Impact Film
Evidence the impact you made, told by the people involvedDesigned for programmes, services and partnerships that achieved something real and need it on record
From £3,000. Most projects sit between £7,500 and £14,500
Does this sound like you?
You may recognise yourself in one of these:
Funded Programme
A funded programme nearing its end, with a case to make for what comes next
Life Changing Service
A service that has changed lives and has never been captured properly
Partner-led Initiative
A multi partner initiative where every contributor needs to be honoured fairly
Participant Stories
Participants whose stories deserve dignity and care, not a testimonial reel
Evidence of Impact
A board, funder or commissioner who needs evidence beyond a written report
A Big Milestone
A milestone and story worth marking. Five years, ten, twenty
What an impact film actually is
An impact film records and celebrates the real outcomes of a programme, service or partnership. It honours the people who made it happen, and it gives funders, partners and stakeholders something that carries the case forward.
Where a flagship narrative defines who an organisation is, an impact film proves what it has done.
It shows outcomes through real participants rather than abstractions. It runs long enough to honour the story properly, usually between two and five minutes. It works across public audiences, funder reporting and partner communications all from a single production. And it becomes the anchor asset behind impact reports, partnership renewals, future funding bids and legacy communications.
“Behind the numbers is lived experience.“
David McColgan, Head of BHF Scotland
The window closes
Impact work has a shelf life that other content does not.
Programmes close. Funding ends. Participants move on, and some of them will not be reachable in a year. Staff who built the thing leave. Sites get refurbished, rebranded or handed over.
A programme that closed last year cannot be filmed. It can only be described. That is the difference between an impact film and an impact report.
If your programme has an end date, the useful question is not whether to make the film. It is whether there is still time.
What you get
Every impact film engagement delivers a complete package:
The hero film. Two to five minutes, built around real participants, finished to broadcast standard
Launch assets. Trailer and social cutdowns in widescreen and portrait, ready for the platforms you actually use
Accessibility as standard. Subtitled masters on every delivery, not as an extra
Partner recognition. Credit packages and acknowledgement frames agreed before edit lock, so nobody is missed.
Formats for the places it needs to work. Web, presentations, social, and funder submissions
Depending on the shape of the story, engagements often also include individual participant story films, a separate funder edit drawn from the same production, photography captured alongside filming, and light motion graphics for figures and on screen text.
Final deliverables are confirmed once scope and access are clear.
Your Investment
Impact projects vary depending on how many stories you capture, where the filming happens, and what the film needs to achieve. Where a project sits in the range is driven by the breadth of stories featured, the production complexity including access, locations and contributor welfare, and the level of finishing and versioning required. Funder reporting, partnership recognition and programme legacy films all carry different weight, and we tailor accordingly.
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Focused
£3,000 to £6,500 + VAT
One programme or service outcome, told cleanly.
For a single hero film with one to three featured participants, one or two filming days with a small crew, a single primary audience and a clear use case.
You receive the hero film, trailer and social cutdowns, subtitled masters, and three review rounds.
Right when the story is already well defined and the work is about strong execution rather than heavy development.
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Most projects sit here
Programme
£6,500 to £14,500 + VAT
Hero film plus participant stories, serving more than one audience.
For programme outcome films with featured participant stories, multi partner initiatives that need partner level recognition, and work that has to serve a funder audience and a public audience from the same production.
You receive the hero film, two to four individual participant story films, trailer and cutdowns in widescreen and portrait, subtitled masters and partner versions, and three review rounds with structured sign off.
Right when the work needs to honour multiple stories and get reused across bids, renewals and impact reports for years.
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Legacy
£14,500 to £25,000 + VAT
Major programme legacy, anniversary or campaign level work.
For milestone and anniversary films, sensitive or specialist environments including clinical and community settings, larger contributor sets across multiple sites, and multi format rollout across funder, public and partner audiences.
You receive a hero film with multiple individual story films, narrative versions tailored per audience, trailer, social cutdowns, partner edits and funder edits, subtitles in English and other languages where needed, and three review rounds with structured sign off.
Right when the work carries reputational weight and will represent the organisation for a decade.
A note on how the range works:
Each tier is a range rather than a fixed figure because access, contributor availability and finishing requirements are not fully known until scope is locked. We agree the range up front so there is delivery flexibility if the story develops, and we confirm the final figure once scope and contributor readiness are locked. You will never receive an invoice above the range you approved.
If the film is intended for broadcast advertising, projects start in the Programme tier and usually sit in Legacy once clearance, delivery specifications and talent usage are accounted for.
Worth adding while we are here:
Most of the cost in any production is getting the right people, kit and access into one place. Once that is done, capturing more costs considerably less than commissioning it separately. When added to a production, these typically cost 30 to 50 per cent less than commissioning them separately.
Photography
Stills shot to the same brief by a photographer, not pulled from video. Ready for web, press, decks and reports.
Animation
Animated sequences inside your film. Statistics, processes, maps and anything the camera cannot show.
Studio Production
A day in our Glasgow studio. Interviews, pieces to camera, product work. Controlled light, controlled sound, no weather.
Content Library
A catalogued bank of ready-to-use clips and stills, captured on the same production days.
Looking for raw footage? ‘Rushes’ need a skilled editor, specialist software and hardware that can handle the files. What arrives is hours of raw, unedited footage with no grade or sound balance. A content library is the version that is already finished and gets used considerably more.
