MANIFESTO

FROM FRUSTRATION COMES
NEW THINKING

DOCUMENTARY MAKING HAS TAUGHT ME TWO THINGS:

Money comes when you reach the right people & THE FILM industry could afford to be much kinder.

So I built a platform to disrupt how things get done - To nurture storytellers and connect THEIR PROJECTS with money.

My feature documentary, Like My Brother, was funded by 76 philanthropists. Without their KINDNESS, belief and support, the film would not exist. With experience in cinema release and a two book deal with harper collins I have valuable experience in what it takes to create, fund and market your BIG story.

- Sal Balharrie // Founder I SEE DOCO

AT I SEE DOCO WE BELIEVE:

ONE // SILENCED

Dissenting voices are being actively shut down at the very moment we need them most.
Stories shape culture. Culture shapes policy. Policy shapes lives.

TWO // ACCESS

As governments retreat from arts funding, streamers shape the narrative, and wealth concentrates in fewer hands, the future of independent filmmaking depends on aligning filmmakers with philanthropists who understand both their obligation and their ability to power cultural CHANGE.

THREE // COMMITMENT

Empowering filmmakers requires empowering their support system. Passionate filmmakers need to be matched with passionate social investors. Values aligned with values. FROM THE FILMMAKER A CLEAR Commitment to storytelling. FROM THE PHILANTHROPIST A CLEAR commitment to fund A FILM PROJECT. This is not charity. THIS is actively considered investment in cultural strategy.

FOUR // GOALS

I SEE DOCO LAB exists to guide documentary filmmakers to achieve a specific project goal and to help grow meaningful connections with philanthropists WHO want to share the journey, making and delivery of the film.

FIVE // SUCCESS

the new business of documentary filmmaking requires a new definition of success.Traditional investment models prioritise financial return, yet very few documentaries deliver significant ROI.NEW THINKING demands a new metric and the future is ROSI - Return on Social Investment.

Great documentaries:

• shift conversation
• influence policy
• catalyse movements
• change how people think and act

It is measurable AND it is ROSI,
Return on Social Investment.