Charity Film Awards Gala pivots to a virtual event with 10,000 viewers

The Charity Film Awards are designed to celebrate the success of film in fundraising; to increase exposure of charity films and to encourage donations for good causes. The programme runs from mid- September when charities enter their films, through public voting and judging to culminate in a gala awards ceremony.

This year over 400 films were entered, generating millions of views, as around 100,000 members of the public voted on their favourite films. All this set the stage for a brilliant climax to a wonderful campaign – until COVID-19 came along and made the gala impossible to host.

Simon Burton, CEO of Charity Film Awards explains what happened next: “We knew that we wanted to continue to celebrate the amazing films and work of the charities involved in Charity Film Awards. So we embraced our challenges of a tiny team and limited resources – we would be authentic and honest and place these amazing films front and centre. Our philosophy is that digital is essential for effective communications for charities, it’s hard-wired into Charity Film Awards campaign structure. Pivoting to digital didn’t need new content - it needed us to help the audience see that content in a new light.”

With over 10,000 viewers, trending on twitter and thousands of Facebook and Instagram posts, the pivot was a triumph and an example of what can be achieved in a short time. Using a live streaming platform based on YouTube, the virtual awards ceremony lasted just over an hour and comprised many creative and engaging approaches.

These included “singing the nominees” and a magician who made the winners names appear with a variety of different tricks – from a deck of cards, to a lit candle or even out of thin air. All of this provided a fitting backdrop against which the truly inspiring content honouring charities of many different shapes and sizes shone through. You can watch the Awards ceremony in full on demand: