A deep dive into our public sector video production for Kent County Council. Five real-life stories told plainly, by real people, to help anyone in Kent take the first step toward free, confidential drug and alcohol support.
Darren shares how he felt ashamed being gay growing up, and how he battled with drug and alcohol addiction to deal with his emotions. The campaign hero film for Kent County Council's drug and alcohol support service, filmed in his own environment and in his own words. It sets the tone for the whole campaign: real people, real recoveries, and free, friendly, confidential help on the doorstep for anyone in Kent who needs it.
Kent County Council's Public Health team needed to raise awareness of the friendly, confidential drug and alcohol support that's available, free, to anyone in Kent. Stigma keeps people away from services that could help them, and KCC's own line says it well: it's a big decision to make a change. A typical awareness campaign was never going to land that decision. KCC wanted something that would meet the audiences who need it most where they actually are: through real stories, told plainly, by real people, and built for the platforms those audiences scroll every day.
We worked closely with KCC and people who had been through the service to film five films. Four are personal recovery stories from Chantel, Darren, Harley and Tony. The fifth is a short explainer on how to access the support. Every interview was led by the contributor, in their own words and in their own surroundings. The films were built for social-first distribution from day one, cut to multiple lengths and aspect ratios, including 9:16 vertical video for Instagram Reels and TikTok, so the campaign could land across paid and organic reach without compromising the storytelling.
The films landed well for KCC. The four personal stories from Chantel, Darren, Harley and Tony turned a service that's easy to ignore into a set of conversations that are harder to look away from, and Accessing the Services made the first step concrete. The films now sit on Kent County Council's drug and alcohol support service pages as part of the council's wider public protection work, continuing to signpost free, confidential help to people in Kent long after they first went live. Warmly received by the client, and still doing the job they were built for.
