Climate Content

A creative guide to world changing stories

Climate Content

Production

A practical guide for everyone working in TV and film production

Production
Climate Content
Climate Content

Introducing: Impact Producers

Storytelling doesn’t just entertain, it can spark real world change

Impact Producers bridge the gap between brilliant stories and real-world outcomes. They can create tangible social, cultural, political and environmental change by working behind the scenes of issue driven productions. They ensure that the content doesn’t just reach audiences but inspires them to act.

Why it matters:

The entertainment sector is increasingly aware of its positive influence: 

  • 79% of organisations agree they would like to do more to ensure their content has a positive impact 
  • 73% of organisations they would like more information on how to measure the impact of their content  

Source: OKRE

As the demand for meaningful content grows, so too does the need for skilled professionals who can ignite powerful moments on screen into action.  

BAFTA albert is proud to announce its Impact Producer Accelerator Programme designed to upskill impact producers, increase awareness of the role across the industry and create networking opportunities.

To register your interest in BAFTA albert’s Impact Producer Accelerator Programme, please fill in the form below. 

Register your Interest

What do Impact Producers do?

They develop and execute measurable initiatives, that align with the goals of a production, designed to create real world change. Their work is grounded in four key principles: 

  • Changing Minds: shifting perceptions and attitudes
  • Changing Behaviours: encouraging audience to feel inspired to act
  • Changing Communities: creating community movements or actions. 
  • Changing Structures: creating policy change.  

How?

Activities might include educational campaigns, community engagement projects, lobbying and advocacy, creating strategic media campaigns, partnerships with organisations and charities, or live events and screenings to key audiences.  

Where do they fit in?

Impact Producers are often brought in early, ideally during development or pre-production, so they can shape the outreach strategy from the start. They collaborate closely with producers, directors and funders to align creative vision with impact goals. However, in some cases a film might capture the public’s imagination and that can be harnessed by an impact producer who can create a campaign to create action. E.g. Following on from the success of Adolescence, Stephen Graham recently launched the “Letters to our Sons” Initiative, which launched 6 months after the release of Adolescence as a tool for more fathers to start conversations with their sons.

Does it work?

Case Study: Ocean with David Attenborough

Award Winning nature documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough, has a clear call to action: protect our oceans.  

Embedding an impact producer from the start, Ocean targeted two key changes – 1. Creating Marine Protected Areas and 2. Banning the destructive practice of Bottom Trawling.  

How?  

  1. Awareness. They exposed the harmful practices by featuring groundbreaking footage exposing the seabed’s destruction from bottom trawling.  
  1. Timing. The film’s release was timed to align with the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, where the UN was aiming to get 60+ countries, to make formal commitments to ratify the High Seas Treaty (protecting 30% of the world’s seas by 2030).  
  1. Political Action. To engage the UK Govt a shortened version of the film was screened at 10 Downing Street with 50+ MPs (incl. Prime Minister) 
  1. Public Engagement. They built discussion guides, had free screenings for schools and info sheets for teachers, and provided links to actions the viewer could take.  

Wins: 

In Sept ‘25 60 countries ratified the High Seas Treaty to protect Marine areas. Including the UK. 

Mass engagement: Released on Attenborough’s 99th birthday, highest-grossing nature documentary of the decade (580+ cinemas and NatGeo, Disney+ and Hulu). They also created a free school screening programme to engage a younger audience.  

This impact campaign was developed and executed by Open Planet.  

Case Study: Roma

Roma centres on the story of Cleo, an indigenous woman who works as a live-in domestic worker for a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City.  

How? 

  1. Awareness. Partnering with action led non-profits, they built a campaign to spark conversations around the treatment and rights of domestic workers which was successfully picked up by the media. 
  1. Public and Political Engagement. They targeted key audiences such as Roma movie goers, domestic workers, employers and govt. officials and led discussions on the treatment of domestic workers.   

 

Wins:  

  • In Dec 2018, 2.4m domestic workers were given access to social security by the Mexico Supreme Court.  
  • In March 2019 the Mexican Representative to the U.N., coined the term the “Roma effect” for “helping Mexico to strengthen the government’s conviction to continue the fight for gender equality and commit to ratifying the ILO Convention 189.”​ 
  • The National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights was introduced in US Congress.