Many Rivers - Our Story | 2023 Good Eye Deer

MANY RIVERS - OUR STORY

Good Eye Deer were able to draw out what it was that we wanted to accomplish through the project. They allowed us to stay as engaged as we wanted in the creative process so we always felt we knew where we stood and communicated potential challenges in advance so we could plan for a solution if required. The results are evident in the film. The team effectively drew out our clients’ authentic self so what we have is a true reflection of their journey with us in their own words. The product is beautiful and engaging, and was only possible because of the process that Good Eye Deer took us through.

Glenda Chang, Head of Business Development, Many Rivers

the brief

Many Rivers is a national not for profit (NFP) that empowers individuals through micro-enterprise development.

In short, they believe that we live in an economic world, and that to be empowered one has to be able to participate. The company enables disenfranchised or disadvantaged people to do that by supporting them to build successful businesses of their own.

Many Rivers were looking to replace their corporate video with a new brand film. They also wanted to produce case-study stories of key clients. The new films needed to emotionally engage with audiences so they “buy in” to the Many Rivers vision. It needed to convey the importance and scope of the service and show the impact of what has and is being achieved around Australia. The client ideally wanted to include Field Officers, a CEO grab, clients – mix of male/female; remote/regional/urban; Indigenous/non-Indigenous. Stand alone client stories were also required to flesh-out the individual stories and produce additional content for social media. These were to be housed on the Many Rivers website.

The target audience for the films is supporters (existing and potential) who include: government, corporate and philanthropists (generally, over 30yrs of age). Secondary audience: Potential clients + website visitors.

our approach

Small business is the backbone of the Australian economy. However, not everyone with the skills and passion for an idea has the knowledge or resources realise it.

Many Rivers is an enabler that works to change that. It’s an organisation that changes lives and, in turn, impacts communities. Real, lasting change was the story we knew would resonate with audiences.

We set out to create an emotive series films – ones that were inspired by powerful personal stories. Our shortlist of four interviewees was selected after pre-interviewing over twenty clients from across Australia. Characters were selected to represent diversity of stories, locations, business type, gender and ethnicity. Rather than explaining how Many Rivers works we focused on what the work of Many Rivers means – how it impacts individuals and their communities, how their lives have changed, what it has done for them as individuals, their families and communities in ways unexpected.

With so much travel required it was critical to work with minimal crew and camera equipment. We sent a strong duo around the country with our trusty Sony F5 and focussed on creating naturalistic images that highlighted the beauty and difference of the places we visited. With a behind-the-scenes look at owners going about their day-to-day tasks we got the opportunity to tell the Many Rivers story in an authentic, non-sales tone. The Client Story videos extended these narratives to leverage the content we captured and maximise the benefit of the travel spend.