A Proposal for a Documentary

Minds That Matter

Prepared by Bethany Wood

BATE Productions
14/10/19

PROPOSAL
Synopsis: A documentary discussing the mental health of children, focusing on infants aged between 4 and 11. We
would like to explore the reasons why young children are becoming increasingly prone to dealing with mental health
illnesses, what symptoms and signs they display and how we can prevent this from carrying on and what we can do
to stop this.

Purpose: Our aim is to raise awareness of this subject that often takes the backseat where mental health discussions
are concerned. We feel like once more people are aware of what is going on for younger children and what we can
do to start making their lives better than more action will be put into place. We would also like to inform and
educate our viewers, as many may be blind to the fact that infants are affected as greatly as they are.

Viewpoint: Our documentary leans more towards a bias and subjective view. This is because our purpose is to raise
awareness about a subject that is happening, we are not implying that it may or may not be taking place. In a way we
are persuading the viewers to act on the knowledge we are supplying them with. This means that we are not
suggesting something, we are announcing something.

Contributors involved: (Still to be confirmed)

Primary School – Interviews with teachers to discuss what they think is causing it to rise and what should be done
about it, how it is affecting children at school. Our first prospective school choice will be Hannah More Infant School
in Nailsea as Beth’s mum works their and she has access to the headteacher to ask permissions.

Parents of infants – Interviews to again discuss the why and what can be done, as well as how this contributes to the
home environment. Preferably the parents of the same children that we interview, from the same school that we
choose to interview the teachers from. Our back-up is to interview our own parents who have younger children.

Children – Interviews to find out how they spend their day to day life, what they do and don’t enjoy, if they are
aware of any mental illnesses such as depression. These children should age 4-11 and attend the same school that
we approach for interviews. Our back up would be to interview our younger siblings who have already given
permission.

CAMHs worker – Interviews to provide a professional insight into the subject. Preferably from the CAMHs centre
based in Weston as it would be easier to access. Beth has access to a few of the centre’s staff members due to past
connections with them. This specialist needs to have worked with younger children rather than adolescents.
Examples of similar documentaries: Jesy Odd One Out – A documentary following Little Mix star Jesy Nelson and her
experiences with depression and eating disorders as a result of online bullying. The documentary is like ours because
her purpose is to raise awareness however differs because of her focus on online bullying and its effect on
adolescents rather than infants. Kids In Crisis - A documentary discussing the vast amounts of children who are
waiting to receive treatment or are still undergoing therapy. This is similar to our documentary because they also
shine a light on CAMHs services, however we will be interviewing them for an insight rather than attacking their
waiting lists.

Target audience: Our initial target audience will be the teachers and parents of younger children. This is because
they are the main source of support for younger individuals and are incredibly involved in a child’s upbringing. This
means that the information portrayed in our documentary is of greater use to them as they are the most likely, able
and willing to begin to make changes. Our secondary audience would be anyone who is intending on furthering their
knowledge on the subject. For example, older siblings who would like to know how to help their younger brothers
and sisters or students who are studying mental health or health and social care.

Who is working on the film:

Producer – Bethany Wood; “I believe that I am well suited to the role of director because I am willing to listen to my
team’s ideas and negotiate with them to agree on a plan in which we are all content with. I feel like I am successful
in motivating my team to stay on track with their tasks and can be assertive when I need to be. I am also able to
delegate tasks well amongst my team because I take into consideration their skills and interests. Overall I believe
that I make a good leader who can communicate with my team successfully.”

Director – Ellie-May Moss; “I am suited to the role of director because I am excellent at generating a range of ideas
that can be used to help the documentary be successful. I have a range of motivational skills that will enable me to
make sure the documentary is done in time. I have good leadership qualities so I can manage the team effectively
and efficiently with the success of the documentary in mind.”

Script Writer/Editor - Aston Coren Banner; “I was chosen as for this role because I have written scripts at home
before and know how to correctly lay it out, the reason I have been given role of editor is because me and the other
editor know the software well and have worked on a project before. I also am very confident of making a quality
documentary with the cuts and use of audio.

Camera Man/Editor - Timothy Croker; “I was chosen for this role as, I have had previous experience in this role, I
was also the most confident person for the role, I will also be the part editor for this project as I am confident on
how to do the editing because of previous experience.”

Cast: Timothy Croker/Bethany Wood – Narrator and interviewers

Locations: (Still to be confirmed) Primary School, CAMHs office, Home of a child

What is the USP? Why now? Society often discusses mental health amongst teenagers, but not children. Why? Is
this because they can't supply answers as easily for this ongoing issue? We would like to fill this hole in the market
and make society aware of the struggles of this age group who suffer just as much as any teenager or adult.

We believe that this topic is incredibly relevant now because of the recent campaign for children’s mental health led
by YoungMinds. Their aim is to raise awareness and retrieve help for any young children who may need it.

“We will make sure all young people get the best possible mental health support and have the resilience to
overcome life's challenges.” - https://youngminds.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/

Their goals show that we are aiming for the same outcome, for a greater amount of people to help younger children
to have a better mental health.