Impact production maximises a film’s ability to make social change.

While this is a relatively recent term, impact productions have made headway in the film sphere as they aim to entertain and inspire. Impact production uses specific messaging and strategies that build empathy amongst targeted viewers. Once viewers are inspired, they are often given the opportunity to participate in tangible change through various means of supporting the cause of the impact of production.

According to Darcy Heusel, Senior Director of Campaign Strategy at Picture Motion, three central questions must be asked when building a film’s impact campaign.

1) What change can the film make?
2) Which grassroots organisations can the film partner with, and how does the film align with the change those organisations are creating?
3) How can the film be made accessible to its target audience and ultimately encourage audiences to create change?

For filmmakers keen on leveraging the power of their films to make a change, we provide the following services:

• Designing an impact strategy in collaboration with the film team

• Setting realistic goals for the impact campaign

• Identifying and then Conducting Due Diligence on Field NGOs

• Project Planning, including Design, Budgets, KPIs, etc.

• Arranging Funding from Corporates/Donors

• Monitoring project execution, including fund disbursement

• Leveraging the Film for impact production

• Designing the final impact report

• Marketing the impact interventions at the end of the impact campaign
  

The Story

The Turtle Walker is a feature-length documentary exploring the story of two men whose life’s work has been committed to researching and connecting with the sea turtles of India.

The film starts off with Satish Bhaskar, India’s original “Mr Sea Turtle ”, whose lifetime of work helped build the foundational research upon which all our understanding of sea turtle life in India is built. The film takes Satish, now at 73, back to the islands he spent his formative years surveying for one last trip to see his beloved turtles. It has been over two decades since he has been there last, and the film highlights how the marine ecosystems have changed in that time, especially since the devastating 2004 tsunami. The film progresses to uncover his inspiring legacy through the story of a young researcher named Adhit Swaminathan, who is building off of Satish’s work. Adhit is building his own body of research through telemetry studies of the leatherback turtles to try and identify how these ancient creatures adapt to the rapidly evolving world and growing pressures. 

The Turtle Walker highlights the strong bond humans can form with these gentle ancient creatures. It builds off these researchers’ sense of adventure and curiosity. What fuels them to keep going? What do we need to do to help save and protect these majestic creatures and the habitats they call home?

The Impact Campaign

On April 18, 2020, the Jnana Foundation Impact Production team began designing an impact strategy and campaign that would prompt viewers to take action, thus helping create real collective change that positively impacts the issue(s) highlighted in the film.

1. Alignment survey
Everyone involved in the film was asked to complete a survey to identify common overarching themes and shared values.
The overarching theme emerging was a strong feeling about creating an impact campaign that could help protect turtles and the ecosystems in which they lived without alienating the communities who also shared these spaces.

2. Guiding Principles for Identifying Partners
The team collectively came up with some key values and ideas that our on-ground impact partners would need to have.
Following this, we met with 15 organisations.

3. Creating a shared vision
We then worked with 3 shortlisted partners to come up with a shared vision to execute Phase I of the impact campaign on the ground.

Our three projects for Phase I of this campaign are:

1. Marine Megafauna Stranding Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release project
2. Marine Protected Area Network project
3. Carbon Conscious Filmmaking
   

Click on each of the projects to learn more, or fill out the form below to get in touch!