Films with heart: Social impact narratives and campaigns
Here at Rollingball Productions we are blessed to have an extremely talented team of filmmakers, artists and marketers who are all passionate about what they do. We all love our craft and we’re committed to using that craft and expertise to make positive social change in our world.
We make films with heart, creating campaigns with social impact narratives. The power of film to create social change is created through storytelling, getting to know characters and situations that prompt an emotional response from the audience and influence their perceptions.
“It’s about the capacity for creative work to move an audience literally from one perception to another or to impact them so greatly that they are forever changed. We have a team that has the ability to conceptualise, design and build fully integrated campaigns to support our films to maximise their impact and this is available to clients anywhere in the world who have a mission to communicate messages or information that needs to be heard. We are proud to be working in this capacity – it brings enormous satisfaction to each and every one of the team to know that we are making a difference with our work.”
April Howard, Managing Director and Producer
Social impact campaigns
One of the best examples of the work Rollingball Productions is doing in social impact is an independent short film called Catching Dragonflies. It’s a documentary that explores the incredible story of the devastating impact of Otitis Media (which causes hearing loss), in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population who experience the disease at a rate that is significantly disproportionate to the rest of the world, and is considered fourth world by the World Health Organisation. The film features David Dalaithngu telling the story of how indigenous mothers would hold a dragonfly to the ear of their infants to test their hearing. It goes on to talk about the consequences of ignoring this hidden, third world disease and the cost to First Nations peoples, and Australia as a whole.
From this work on Catching Dragonflies, Rollingball Productions then went on to work on a national campaign for the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL), the research arm of Hearing Australia who developed a new diagnostic tool to identify hearing and talking issues in First Nation’s children called PLUM and HATS. The campaign was developed to increase awareness of the tools and to educate health practitioners about the need for early screening in indigenous infants. Rollingball worked closely with cultural consultants at every stage of the campaign to ensure it was culturally appropriate and that the outcome was optimised. The full campaign included EDM, social assets, TV, radio, media and PR campaign, and a comprehensive website with a training portal and online options for the PLUM and HATS tools. We are exceptionally proud of the work we have done on this important issue.
Production and campaign awards
The work is not only rewarding and effective but it’s also award-winning. Rollingball Productions have won several awards for our social impact campaigns including Best Screen Commercial at the 2017 SAE Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) Awards, for our collaboration with Newcastle City Council – On Your Bike. This campaign was developed to encourage the community to cycle. The campaign included television, billboards, print and social media. The campaign was so successful that the city witnessed a cycling revolution, a cultural shift with more people leaving their cars at home to cycle in the city and more awareness of cycling paths and cycle friendly destinations.
Soil sustainability campaign
Our team not only love a challenge, but we also love food and wine! So, when BioCarbon Soil approached us to create a new campaign to promote their soil products to the Australian Farmers’ Market and explained the importance of their product to improving the health and sustainability of farmland soil, we were keen to get involved. Rollingball produced the engagement strategy, media release and distribution, digital, print and video assets for the campaign, as well as the creation of an online hub for NSW farmers. Use of the soil in trials at DeBortoli Wines resulted in increased crop resilience and improved yields. That’s a win for everyone!
These are only a few of the social impact campaigns that we’ve produced. Check out more here. This is the work that drives us. The stuff that makes us work the long hours, that brings a sense of a greater purpose to what we do. We tell the stories that create awareness and change perceptions and go a little way to creating a better world to live in. We are humble and grateful to have the opportunity to do this work. If you have a message you need to deliver to the world, perhaps we can help you.
