“The media doesn’t represent me. I’m not hearing voices like mine”
Simeon Moore Dats TV
Much of our work at sounddelivery involves building skills and confidence in people with firsthand experience of social issues so that they can share their stories and experiences in their own way, in their own words. There are thousands of Experts by Experience in our communities who are full of insights and ideas for solutions to create lasting change. But when we turn on the news, open a newspaper, look online, more often than not, we aren’t hearing from them and they tell us that they don’t feel they are being represented or listened to. We want to change that.
That’s why we’re crowdfunding a spokespersons network led by people with direct experience of some of our big social issues. Participants will have access to a range of training workshops, mentoring and media opportunities which we believe will raise their profile and ensure that they become the go-to people for comment on the issues they have experience of.
We have fantastic and supportive media contacts who want to share their skills and professional expertise with our cohort. We believe that mentors will be key to breaking down barriers, demystifying the media and in the long term building collaborations for future programmes.
We’d like to introduce our first media mentors:
Anna Hall, True Vision Yorkshire
Multi-award-winning Documentary Director, 5X BAFTA Nominee Anna Hall is a powerful storyteller and brings important issues to the public through her documentaries. She runs True Vision Yorkshire, a production company based in Leeds. Her films include Behind Closed Doors for BBC Two, Catching a Killer for Channel 4, and Fighting Shame released this year with JRF about a group of women and the community initiatives they have launched in an attempt to tackle the shame surrounding poverty and make policymakers listen.
We know she’ll provide valuable insights for our network, sharing her expertise in telling difficult stories in the media sensitively, accurately and with impact.
Brian Woods, True Vision
Brian Woods is the Founder of TrueVision in London, an award-winning independent documentary production company. He’ll be sharing his expertise and support with our network to encourage more diverse voices in the media. With True Vision he has made award-winning documentaries on some of the biggest social issues facing society today including Poverty, Domestic Abuse, homelessness and bereavement. They tell stories with nuance and empathy, leading the way in responsible storytelling in the media.
Brian’s aim is to make documentaries that have a real-world impact and can create lasting change. He wants to tell the stories that we don’t hear. This first perfectly with the aim of our spokesperson network and his support to our speakers will be invaluable.
Emma Wakefield, Lambent Productions
Emma Wakefield, Managing Director at Lambent Productions will also be mentoring on our programme for Experts by Experience. Emma’s films include BAFTA-nominated drama-documentaries Love Hurts and True Stories for BBC2, the powerful Addicted Parents: Last Chance To Keep My Children for BBC2, and Raped: My Story for Channel 5 amongst many other powerful films.
Through her documentary making she works in partnership with charities and the people they support to build relationships and tell stories with nuance. Her experience bridging this gap and putting a spotlight on big social issues will be a huge asset to our network.
We look forward to connecting our spokespersons network with their mentors, to share skills and insights and support.
Over the next few months we’ll be recruiting more mentors, so if you’d like to get involved please get in touch: hello@sounddelivery.org.uk
You can find out more about our network and support it today, our campaign ends Friday 31st May: