called Louis and asked him to join me. Louis has always been the fine artist between us and he added a totally new dimension to what I could do. Only problem was he knew nothing about computers or the internet. So it was really a learning process for both of us.

VE: The client list on the company's website reads like a "who's who" of green businesses and organizations. Was there a particular group that was a uniquely exciting experience to work with?

JS: We did a piece with Students for a Free Tibet that really made us realize what this work was all about, what was possible. They teamed us up with the Beastie Boys to make a video for the song "Sabotage." The video showed the face of a Tibetan monk sentenced to death by the Chinese government plastered all over the world. It was all faked, but it looked like there was graffiti of this guy's face wherever you turned. Shortly after the campaign, this man's death sentence was commuted. It was a wonderful thrill.

We had a similar experience working with Amnesty International. We made a giant truck billboard that drove around the Saudi embassy demanding they open their legal system to outside oversight. The billboard was embarrassing to them, showing the sword from the Saudi flag cutting off someone's raised hand (a common practice in Saudi justice). The tagline said "Want to know Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Secret? Raise your Hand." They quickly caved to Amnesty's demands and opened a once-closed system to outside view.

VE: Despite your range of media works, Free Range is well known for its Flash animation videos. Do you have a favorite Flash project?

JS: When it comes to our flash movies, some of the older ones still make me smile the most. "A Bear Votes" is a classic (our second movie), and it was so cheap and so simple, but it was really fun. And it reminds me of a more innocent time on the web when people passed something around even if it wasn't the edgiest, nastiest thing going.

I also like the piece we did for Working Assets about Lady Liberty being imprisoned by the measures we were taking to "protect" the nation. It was, and still is, a really important message for people to understand. And I love "Friends with Low Wages" because it's so damn catchy and really was a victory for us in that we made a rather unsexy topic (union organizing) and brought hundreds of thousands of eyeballs to it.

VE: "The Meatrix" is known as the most successful Flash advocacy movie in the history of the web. What is it like for your business to hold an unexpected title like that?

JS: I often reflect on how, when we started this business, we hoped just to try something new and make enough money to live on. To have made some real, pioneering impacts on the world is beyond anything we could have imagined. It also makes us want to push to do it again.

VE: Very much committed to giving back and helping the little guy, Free Range has the yearly Gratitude Grant, whose winner receives $15,000 worth of services. Who originally came up with the idea for this project? Why do you see it as an integral part of the group's business?

JS: The idea came from McArthur, our VP, and Louis, the other co-founder. Our clients are all making sacrifices financially to do what they most care about. It's a language they inherently understand. So it's natural that serving this community we would make similar sacrifices. And in the end, the loyalty and attention we get does pay it back.

VE: The media has such a large impact on our daily lives it's nearly subconscious. What more could be done to help promote eco and social change via entertainment and ads?

JS: I wish I had the answer. The democratization of media has been the greatest gift the web has given us and its potential is enormous. But people, now given the option to consume anything, are still largely consuming the kind of media they've been conditioned to enjoy. A lot of it doesn't enrich them or the planet. But I think the growing awareness about social issues, especially global warming recently, is going to bring about more message/entertainment melds (like we did with "The Meatrix") that will have huge global impacts. I guess in short, we just need more creativity out there to disguise social content as entertainment.

VE: Do you have any other nifty, secret projects in the works that you could hint at?

JS: We're working on a next-generation eco-footprint calculator that is going to take the best elements of video games, social networking and earth science to create an incredible experience of measuring your personal impact on the Earth and what you can do to reduce it. It's going to be amazing.