Upstanders is an original series by Starbucks that tells the stories of ordinary people acting with immense courage and humanity to make their communities — and our country — better. SideXSide Studios was commissioned to produce seven episodes across two seasons.
The series was distributed on Amazon Prime, through the Starbucks pay app, on the company’s sign-in to their store WiFi, and through a partnership with Upworthy.
80 Million Views
The films received more than 80 million views across platforms.
CBS This Morning
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was invited on CBS This Morning to discuss the series.
The Daily Show
The Daily Show invited Mr. Schultz on to the program and he brought with him the main subject of one of our films.
Swell of Support
In addition to the $25,000 granted by Starbucks to each participant, all nonprofits featured received a swell in donor support after the series aired.
Amazon Feature
The second season was turned into a feature film distributed by Amazon Prime.
- Executive Producer
- Howard Schultz
- Produced & Written By
- Rajiv Chandrasekaran
- Director & Director of Photography
- Gabe Silverman
- Script Writer & Coordinating Producer
- Jamie Coughlin
- Camera Operators
- Jamie Coughlin, Lani Milton, Julia Reihs, Grant Slater, Joshua Trujillo
- Edited By
- Julia Reihs, Sara McKellogg Lane
- Music Composed By
- Jason Staczek, APM Music