The wise words of an auteur

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For the filmmakers out there - we’re keen to connect you to the audience suited to your story, which begs the question about how our film and TV industry can provide for audience and societal interests. Rom-com all rounder Richard Curtis gave a speech this week and he focused heavily on Impact Producing. In case you want to read the whole thing it’s here, if not I’ve surmised below (see aptly titled section: Key Takeaways from Richard’s Speech). But first…

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Key Takeaways from Richard’s speech

OK back to the drama… Mr Curtis was highlighting that film and TV shows with powerful social messages often stop short of creating real-world change. He argued the industry is "planting the seed, watering and pruning the tree" but then "failing to pick the fruit" - we let the emotional energy of the show dissipate without channelling it into actual action.

Impact Producers can expand a film's power beyond entertainment by getting it into key areas, think policy influence, fundraising, education, campaigning, press coverage. For a fraction of a marketing budget, they can turn a moving story into actual saved and changed lives.

He even named a few specific examples:

• The Invisible War this documentary became compulsory viewing at the Pentagon

• It's A Sin partnered with Terrence Higgins Trust, driving a 400% increase in HIV test kit orders

• Mr Bates vs The Post Office pushed a petition from 1,000 to over a million signatures, accelerating UK government action

• Black Panther's #BlackPantherChallenge raised millions and expanded access

• Spotlight was used for journalist training and church reform

So audiences watch on devices where they're one click away from action. Yet end-credits typically say "if you've been affected by these issues" - not "if you'd like to have an effect." As an industry, we have already embraced transformative changes, diversity initiatives, intimacy coordinators, sustainability officers. Impact producing should follow the same path.

Would it break your heart to run a marathon's full 26 miles only to forget to enter the stadium for the final lap? If you've spent years making a film about an issue you care about, letting potential real-world change slip away for lack of a dedicated person and plan seems a terrible waste.

What Producers can do? Allocate a small budget line for impact work on socially-relevant projects. It can range from "moped to Rolls Royce" versions, but not planning for impact at all is "an epic wasted opportunity.”

Very compelling stuff.

And now for something completely different…

Catch you next week. Take care.

Ed

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