Theory of Change - Doc Society

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

We think about change
at three levels

Narrative Strategy

Leverage points
in society

Documentary Influence

Perhaps you have experienced it yourself or you have heard from a friend, neighbours or fellow dog walker that watching a documentary radically changed their mind.

Studies confirm it. In June 2022, Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford published a paper which showed 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 and activists on social media and three times more influential than politicians and political parties on this issue. This was the case across all markets in the aggregate, as well as across age groups.

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."

Liz Manne

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.

Just One Film’s
Acheivements

The Territory

Deep collaboration

Film set new standards as the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous community co-produced, partly filmed, co-owned the film, and are co-leading the impact strategy.

Critical acclaim

The film has played at 125+ festivals, winning 25 awards and shortlisted for the 2023 Academy Awards.

Raising awareness

There have been 3,313 press articles about the documentary in 67 countries so far.

Global distribution

The film is now available on Disney+ in 139 countries.

Organised 171 high level screenings

with officials working on environmental protection in the EU, UN, in the UK, Brazil and on Capitol Hill.

Supported the passage of EU legislation on deforestation-free supply chains

where 150 MEPs saw the film ahead of voting, and many verbally cited watching the film influenced their vote.

Engaged major French supermarket

Tto suspend beef supplies from Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau land.

Raised profile of land defenders

With a 16 story mural by acclaimed artist Mundano in São Paulo honouring indigenous peoples killed in Brazil.The artist used the ashes collected from amazon fires to create the paint.

Supported construction of a new media centre in the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau village

Which is training a new generation of filmmakers.The team has used reclaimed stolen wood from the region to create the structure.

Coming in 2023

A screening series for communities around the Amazon to help deepen organising efforts in the protection of the forests.

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