Why Documentaries

Please describe your company and your position there.

The NSW Department of Education is the management organisation for the public education system in NSW, Australia, which has over 2,200 schools. At the time of the project I was the Senior Policy Officer responsible for policies related to student health.

For what projects/services did your company hire Why Documentaries?

We hired Why Documentaries to produce a series of 8 short videos to show the community and other schools how 8 different schools in NSW were utilising the Live Life Well @ School program, which is aimed at increasing primary school students' healthy eating and physical activity.

What were your goals for this project?

We sought to make public the great initiatives that were being undertaken in 8 selected public primary schools, representing the broad range of schools, from very small isolated to larger regional schools, to large suburban schools, to schools for students with special needs.

How did you select this vendor?

We publicised a tender amongst video production organisations that had prior approval to work for government organisations, and received about 6 applications. After vetting the tenders, we chose to interview the clear standout application. The Interview with Sandra Pires confirmed our expectation that Why Documentaries had the understanding, skills and sensitivities required to work with a variety of schools and relate to many different students and staff who would support and appear in the videos.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

Each video was set to be approximately 3 minutes long, with a shorter version of each, at 30 seconds. The longer versions were for the NSW Department of Education website, and school websites and a health website jointly commissioned by the NSW Education and Health Departments. Eight exemplary schools were selected and their willingness was secured within the Department. From that point, the liaison with the schools and the timetabling of the visits was completed in conjunction with Why Documentaries. The storyline for each video was determined jointly between myself as the Department representative and Why Documentaries. The selecting of the students and staff was mainly done by Why Documentaries and their ability to engage and "cast" the participants was a strong feature of the success of the project.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

We manage the Live Life Well @ School program jointly with the NSW Health Department, which gave Why Documentaries a challenging task of listening to a committee of different voices and opinions. Sandra Pires from Why Documentaries has exemplary capacity to listen and incorporate all views and when necessary satisfy them with skilful suggestions, which were then incorporated on the ground, during filming in the schools. The committee viewed a first version of every video and we fed back to Why Documentaries a compiled list of requests and suggestions for change. Sandra was always able to comply with the various suggestions, which must have required great patience and tact.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Every school made positive comments about the video that that was produced for them. All schools have placed their video on their own website and have used it to promote their school among their community. The videos are also being accessed by the general public on the Department of Education's website, and verbal comments have been positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was very effective: always prompt and always good-natured and always taking into account the latest comments from the vendors.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Flexibility, professionalism in production, sensitivity in working with school students and staff. Follow-through with plans was always evident. Value for money: we were given hours of vetted but unused footage for schools to use as they wish. We were given one extra "bonus" video which was brilliant: a poem written by one of the producers which utilised one student as a "star performer". The student was identified, engaged and coached by the producer and the result was beautifully received by us and by the school.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can identify.