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Let suppose that you are an NGO / non profit organization and you are working in a community development situation. You have decided that you want to do a film on your project and have two target audiences and each has its own objectives.

For illustration purpose suppose you have the following audiences:

Local Community Members: You plan to expand your program to other communities and want a short film that will introduce the benefits & impacts of your program in your initial pilot area.

Donors and Sponsors: You want to show how the program has worked in your initial community and show how beneficial it has been and your vision for the future. You also want to include your needs to expand or support the program. read more

The “Filmmaking for Social Change” is a project of the British High Commission in association with the London International Documentary Festival (LIDF) and Eckova Productions.  The project is providing training and experience and 11 teams will be producing films to be shown at LIDF in May.

During the orientation and Workshop in January the participants learned about documentary films and planned their film concept.  During February teams are carrying out their research and film shoots. In March, a second workshop will be on editing and post production to produce their films.

The films will be shown at LIDF in May 2010 in London at the British Museum Pakistan Day.  Five of the trainee filmmakers and the winner of the Pakistan National Short Film Competition will be flown to London to attend and participate in a symposium on the films and the project.   Film screenings of the 2010 and the 2009 films will be held at various locations in Pakistan. Check the website for further details

Documentaries For The Environment
Documentary films are an effective way of reaching a variety of audiences to build awareness, affect attitudes and practices, raise support and teach about environmental issues.

For example, an IUCN project in Balochistan worked in an area where Mangrove forests were being severely impacted by the local community. The local community was using the Mangroves as a source of firewood. This poor fishing community has little in the way of local resources. However the fishermen were unaware that cutting the mangroves was affecting their fishing. The mangrove forests protect the coastline from erosion and provide the safe breeding ground for shrimp, crabs and fish. IUCN takes a community approach in dealing with this environmental issue and worked with the community on a variety of areas – providing education on the relationship between the mangroves and the fishing catch; identifying alternative fuel sources; providing employment through mangrove replanting; identifying alternative sources of livelihood for women and men; building community skills in managing and developing their communities; creating linkages with government and other NGOs. There are many villages along the Balochistan coast that will benefit from a similar approach.

IUCN commissioned a 6 minute film on the pilot project. The film has as its primary audience the additional communities where IUCN will be starting to work. The film will be used as an introduction in the new project villages as a view of what was done, how it was done and impacts on the village people and community. Since the environment and culture of the villages are similar the film will be an aid into a faster building of trust and understanding of the focus of the project.

Video Distribution using Social Media
The Internet has become an important distribution method for film. Now with YouTube, Blip TV, Google video and so many other video hosting and sharing sites it is possible to have a global audience, get feedback, and build a following.

Your films can be posted on the internet – or a preview or promotional spot available on the internet with a request to order the film on DVD. Lots of different options are available depending on your goals and objectives.

When you upload your films be sure to add descriptive information, tags and categories that makes it easy for the search engines to index them and make it easy for interested people to find them. Add some form of “Subscription” whether this is a signup for a news letter, receive a notice of new posting or to subscribe to an RSS feed.

At Eckova we have a background not only in film making but also in Internet strategies and development. These days those two worlds have combined to give a powerful platform to market and distribute your films.

About Eckova

As we continue to grow, a number of welcome changes have taken place at Eckova, and our profile has broadened to include new areas of activity in the field of film and video. One very important area of growth has been capacity building and training for young and upcoming filmmakers, including workshops, affiliations with international organizations and festivals as well as extensive teaching the University of Karachi. Another area of growth has been our work related to the environment and conservation. Lastly we have ventured beyond the non fiction realm and currently have fiction pieces in the works. As we forge ahead, our work with documentaries and other non fiction genres of course continues. We are pleased and grateful for the confidence, support and collaboration of our customers, partners, students and well wishers.

Sarwar Mushtaq
CEO, Eckova