Putting people at the centre of video production…

We are two months away from celebrating ThroughFilm’s 2nd birthday, and over the last 22 months we’ve built up a large portfolio of work, specifically work that in one way or another, is all about people. We thought it’d be quite interesting to highlight some of our past projects and how they weave people in, whether that's through elevating voices,
or celebrating the impact of people power through collaboration and community initiatives.

Catalyst Stockton

This was one of our first projects last year. We filmed a case study film about the Catalyst Stockton School Impact Project, focusing on the benefits of volunteer mentoring in schools with primary and secondary school children. The highlight for us was filming with all of the amazing volunteer mentors and teaching staff involved, all of whom were super passionate about supporting their students to thrive in whatever challenges they faced. Not to mention the students themselves who all had such inspiring stories of personal growth. We learned about some of the challenges young people are facing, and how having a mentor coming into school and carving out 1:2:1 time with them has impacted them, changing outcomes in some of the children’s educational AND personal lives. 

Red Balloons

Red Balloons are a mental health charity in Stockton-On-Tees. We’ve done lots of films with them, mainly around peer support and lived experience. Our most recent film was an awareness film. It involved spending time with several of the community members who were comfortable opening up, and capturing their stories of different mental health struggles. From anxiety and depression through to suicidal thoughts and personality disorders. Films like these are important because not only do they emphasise the power of community and peer support, they open up conversations around topics which may be difficult to open up about for some people, advocating for support and wider understanding of mental health amongst communities.

AFRIDAC

We recently went down to Hackney, London to deliver three days of workshops around advocacy through film. We focused on each aspect of video production, including pre-production, filming, and post-production. Each group had access to a phone, a laptop and sound equipment, which we set up for them, followed by a demonstration on how to use them. At the end of the three days all of the young people had made a film advocating on their topic of interest. The aims for this project was to give young people the tools to advocate for issues or initiatives important to them, both in within their communities, and across the world. We were blown away by the quality of work they produced, and the workshops inspired us to start building a new service offering consultancy and skill sharing with other organisations, making inclusive storytelling more accessible across Teesside and beyond.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

We've produced several training films for an NHS and public health initiative called Making Every Contact Count. These films have centred around how people in public facing roles across a variety of industries, can approach conversations around health and well-being. They demonstrate how to take the time to recognise symptoms in people who may be struggling with anything from mental health to addiction or isolation, and direct them towards a service that can help.

These films are benefitting the community as they are being used as a training resource to help inform staff across a wide range of sectors on best practice. In addition to this, we’ve taken a fresh approach to more traditional training films, which feedback has shown is working really well. This approach is to use real practitioners instead of actors, and improvisation instead of a script. This means that the people in the films are playing out scenarios from genuine experience, making them more authentic and relatable to the audience (whilst also providing the practitioner with an intensive training workshop in the MECC approach in the process!) 

Durham Area Youth

We’ve worked with Durham Area Youth across a wide range of projects in order to promote the incredible work they do as a youth provision service, but our favourite project had to be the #iwill campaign. This project involved us working with a small group of young people to show them how to make a campaign film about a topic they care about. 

With our support, they produced an awareness film all about suicide prevention, using one of the young people’s first hand experience of bullying. The reason this was one of our favourite DAY projects is because the youth were really involved, taking up production roles of sound, visuals and acting. One of the youth really impressed us with her attention to detail and creative eye. It was so rewarding being able to pass on filmmaking skills, hopefully helping them advocate and campaign for initiatives that they care about in the future. This project won the Social Action Biggest Impact Award at the Durham Area Youth 2024 Awards, and we even received a thank you card from the youth - so lovely!🧡

Civil Society Consulting

CSC have an initiative called Steps to Togetherness that is all about bringing people together as a solution to many of societies problems. As part of this, we’ve created a number of case study films with grassroots organisations who are doing an amazing job at bringing people and communities together. This has seen us work with immigrant communities, initiatives that help provide safe spaces for people struggling with poverty as well as addiction, and initiatives that promote interfaith organisations working together to promote change. 

IDAS

We worked with IDAS to help tell the story of an IDAS ambassador, a survivor of domestic violence, who wanted to share her experience to empower and help others who might be experiencing domestic violence.  Her story was an incredibly inspiring one, that told of resilience and gave encouragement that survivors can and will go on to live a safe, healthy and happy life, as well as educating viewers on the complexity of this issue. 

Whilst the film told the real life story of the ambassador, it also shone a light on the depths of domestic violence, exposing the many layers that are not talked about enough. The film also signposts to support information so victims of domestic violence can reach out and get help, it's an example of a brave individual, who had the courage to share their storv, that others can relate to and feel empowered to leave.

Woodsmith Foundation

The Woodsmith Foundation provides funding to local organisations, supporting them in creating and maintaining initiatives that are crucial to help sustain our communities. 

We made a case study film about a project they funded for Leo’s Perinatal, a charitable organisation who support those who have experienced the devastating effects of baby loss. This specific film was to show how the Woodsmith Foundation had funded specialised counselling support for bereaved siblings. This film feels incredibly powerful and came together so well because of the willingness of individuals to share their stories. Leo's Perinatal asked members of their community who were happy to do so, to share their story through writing, which was read out during the shoots by Leo's staff who themselves have lived experience. 

This film gave people an outlet, as well as creating a resource, so that more families can be reached by the kind support of Leos. It also showed that the Woodsmith Foundation supports a wide scope of initiatives, including ones created out of painful and delicate experiences that ultimately create a safe space that offers people the ability to access much needed support.

Hart Gables

Hart Gables is a grassroots organisation that supports the LGBTQ+ community in Teesside. Many of their community members come from challenging social, economical and cultural circumstances. This project has involved us spending time with community members using a fly on the wall approach, capturing group activities and discussions. This content will be used in the creation of a video for Hart Gables that will promote their services, and in turn, impact more peoples lives. 

National Centre for Creative Health & NHS Tees Esk and Wear

We’re currently working on a case study film all about Creative Health to advertise to Public Health commissioners that creative health programmes can have a profound impact, particularly supporting people who are struggling with their mental health. This is similar to a project signed off earlier this year with NHS Tees Esk & Wear where we spent time speaking to individuals with experience of health inequalities. Their experiences were turned into poems and pieces of artwork later presented to NHS staff at an event.

These projects emphasise the power of creativity, both in terms of communicating important messages, but also as a way to help support people who may be struggling with both physical and mental health.

Newcastle City Council

We worked with Creative Central Newcastle on a number of videos. The Creative Central Newcastle initiative aims to make the city centre a place where artists and creatives thrive. We worked with them on an event film where Creative Central was launched, as well as a number of piece to camera pieces, speaking to creatives in the area, exploring why projects such as these are important in creating opportunities for creative professionals in the region.

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Award Season 2024💥