Final Major Project - Bipolar uk meeting

So we have just had our meeting with Suzanne, the Chief Executive of Bipolar UK. 

We created a pitch/proposal document that I had written, and lauren helped to re-edit and re-stye.

FMP Proposal

 

Nervously we took the train up to their Head Office in victoria, London and sat in their waiting room.

At first, I felt quite intimidated by Suzanne. 
She explained that they receive thousands of these requests, and that they don’t usually get involved with filming projects because they feel uncomfortable asking their “service users” to participate in various things, especially with such a sensitive subject that good seriously harm their mental well-being. 



This made be feel nervous, and for a good twenty minutes I felt we were in way above our heads. Suzanne looked over our proposal, and pulled apart many aspects of it. She was concerned that if the purpose was to show the inside of the mind of a sufferer, we may come unstuck as most people with bipolar can’t tell you. 



Then I began to explain, we wanted the audience to be able to “feel”, what it was like to have bipolar, to really get a taste of the emotions, through voiceover/story and incredible images and sequences that showed their moods through nature, surroundings, weather and other captivating pictures. This was when Suzanne started to come on board.

We discussed how many people suffering with the disorder have become “fed up” with all the recent coverage of celebrities with bipolar, they feel the large majority of sufferers are not having their voice heard. We both felt this could be an opportunity to get them some recognition, help others and help themselves.

 Suzanne liked the idea of the style we wanted to go for, artistic and experimental, something beautiful and painful. Not a traditional documentary, but a mood piece, with documentary elements, seeing as this is a mood disorder. 



Suzanne mentioned their 30 year campaign, which is what I had researched before. As Bipolar UK was turning 30 years old, they wanted to feature 30 written accounts and podcasts on their website, with  one sufferer for each year they have been going, selected by the year they were diagnosed. 

Suzanne then started to suggest we could tie it in with this, as they already had plenty of people interested, she also said that because they were inundated with requests to be apart of it, there were many people who were upset they could not be selected, we could make them feel happier by offering them a part in the film.

Once we got on to this subject it became clear Suzanne wanted to work with us, because the timing was perfect.

 Their 30 year birthday and bipolar awareness days are in October, and although the film would not be finished then, she believed it would still be great to use. 

So I asked the question, would you like to have Bipolar UK tied in with our film and would you potentially like to use this on your website and part of your campaigns?

 She replied, “yes, yes of course”. 

Those four words made everything worth it. Not only have we got the largest bipolar charity in the UK wanting to help us with contributors, they want us to make something with them in mind, and use it on their national website, that gets thousands of hits!

 This is motivated me no end.

We then discussed a few more details. She quite rightly told us that if they find out contributors, she wouldn’t be able to just give us contacts, and so she would nominate a liaison worker for us to help communicate, judge the situation and then allow us to meet them. 

This is great as it gives the contributors confidence. I also explained that we are looking for people and their families to appear on camera, but as this is an experimental documentary, we could have contributors who tell their story purely through voice over, like a rolling poem accompanied by beautiful images, as part of our film.

I need set out the time frame. We would want to have contributors within the next 4 -5 weeks, ready to interview in 6 -7 weeks. We want to have finished filming by the middle of October at the latest. So that we have plenty of time for post production and editing. Suzanne said she would make a start, and find a liaison worker for us. She asked that we send any consent forms and risk assessments we have for her to take a look at, and that she would like to get in contact with our university.

An incredible start to our journey. We have a lot of hard work to do to make this work, but it feels more viable now.