BRITDOC Foundation

Real good

Real Films, Real Impact

 

 

The Good Pitch Review 2012

Released in October 2012, this document is the second edition of the Good Pitch Review. In it we share the latest updates from the Good Pitch project, charting the success and impact of a handful of the film projects which have been through Good Pitch and emerged with new funding, new partners and new strategies for reaching audiences world wide.

Gasland Impact Highlights Document

The first of five Impact Highlights dossiers compiled by BRITDOC about the Finalists for the 2012 PUMA Impact Award.

Part verité road trip, part exposé, mystery and showdown, Gasland follows director Josh Fox on a 24-state investigation into the devastating, toxic effects of the aggressive drilling process known as fracking. In the two years since release, Gasland put fracking firmly on the public agenda and has helped pressure elected officials to curtail the practice.

Weapon of War Impact Highlights Document

The second of five Impact Highlights dossiers compiled by BRITDOC about the Finalists for the 2012 PUMA Impact Award.

Giving voice to soldiers who used rape as a weapon during decade of conflict in the Congo, this film follows them as they try to reconcile with their past and break the vicious circle of sexual violence. Weapon of War has been used as a highly strategic educational tool and engaging debate on the taboo issue of rape within the military.

Bag It Impact Highlights Document

The third of five Impact Highlights dossiers compiled by BRITDOC about the Finalists for the 2012 PUMA Impact Award.

An average American man pledges to stop using plastic bags, and before long he has embarked on a wholesale investigation into plastic and its effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our own bodies. A film that has effected change in consumer behaviour by reducing consumption of single use plastics and encouraging communities to adopt bag bans.

Armadillo Impact Highlights Document

The fourth of five Impact Highlights dossiers compiled by BRITDOC about the Finalists for the 2012 PUMA Impact Award.

Armadillo is a gut-punching account of the growing cynicism and adrenaline addiction of a band of brothers, a group of young Danish soldiers at war in Afghanistan.

It has raised public awareness about the war in Afghanistan as well as deep political debate about the consequences for both soldiers and civilians.

Budrus Impact Highlights Document

The final Impact Highlights dossier, compiled by BRITDOC about the Finalists for the 2012 PUMA Impact Award.

A Palestinian community organizer and his 15-year old daughter unite Palestinians from all factions and Israeli activists in an unarmed struggle to save their village from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. From Palestinian refugee camps and Israeli pre-military programs to Capitol Hill, TED and the European Parliament, Budrus has reshaped the public debate on the role of nonviolence in securing a future of freedom, dignity, security and peace for Palestinians and Israelis.

 

An Inconvenient Truth Beyond the Box Office

This academic research paper investigates how it is possible to put a financial value on the social impact of documentaries. The goal is to calculate the Social Return on Investment, taking An Inconvenient Truth as the test case. The study led to a public good valuation of over £73 million, giving a social return on investment ratio of 57:1.

It was completed in 2011 by BRITDOC CEO Jess Search as part of her MBA.

The End of the Line A Social Impact Evaluation

How much impact did the film The End of the Line really have in the UK - on citizens, their politicians, customers and businesses? Drawing on qualitative and quantitative analysis, focus groups and media analysis, an 18 month long study was conducted by the BRITDOC Foundation and supported by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

The End of the Line is a feature documentary charting the potentially catastrophic effects of over-fishing on the world's oceans. The film is based on the book of the same name by journalist Charles Clover, who features in the film alongside the world's leading fishery scientists.

 

Why Study the Impact 
of a Documentary?

In the last 10 years, documentaries are increasingly being recognised as a key medium for communicating social justice issues and inspiring social change. There have been high-profile examples, including Supersize Me, An Inconvenient Truth, Sicko, Jamie's School Dinners, The Cove, The Age of Stupid - and many more such films are being made.

But there is widespread lack of understanding about how the social impact of such media should be monitored and reported and a lack of templates and tools to assist them. Many films rely on anecdotal evidence or common sense to establish their impact and the lack of hard evidence presented can lead to cynicism that films achieve anything other than entertainment.

This page plays host to all of the Impact Reports we have now produced: The Impact Highlights dossiers of the 2012 PUMA Impact Award Finalists, the 2012 Good Pitch Review, outlining the achievements of this forum over the past 12 months, as well as our reports on The End of the Line and An Inconvenient Truth. 

This body of work is intended to contribute to the growing, and important field of work on media impact assessment. We hope they can be templates for other film projects giving best practice examples of gathering and presenting quantitative and qualitative data.

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