The brief
How North Somerset Council Used Video to Communicate Their Mental Health Strategy
North Somerset Council sought to enhance their public engagement efforts by using video to communicate its new mental health strategy. The goal was to ensure clear, accessible messaging that resonated with residents, stakeholders, and policymakers. The film needed to capture the experiences of people in North Somerset and explore some of the interventions they utilised to support their mental health.
The strategy was built around three key pillars, each of which had to be represented in the film:
- Prevention: Preventing mental ill-health before it arises or preventing worsening conditions as early as possible. The ambition was to develop the foundations of good mental health and wellbeing for all, with focused action in communities and settings across the life course.
- Early Intervention: Identifying mental ill-health as early as possible and intervening with the right support to prevent worsening outcomes. The ambition was to ensure timely support and early intervention are available in a range of settings for people of all ages in North Somerset.
- Supported and Living Well: Supporting individuals holistically so that people with mental ill-health can live well in their communities.
The most important requirement was that the film be made in a way that was both sensitive and effective. People were sharing deeply personal and difficult experiences, and the process needed not to cause harm for the sake of making a film designed to help.
What we did
We recommended a long-form mini-documentary, a format increasingly used in local government video marketing, to effectively showcase community voices and council-led initiatives. that would bring together the stories of three individuals from across North Somerset, with each experience tied to a specific pillar of the strategy. This required close collaboration with North Somerset Council to identify the right storytellers—individuals with impactful experiences who also felt ready to share their stories.
Over the course of three days, we sat with people of different ages and backgrounds, listening to their accounts of mental ill-health, the impact it had on their lives, and the difference that accessing support made for them. Our goal was to help audiences truly understand how devastating poor mental health can be while also illustrating the value of a dedicated mental health strategy.
Post-production required a strategic approach to ensure the final product aligned with best practices in local authority communications, balancing storytelling with clear messaging on public sector initiatives. We had hours of interviews and many powerful stories to work with, and it was essential to extract key moments without minimising their impact or reducing the depth of the storytellers’ experiences.
Spending hours analysing transcripts allowed us to craft a narrative that struck a balance between the voices of those sharing their experiences and the message North Somerset Council wanted to convey about their mental health strategy.
The technical
Pre-production
Story planning
Interview planning and questions
Pre-interviews
3 days of filming
Post-production
Music licensing
The result
The Role of Video in Local Authority Communications
This is a project that we are incredibly proud to have been part of. The film was used at the official launch event, where we witnessed firsthand the impact it had on those in attendance. We know that this film will play a role in helping people across North Somerset access mental health support, and that is something we are honoured to contribute to.
The project came with its challenges, from the sensitivity of the subject matter to the complexity of post-production, but we are so glad that we took it on. Seeing the positive response and knowing that this film will continue to make a difference makes every challenge worthwhile.
