By Daisy Church, Assistant Producer of Media Trust Volunteer Films
Doorstep Library’s journey to the Charity Film Awards is well and truly underway. Their volunteer film, made as part of Media Trust’s #VolunteerFilms project, is officially through to the Charity Film Awards final for 2020. Here Daisy Church, Assistant Producer of Media Trust’s Volunteer Films, shares her thoughts on the process of this, potentially, award-winning partnership.
The Doorstep Library Film #WordsTakeYouPlaces was one of the 10 films funded by John Lyon’s Charity in my first year on the Volunteer Films project. As an avid reader from a very young age, it was also a cause that really resonated with me personally. Having recently moved from the film & TV world into the charity sector this project encompassed both my passions and my experience.
When Doorstep Library applied to us at the end of 2018, we knew this was a partnership that could flourish – their project, ethos, and brand lent itself to film before we’d even begun the development! As they themselves put it: “a film, particularly, would bring our energetic projects to life in a way that images and copy simply can’t”. The need was there; now it was time for the Volunteer Films project to step in.
Media Trust exists to forge partnerships between small charities and media/creative industry volunteers looking to give back. Media Trust’s Volunteer Films project gives frontline charities in London the chance to showcase their work on film…and at no extra cost to them. We pair charities with creative director/producers to make a short film together. One such inventive and generous human was Michaela Lowe. With over 7 years of freelance creative experience and having just given birth to her first baby, Michaela was ready to burst back onto the small screen postpartum; she seemed like the perfect match for Doorstep Library. As she said: “it meant a lot to do something altruistic, by helping others I felt like I was also helping myself.” I felt that Michaela’s creative ambition, married with Dani and Henri’s enthusiasm and dedication to the project, was set to be a winning combination. And thus has it proven to be!
The film Michaela and her team made for Doorstep Library has been not just an invaluable tool for them, helping increase their online presence and exposure, but it has also demonstrated what we, at Media Trust, do in a succinct and emotive way. We have screened the film at our own fundraising event where Katie Bareham, Director of Doorstep spoke to a room full of the industry’s top leaders, from Channel 4 to Google. Its online popularity has galvanised director applications for this year of the project, giving us a crucial promo of the Media Trust Volunteer Films project itself. And – no names named – the General Manager of a major digital brand, after viewing the film at a recent event, emailed us to say that he and his wife would like to volunteer with Doorstep Library!
I have loved being part of the Doorstep Library film journey, seeing first-hand the direct impact that partnerships at the intersection of the creative industry and the third sector can bring. With enthusiasm, an incredible director and her great team, a clear strategy and, importantly, some of the cutest child actors around, this was a Volunteer Film stand-out success.
Doorstep Library’s journey to the Charity Film Awards is not over yet. Their volunteer film has made it through to the final of the Charity Film Awards and they need a last push to win Gold: show your support and vote for them.