“At British Heart Foundation Scotland we needed to tell that story and make it resonate with key decision makers in the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament and members of the public who had experienced cardiac arrest.
Working with FoSho allowed us to use the expertise of the team in story telling, and audio and visual content creation, to weave all three narratives together in an impact film that delivered against all our metrics for the Bridging the Survival Divide report.“
David McColgan
Head of BHF Scotland
British Heart Foundation
How long it takes
Most impact films run eight to fourteen weeks from signed engagement to final delivery.
Development
Story shape, audiences, participants confirmed
Pre-production
Contributor outreach, consent, access and scheduling
Production
Contributor first filming on location or in our studio
Post-production
Edit, sound, grade, subtitles, partner credits
Review & Delivery
Three rounds, structured sign off, final masters
Working to a funding deadline, an anniversary or a programme close date? Just let us know. We plan backwards from your date and tell you honestly whether it is achievable before you commit anything.
How delivery works
Impact films succeed or fail on contributor care and clear partner alignment. We separate thinking from making, and front load the work that protects the people in the film.
One: Development
We turn intent into a clear story and a practical plan. You give us a single point of contact with authority to approve. We come back with a one page creative summary, the audiences defined across public, funder, partner and internal use, the story shape and number of participants confirmed, the partner credit approach agreed in principle, and defined scope boundaries.
Two: Pre-production
We confirm contributors, consent and access. That means contributor identification, outreach and briefing, a consent and safeguarding process appropriate to the audience, the filming schedule and access confirmed, welfare considerations for anyone vulnerable, partner sign off on credits, and risk assessment and permissions.
Three: Production
We film around contributor availability and welfare rather than our own convenience. Lean crew where a bigger presence would put pressure on people. Interviews, observational coverage and partner contributions. Clear decision making on site to protect both the story and the participants.
Four: Post-production
Narrative edit of the hero film, individual story films where multiple participants feature, trailer and cutdowns, subtitles as standard, partner credits and logo handling, and an optional contributor preview before final lock.
Five: Review, Approval & Delivery
A polished first draft through our online review system, consolidated feedback from your side, a named approver for sign off, and delivery through secure download. Three review rounds are included in every tier.
Contributor care
Most of the people in an impact film are not professionals. They are participants, patients, families, volunteers and staff. Some are telling the hardest story of their lives. We plan for that before we plan the shoot.
Where contributors are vulnerable, recently bereaved, or telling something difficult, we design a handling approach with you that protects everyone involved. That covers how people are approached and briefed, what informed consent actually means in their situation, how many people are in the room on the day, and whether they see the film before anyone else does.
Contributors can withdraw. If someone changes their mind after filming, we recut. It is written into how we scope, not treated as an exception.
This is slower than the alternative. It is also the only version of this work worth doing.
Impact work we have delivered
Impact films we have made for programmes, services and partnerships across science and innovation, public services, education and social impact.
What we need from you
For an impact film to land properly, a few things need to be true on your side:
- A single point of contact with authority to approve and consolidate feedback
- Access to real participants, with informed consent and time to brief them properly
- Agreement on partner credits and acknowledgements before edit lock
- A clear view of any safeguarding or sensitivity considerations
- Realistic review windows, particularly where multiple stakeholders are involved
If any of these are difficult in your organisation, tell us on the call. They are all solvable. They are much harder to solve halfway through a production.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How much does an impact film cost?
Impact films start at £3,000 and most sit between £6,500 and £14,500 plus VAT. Larger legacy and anniversary projects run from £14,500 to £25,000. The figure depends on how many participant stories you capture, the production setting, and how many audiences the film needs to serve.
How long does it take?
Eight to fourteen weeks from signed engagement to final delivery. If you are working to a funding deadline or an anniversary, tell us the date and we will plan backwards from it and be straight with you about whether it is achievable.
Our programme ends soon. Is it too late?
Possibly not, but the answer depends on whether the people and places are still reachable. This is worth a fifteen minute call today rather than a decision next month. Filming a programme that has already closed is materially harder and sometimes impossible.
Can we use the same film for funder reporting and public campaigns?
Yes, and it is usually the most efficient way to work. We plan for it in development rather than retrofitting it in the edit, which means a funder edit and a public edit drawn from one production rather than two shoots.
What if a participant changes their mind?
We recut. Contributor withdrawal is built into how we scope, not treated as a problem. Nobody appears in a film they no longer want to be in.
Do we own the film?
You receive full usage rights to the delivered content once commercial terms are met. Raw footage and project files remain FoSho property and can be included as a deliverable at a standardised fee.
What is not included?
Media spend and distribution, edits beyond the three included review rounds, and raw footage. Anything outside the agreed scope is handled as a documented Change Request with its own fee, agreed before work begins.
Do you work outside Glasgow?
Yes. We are Glasgow based and work across Scotland and the UK. We also have international partners across the globe and can travel if needed. Travel and accommodation for locations outside the central belt are factored into the range.
Next step
If the range works, here is exactly what happens.
One. A twenty minute call. We establish the story, the participants, the audiences and your deadline. We do not scope or price on the call.
Two. We confirm your tier and send a Project Engagement Form.
Three. You sign, we invoice the deposit, and your dates are held.
Four. Development starts. Everything from that point is paid work rather than a proposal.
Most engagements go from first call to Project kick-off inside ten working days.
Book a call