Mailchimp has teamed with Vice+ and production company Arts & Sciences on a new branded content series that profiles nine essential workers and their efforts during the pandemic. 

"Essentials," which debuts today on the Mailchimp Presents platform, is a self-shot, first-person documentary series directed entirely from afar by director Todd Krolczyk. Filmed between March and July, the short episodes showcase people who have stepped up to help in difficult times, such as Anya, a doula in Houston who has been caring for pregnant women, record store owner Dempsey Hamilton in Virginia, who has been organizing curbside deliveries, and Erika Allen, an urban farmer in Chicago who has been providing fresh produce for under-served neighborhoods.

Others featured are Kelliann Fisher, a laundry worker in Long Island; Gladys Vega ,a community worker in Boston; Kevin Patrick Bolger, a New York bike courier; John Pope, a New Orleans obituary writer; California truck driver Robert Longmire and Detroit grocery store owner Rohani Foulkes.

Those featured worked using lists provided for them by Krolczyk, who comments: “In the middle of this unfathomable loss, there’s so much work to be done, so many things to figure out, and so many problems to solve. I wanted to showcase the resilience of these people, everyday heroes who are just like us. These moments in our lives can motivate and change us in ways we never thought possible.”

“Essentials provides a stunning look into what people are capable of during a global pandemic,” adds John Benson, executive producer at Arts & Sciences. “The show is a quiet document of the times presenting the nuances in people’s lives today, without being a news report.”