Creating a film to raise awareness about community transport

Background

Waverley hoppa Community Transport provide a door-to-door bus service for people who do not have access to any other means of transport. The service is highly valued by those who use it, yet there is a perception that there are still too many people within the target audience who do not know about the service or think it is for them.

The brief

Waverley hoppa commissioned Essential PR & Marketing to create a short film about the service. The aim was to give an uncontrived insight into who can use the service, what makes hoppa special and the quality of customer service.

The film also needed to show potential funders what sets hoppa apart from other forms of transport and how the service fulfils a community need beyond getting people from A to B.

Essential PR & Marketing was tasked with working with an 18-year old film student from the local community.

What we did

We created a storyboard to communicate our vision for the film and presented it to hoppa’s general manager and the trustee responsible for marketing.

Once the concept was agreed, we liaised with the borogh and county council to gain permission to film and briefed the filmmaker, firmed up what was required and discussed issues such as safeguarding and health and safety requirements.

On the day of filming, we travelled on the bus with the filmmaker, added creative direction and made sure we had captured the footage we needed to make the storyboard come alive. We interviewed the passengers and ensured the appropriate consent forms were signed.

Finally, we provided input at the editing stage to ensure people's privacy was protected and that the brief was delivered.

Highlights

• We are proud to have achieved an authentic and inexpensive film which shows the hoppa service in a true light.
• The caring, friendly nature of the drivers came across in a very natural way.
• hoppa now has a film which it can show grant givers, share on social media and have on its website.
• The film gave a local student the opportunity to create a film for their portfolio.
• hoppa was shortlisted as a finalist in the Smiley Charity Film Awards and won Bronze in the People's Choice category.

Testimonial

"It was a real pleasure to work with Essential PR & Marketing to create this film about hoppa! Right from the first conversation I had with Julie, she was passionate, creative, and professional in the creation of the concept and the delivery of the end product. Julie “owned” all aspects of the initial storyboard and the creative direction of the filming, no mean task when co-ordinating drivers, passengers, bus schedules, a passionate videographer and making sure we had the right background in every shot!

"Julie made sure the film was extremely professional and absolutely what the original idea had intended – so much so that we are now finalists in the national Smiley Charity Film Awards!"

Richard Davies, General Manager at Waverley hoppa Community Transport