Mectizan Donation Program: Stamp Out Oncho: One Persistent Woman
Client
Mectizan Donation Programme
Distribution
Company Website + Social Media
Location
Africa
Executive Producer
Steve Maud
Shooting Producer / Director
Lewis Davies
Fixer
Bernard Likoda
Editor
Bruna Amaral
Mme Chebin is on the frontline of community drug distribution to eradicate Onchocerciasis (also known as oncho). She lets nothing get in the way of her making sure that each and every person takes their Mectizan treatment in her community in Cameroon.
The effectiveness of partners in the Task Force For Global Health‘s programmes such as Mectizan Donation Program are thanks to a global network that reaches far-off places that are often without formal medical infrastructure. For last mile delivery of lifesaving medicine, its often down to community drug distributors like Mme Chebin to come to the aid of their fellow community members.
This interview on the fight against oncho and many others from this trip to Cameroon was the result of using a local core team working with local partners and a shooting director from the UK, Lewis Davies filming to a script and schedule that allowed for space to spend time with people like Mme Chebin.
As experts in global health storytelling, we’ve had many opportunities to hone our craft, and get to understand the realities on the ground that make for emotive stories which burst the bubble. Years of fine-tuning our approach to interviews, and the use of a trusted network of local expert filmmakers, have enabled us to develop our approach and deliver video content that are compelling and deliver key messaging where it’s needed.
To find out more about how we craft films that have positive impact, take a look at our Malaria Storytelling article.
Related Videos
In The Field with Charlie Webster
In 2016, Charlie Webster contracted malaria. Two years later she travelled to Uganda in support of the Malaria Must Die campaign.
In The Field with Charlie Webster
Client
Malaria No More
Distribution
The Sun Website & Newspaper
SHOOTING PRODUCER DIRECTOR
Steve Maud
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Duncan Walsh
EDITOR
Gary McQuiggin/Steve Maud
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Bruna Amaral
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Luke Williams
PICTURE EDITOR
Bruna Amaral
To create video and photographic coverage for TV presenter Charlie Webster’s trip for the Malaria Must Die campaign, our Cloud9Media team spent a busy action-packed week in Western Uganda. In the process, Charlie saw with her own eyes how malaria impacts local communities, and came to terms with a fatal disease that she caught herself when cycling to the Rio Olympics in 2016 on a charity fundraising drive.
At the forefront of the fight against malaria, organisations like Malaria No More have always taken a bold controversial approach to their messaging to help it resonate with Western audiences. The aim of their campaigns is to bring home the reality that malaria is not something that happens elsewhere, but is affecting people everywhere. Increasingly, thanks to climate change, this includes areas of the world where malaria was once unheard of.
Using archival shots taken from Charlie’s broadcast career and stills of her hospitalisation, our team combined these with our own footage to show the background of Charlie’s journey. The result is a short film that captured the challenges she and other sufferers of malaria face, and how there is hope for the elimination of malaria.
Ikhaya Labantwana: The Story of a Rural Montessori Pre-School
A Montessori education is usually only available to those that can afford it - but thanks to Sustainable Coffee Bay, the kids of Coffee Bay receive it at no cost.
Ikhaya Labantwana: The Story of a Rural Montessori Pre-School
Client
Cloud9Media
Distribution
Company Website + Fundraising Gala + Social Media
In the UK a Montessori education is usually only accessible to those that can afford it. Thanks to Sustainable Coffee Bay, Ikhaya Labantwana offer free Montessori pre-school education to a remote community in Coffee Bay, South Africa.
This Cloud9Media passion project was a chance see life through the eyes of the local children, witnessing the amazing impact this very alternative education method can have, giving them confidence, independence and hope for the future.
GSK: albendazole donations. Two Children, One Disease
At different ends of the Earth, GSK's donations of albendazole are making a difference to young kids and their families.
GSK: albendazole donations. Two Children, One Disease
Client
GSK
Distribution
Social Media
SHOOTING PRODUCER DIRECTOR
Steve Maud
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Duncan Walsh
EDITOR
Jez Hunziker
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Rachael Mclean-Anderson/Helen Button
At different ends of the Earth, albendazole donations by GSK are making a huge difference to young kids and their families.
This film was produced as part of a suite of material gathered on two trips to India and Zanzibar for use as an advocacy tool to support GSK’s donation programme.
Having the children tell us their stories meant we needed to find confident speakers – no easy task in Zanzibar where traditionally young girls can be cripplingly shy. So we used a local fixing company to meet potential contributors, source the best stories and start to weave together a narrative that speaks to the heart, and the parent, in all of us.
Back in the UK we translated interviews, re-scripted and looked to use voiceover artists from the local African and Indian diaspora of London to help tell the story of how albendazole donations by GSK are positively impacting lives across the world. This helped keep the child’s voice at the centre of the narrative whilst avoiding the use of subtitles which can distract from the core action.
Mectizan Donation Program: As much as needed, as long as needed
A look at 35 years' work by the Mectizan Donation Program to eliminate one of the most robust diseases known to mankind.
Mectizan Donation Program: As much as needed, as long as needed
Client
Mectizan Donation Programme
Distribution
Company Website + Conference Launch
Types
Explainer + Impact & Testimonial
Location
Africa, USA
Producer
Steve Maud
Editor / Assistant Producer
Joana Soares
Graphic Animation
Anwar McWhite
Composer & Voiceover
Steve Maud
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.
Task Force for Global Health: 40th Anniversary Film
Our film celebrates 40 years of the Task Force For Global Health in a short documentary packed with history, highlights and achievements.
Task Force for Global Health: 40th Anniversary Film
Client
Task Force For Global Health
Distribution
Company Website + Linkedin + Social Media + YouTube
Types
Documentary + Impact & Testimonial
Location
Africa, USA
Creative Director:
Steve Maud
Editing Producer/Director:
Joana Soares
Executive Producer:
Katia Hérault
Editor:
Bruno Miles
Distilling the celebrated 40-year history of the Task Force For Global Health – a groundbreaking global organisation – into a short form documentary is no small feat. Doing so involves an assessment of a large archival body of films and the development of a narrative arc that shines a light on the subject’s history, highlights, and achievements.
In 1984 Dr. Bill Foege, Mr. Bill Watson and Ms. Carol Walters (all former colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control) gathered around Watson’s kitchen table to formulate a plan that would change the lives of millions of children by eliminating diseases such as polio, measles and diphtheria. The result was The Task Force For Child Survival, which grew to become the Task Force For Global Health. As the organisation has grown to address the health needs of populations around the world, it has achieved incredible success through the rollout of programmes that have become the gold standard for disease intervention worldwide.
Through a carefully curated selection of historical footage and interviews with the Task Force’s founders, our film distills this impressive 40-year legacy into 7 minutes. The result is a film that details how the organisation has grown to become a leader in global health that has solved some of the toughest health challenges we face, on a scale never accomplished before.
This film was the key presentation at the Task Force For Global Health’s 40th anniversary event, held at their headquarters in Decatur, Georgia, USA.
To see more on our approach to short form documentary films, read this article on how we develop a narrative arc that enables us to incorporate a great deal of detail and history into a short film.