Documentary produced to generate awareness and donations for charity
Smiling for Smiddy, A Brisbane based cancer research charity hired us to edit footage taken during the 2008 annual Brisbane to Townsville cycle challenge. The footage formed the basis of a ten-minute promotional documentary which was used to raise funds and recruit riders for subsequent events.
The following year, we again partnered with Smiling for Smiddy to film and produce a feature length documentary with the aim of bringing awareness of the challenge to a broader audience. Our crew followed the riders from Brisbane to Home Hill near Townsville interviewing participants and following the highs and lows of the challenge.
As an additional bonus to the charity, we also project managed the creation of an original soundtrack around a title song idea by director Ryan Early. Working with songwriters Mishelle Bradford Jones and Peter Koppes from famed band “The Church” “Journey of Friends” was written and performed and also became the title of the documentary.
We negotiated a broadcast time slot with Win television who generously donated a spot following a cricket test match. This lead in ensured a large audience and the documentary won the ratings in it’s time slot and held its audience.
The 2009 documentary, ‘A Journey of Friends’, was a huge success screening on WIN Television and attracting 38,000 viewers. It also went on to win the Best Documentary category at the 2010 Queensland Multi Media Awards. The documentary was then screened multiple times throughout Queensland in cinemas as fundraisers helping the charity recruit riders and raise money.
In 2010, we again partnered with Smiling for Smiddy and produced a second documentary titled “The Long Road”. This documentary was also broadcast on Win Television, who we negotiated with to again secure a time slot. The broadcast throughout Queensland attracted an audience of 40,734, coming second behind the AFL in the ratings. Multiple sell-out screenings of the documentaries have been held across Queensland including special showings at the Brisbane Schonell Theatre. The 2010 documentary also premiered in Perth in September 2011 and was used to generate interest and sponsorships ahead of the 2011 ride.
We liaised with media to coincide with the 2010 documentary and received coverage throughout regional Queensland promoting the broadcast. The documentaries helped bring the Smiling for Smiddy Challenge to the awareness of the cycling and broader community, have encouraged donations to the charity which funds cancer research, and we have produced other video content for them since.
The documentaries played a pivotal role in raising the profile of Smiling for Smiddy, assisting the charity to inspire new riders to take part in the annual challenges and helping to raise much-needed funds, which to the end of 2010 totalled over 1.9 million dollars.
