Impact Producer
Impact producing is the process of developing and delivering a strategic campaign for the release and distribution of a documentary film designed to generate social impact focused on pre-identified social change goals.[1][2] . The impact strategy is built “around the interplay between what a movement or activists need and a film’s strengths”[3].
Impact producing is the practice of planning the strategic distribution of a film to achieve pre-identified social impact goals such as ending fracking (Gasland 2010), curbing global warming (Chasing Ice 2012), sharing LGBTIQA+ history (How to Survive a Plague 2012) or challenging racialised police violence (Whose Streets 2017). The distribution decisions for films with an impact strategy are shaped by its impact goals. For example, filmmakers may choose to opt for particular festivals over others due to their location, themes, audiences or timing. Filmmakers may also focus on reaching key audiences, such as university students on campuses with The Hunting Ground (2015) or military personnel on army bases as in the case of The Invisible War (2012)[4]
The term “impact producer” was coined in 2012 during a retreat of practitioners hosted in the U.K. by Doc Society, then known as BRITDOC[5][6]. Australian impact filmmaking body Documentary Australia Foundation defines an impact producer as being “responsible for designing and implementing strategic impact and education strategies around social impact documentaries”[7]. American University researcher and author of Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change (2020). Caty Borum Chattoo defines social impact as distinct from the monetary returns of a film, instead focusing on the “improvement on the state of affairs around an issue” where social impact refers to “change to individuals, groups, systems and institutions [8]
References
- ↑ Conrad-Pérez, David (2022). "Breaking cultures of silence: Learnings from a participatory community-centred approach to leveraging and researching documentaries for social change". Journal of Alternative & Community Media. 7 (1): 3–22. doi:10.1386/jacm_00102_1. Retrieved 10/12/2025. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Impact Field Guide". Impact Field Guide. Retrieved 10/12/2025. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Impact Field Guide". Impact Field Guide. Retrieved 10/12/2025. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "Impact Field Guide".
- ↑ Borum Chattoo, Caty (2020). Story Movements How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190943417. Search this book on
- ↑ Impact Field Guide https://impactguide.org/. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Documentary Australia https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/impact-producer-program/#ethicalcollaboration. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Borum Chattoo, Caty (2020). Story Movements How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190943417. Search this book on
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