We all have some vague idea of the power of content. Irrespective of reach, the value of content that has the ability to create a shift in awareness or understanding and thereby change, is at a premium.

Leveraging content through a strategic mix of distribution and collaborations to ensure sustained ripples or even build a movement is maybe the most powerful way of using content. Mainstream content is usually a conduit for entertainment and profitability. Change is a byproduct and rarely measured for impact.

Documentaries, on the other hand, are essentially a means of educating and building awareness but the impact follow through is rare for multiple reasons. The effort it takes to just put a documentary together, specially if created independently, leaves the maker or the team with barely any energy or resources to build conversations around it. Often, the filmmaker desires to move on to the next story they want to tell.

This is where an Impact Producer steps in. Ideally, this is a core member of the team that worked on the film, is passionate about the subject, has an existing network built during the making of the film, has a deep understanding of the issues and wants the subject to reach as many people as possible. Alternatively, it is someone sourced by the team to strategically build a parallel stream of collaborations and ground impact.

What is the role of this Impact Producer?

1. Build partnerships and a community of like minded people

2. Collaborate with organisations, groups and policy makers for the message to be amplified.

3. Fund raising to support the goals

4. Monetise the activity to sustain an ongoing impact team and the project

5. It is important for the Impact Producer to execute and strategise based on the vision for impact. The extent of involvement depends on the skill set of this person and the construct of the team.

6. The Impact Producer must build trust and share integrity towards the purpose.

It is a long and often arduous journey but fulfilling and rewarding as you watch aspects come together in the most unexpected ways. Eventually, the journey and the momentum reach a tipping point and that’s when the partnerships and collaborators all become stakeholders and the impact becomes an almost self-sustained revolution carried by multiple partners.

Imagine a time when a film or a piece of content becomes a tool used in educational curriculums, policy changes, governmental reforms and collective change. When art transcends and triggers lasting change. Isn’t that the kind of content that is the most meaningful of all? The kind that lives on not only for its skilled storytelling and ability to draw people in and influence them emotionally but to go a step further and actually create positive change? To impact the lives of millions in ways that you as a creator had never imagined?