Our Theory of Change
We don’t need to tell you about the challenges of our times: populism, mis-information, climate crisis, white nationalism.
We share your goal of a more inclusive and fairer world.
Over the years we have come to understand more deeply the power of independent documentary to help create that world. We have seen our guiding principle in action time over time: Great documentaries enrich the lives of individuals. They have a unique ability to engage and connect people, transform communities and improve societies.
Documentary Influence
In the context of rampant mis and disinformation, of the dominance of corporate, media and algorithmically flattened content, we are fascinated by the enduring power of independent docs to cut through.
In 2022 Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford found that more people say they pay attention to documentaries (39%) than to major news organisations (33%) for information about climate change. Documentaries were twice as influential as celebrities on social media and three times more influential than politicians. This was the case across all 46 countries in the study, as well as across all age groups.
There are all kinds of interesting reasons for that - people are hungry for authenticity, for trusted messengers, for local and personal rather than generic and corporate feed. In a polluted information ecosystem, it is imperative not only that this genre of storytelling keeps being produced but that citizens can access it.
What we’ve also learnt over the years is how Independent docs are powerful in the mainstreaming of new ideas. Drawing on academics and think tanks and in turn influencing the news agenda, policymakers, education systems and social movements.
Independent docs sometimes crossover into mass audiences and go ‘viral’, but arguably their most important property is that targeted, deep transformational impact amongst individuals and communities. Profoundly changing our understanding about the world and affecting our behaviours.
Documentaries can take a relatively long time to make, but they then have a very long shelf life - played and replayed over years rather than days or a few weeks which lends itself to very different impact and engagement strategies.
Because documentaries are not typically profit centres, they have also been a consistent source of innovation and creativity in both production and in reimagining distribution. For all these reasons and more, we’ve remained intrigued by their promise and power.
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We think about change at three levels
Individuals
Yes, some films have their greatest impact by reaching the very individuals for whom they will be the most transformative. This might be the non-binary youth in a Russian town or the CEO of a corporation. Documentaries can change minds and behaviours.
Groups and Communities
Other films can bring together groups and communities into new shared understandings, create renewed advocacy and greater visibility. We help filmmakers to identify the local communities or movements that their film can best serve.
Whole Societies
One film can have an outsized effect but it is never about one story, one silver bullet. New narratives build on each other, they weave together and shift cultural assumptions. This is what we call Narrative Strategy.
Narrative Strategy
"Narrative Strategy is the practice of sharing connected stories to forge, spread and reinforce beneficial narratives and counter harmful ones."
We are serious about deep investment in a narrative strategy - funding new kinds of storytelling which can forge deep emotional connections with audiences, even with those who feel alienated by the current political climate.
Narrative Strategy can be implemented in drama, graphic novels, live comedy, music - everything that makes up our culture. At Doc Society we work with documentaries because of the unique inflection point at which they sit.
Independent and predominantly non-profit, they benefit from the opportunities of mass distribution without being controlled by the market. Playing a pivotal role in cascading new ideas from the fringe to the mainstream.
After 18 years of enabling filmmakers and their impact campaigns, it's why we’ve established a Climate Story Unit and this year, a Democracy Story Unit, in order to demonstrate what can be possible at scale around the most ciritcal issues facing us.
Leverage points
in society
Documentaries are both influenced by other forms of culture and a big influencer of others - a key catalyst of more mainstream media.
This means that Documentaries pay a double dividend. They influence their audience and they influence other cultural outputs with their own audiences.
We are fans of the academic Donella Meadows and her famous analysis of different leverage points that can create change in society [Thinking in Systems: A Primer].
Her diagram shows the relative ease of changing practical things and the relative importance of changing culture: goals, beliefs and values. Changing culture is harder to implement and also harder to measure. In our current technocratic liberal culture, that also means harder to fund.
To find out more about how filmmakers and impact producers implement impact campaigns in practice all over the world, head to the Impact Field Guide.
