This film is part of a larger series we produced for the Mectizan Donation Program in which we detail the full history and journey of Mectizan pills. From the initiation of testing Ivermectin as a treatment for Onchocerciasis and on to the rollout of its distribution across the world, the series shares the success of a simple yet effective way to bring life-changing results to many millions of people worldwide.

In this, the 3rd film of the 5-part series, we highlight the pivotal role of Community-Directed Distributors. These volunteers ensure that members of their communities have constant access to treatment for Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis, and reach some of the most remote parts of their countries in order to ensure these diseases can be eliminated.

We treated this particular episode like an action film, where CDDs are our hero. With fast and engaging montages we wanted to make sure the viewer is as impressed with these volunteers work as we are.

As part of Blood Cancer UK‘s campaign, we travelled the country to film the stories of 6 prominent individuals involved in raising the profile of a disease that affects 1 in every 16 men and one in every 22 women. Each of our interviewees provided their very personal reasons for why raising awareness is more crucial than ever before, by framing their reason with “Because…”

These interviews form the core of a campaign that kicked off on World Blood Cancer Day on 28th May to increase awareness of signs and symptoms, help improve early diagnosis, encourage policymakers to prioritise the disease, and help everyone with blood cancer feel connected and heard.

As a result of this campaign, the profile of blood cancer was raised at the highest level, with MP’s taking up the cause and sharing information on social media.

Our longstanding client the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) introduced its scorecard system in Rwanda in 2017, to help tackling the challenge of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that was burdening the country.

Having obtained encouraging results, the charity decided to produce a short film to encourage key decision makers in other African countries to adopt the scorecard.

ALMA had obtained hours of interview and b-roll rushes that were locally shot, and asked us to use our narrative and editing skills to produce this 3-5 minute long film.

Michelle West, Professor of Tumour Virology at University of Sussex has unique insights into the low profile and splintered perception of blood cancer.

Our series of interviews form the core of a campaign to increase awareness of signs and symptoms and the disease’s impact, to help improve early diagnosis, encourage policymakers to prioritise the disease, and help those affected feel connected and heard.

The series is featured on Blood Cancer UK’s website and was shared on the organisation’s social media channels over the period of World Blood Cancer Day, which happens every year on May 28th.

At the onset of the second wave of Covid-19 in 2021, testing centres struggled to cope with the onslaught of a high incidence of infections, and diagnosis. In some cases, laboratories were testing at 300% of their capacity, and shortages of personnel and testing equipment was affecting turnaround times.

This film captures the experience of experts at FIND India and their colleagues at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute in Faridabad at a time when systems were facing severe strain. Through the collaboration between The Global Fund and FIND on driving the Access to Covid-19 Tests Accelerator (ACT Accelerator) process, equitable access to testing was scaled at pace. This was achieved through the donation of two types of essential pieces of medical equipment: RNA extractors and automated RTPCR machines, which enabled a greatly increased capacity for the THSTI.

Diagnostics are essential when it comes to improving the lives and health of populations. In this film we follow the story of Subash, a young man from Manipur, India whose Hepatitis C diagnosis helped him turn his life around. 

Subash is a beneficiary of CoNE, a program that helps people with addiction get screened for Hepatitis C. Once Hep C is detected, beneficiaries are offered treatment and help to overcome addiction. The success of this program lies in the fact that volunteers and and professionals working in the program are former addicts themselves, and treat all beneficiaries with the respect and humanity they deserve.

FIND works with local organisations in Manipur to provide diagnostics in hard to reach areas of India. The result is a network of health professionals, volunteers, and community members that have access to faster, and easier method of diagnostic and are able to utilise them to improve the general health of hard to reach populations.

With diagnostics being essential in the delivery of healthcare, gaps in diagnostics prevent people from accessing the care they need. By accelerating access to testing globally in LMICs, FIND is closing these diagnostic gaps and transforming the lives of millions of people.

This film is a great example of the use of a combination of animation, stock and on-location footage. The result is an impactful short explainer that provides a clear overview of what can be a complex subject.

Staying the course is what it has taken to see River Blindness, a remote neglected tropical disease carried by the bites of black flies, slowly becoming a disease of the past.

In 1987, Merck committed to donate Mectizan – as much as needed, for as long as needed – with the goal to help eliminate river blindness. To celebrate the Mectizan Donation Program‘s 35th anniversary we went through our archives of footage, some filmed by us, some by scientists many years ago, and worked with a South African graphics artist to tell the story of 35 years of progress towards eliminating one of the most robust diseases known to mankind.

With a bespoke composed soundtrack and in-house voice-over, we managed condense 35 years into a powerful 3 and a half minutes!

The film was shown at the annual Mectizan Expert Committee meeting in Malawi in 2022, and since was sent out by MSD CEO Rob Davis to all their staff.

Humanity has eradicated one dangerous disease: smallpox. Under the right circumstances, we are on the path to achieve elimination or eradication of four others.

We were commissioned to create a series of films aimed at increasing awareness and accelerating progress towards disease elimination, particularly around neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as polio, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness & malaria.

By focusing on the key lessons from the successful smallpox and ongoing polio eradication campaigns, and hearing from the people at a global and national level, our films in GLIDE’s ‘Eliminating Diseases’ video series sought to  raise the profile of NTDs amongst stakeholders, funders and governmental organisations.

We’re proud to share that our film generated over 1,000 views on GLIDE’s YouTube channel, and over 150,000 combined video plays on their social media channels. In addition, page visits to the organisation’s website rose by 161%, along with a 187% increase in new users, with the most notable increase seen in visitors from target country, Cameroon, which saw a 100% rise.

As a crowning achievement, we along with Gong Communications were nominated as finalists in the 2023 Sabre Awards in the Central African category for work in raising awareness through GLIDE’s Webisodes Campaign.

To support the Mectizan Donation Program’s Stamp Out Oncho campaign, and to compliment the longer films we have already produced for them, MDP commissioned a series of short social media clips. The intention behind them was to summarise different aspects of the Stamp Out Oncho story in bite-size films that could be easily distributed.

This is a good example of how our approach of using previously-shot footage, text graphics, and animations, enables us to repurpose existing content to breath new life into a campaign.