Last year we produced a film for Beechwood Cancer care centre focussing on the effect bereavement and issues surrounding cancer had on young people, promoting their Butterfly Centre for children.
Angela, their Fundraising Manager, got in touch with us again this year following the huge success of our previous film. This time she wanted to produce a film to showcase the care centre as a whole.
Here’s what Managing Director Simon had to say about working with Beechwood for a second time;
Myself and the team here at STANDBY discussed how best to gain donations for the centre and we felt strongly that real stories were the most effective means – rather than potential celebrity endorsement. Angela worked hard behind the scenes to find people confident and brave enough to appear on camera and tell their stories.
From a personal point of view, although the stories were incredibly emotional and heart-wrenching, I felt inspired that the content would make a real difference to the charity. We make a lot of promotional films, but this subject and organisation was so real – there were no comments regarding USP’s or key sales lines or brand guidelines – this was real and could make a huge difference to the charity and ultimately the people that attend Beechwood.
The shoot itself was incredibly emotional, as brave interviewee’s talked about the heartache of either losing someone close to them, or Kirsty who had been given her prognosis, whilst undergoing cancer treatment. As the interviewer/director of the shoot, asking the questions had to be dealt with delicately, as the responses were inevitably going to evoke a tear jerking response. We kept our crew small and intimate, building trust with the interviewee’s before asking them to explain to us their emotive stories.
Following last years film, I knew what a difference a film could make to the charity, so I decided to donate our services at no charge, equating to thousands of pounds worth of production time.
You only need to watch our latest film to see how important this charity is and why it is worth everyone’s time…. now go and do something amazing today and donate to show your support!
For more information, and to help support Beechwood, visit: www.beechwoodcancercare.org.uk
Written by Simon Owen, Managing Director, STANDBY PRODUCTIONS