MaM Volunteers are the main content creators of the project. To create emotive, creative and quality content it is necessary to build their capacity in audiovisual content creation through repeated trainings, practical exercises and professional work experience programs. This allow Volunteers to not only to create engaging content to support the campaign, but also supports their own professional development and reintegration. The content created by the Volunteers can range from testimonies to documentaries, from dramas to educational videos about the dangers of irregular migration, local opportunities, gender issues, mental health, climate change, discrimination, and so on.
Step by step on how to implement this pillar:
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Purchase smartphone kits which will be used to create videos. (The kits should include a phone with a good camera, a microphone, a tripod, and a battery pack.)
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Identify Volunteers who have an interest or talent for audiovisual content creation to be selected to participate in the content production trainings.
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Develop a series of practical trainings on content creation, including filming, video-editing and more.
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Test the trainings with small groups of Volunteers and make the necessary adjustments.
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Conduct out the trainings frequently. It takes time and consistency to build capacity in audiovisual content creation – practice makes perfect! One group should ideally have access to at least six content training courses per year.
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Create a structure to keep Volunteers engaged and producing content regularly (such as calls for content around international days).
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Identify a focal point in the team with professional experience on audiovisual content production or hire a consultant to provide constant technical guidance to Volunteers and to support in creating and revising subtitles.
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Establish partnerships with media outlets and educational institutions to arrange external trainings, internships and co-productions with Volunteers.
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Publish and share the videos created. The Volunteers have worked hard on these videos so be sure to distribute these videos online, on the ground and on air!
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Create a library to organize content.
Featured activities:
- Content Creation Workshops
A five-day hands-on content creation workshop was delivered to selected Volunteers in all participating countries. The workshop included a community event where the Volunteers presented the content they produced during the workshop.
- Global Migration Film Festival – Volunteer Film Category
During the 2021 Global Migration Film Festival, a contest was launched for films produced by the Volunteers. More than 15 films were created by the Volunteers and these were screened at more than 100 community screenings in the region. The contest stimulated Volunteers’ creativity and it allowed them to put into practice all the skills they have been learning.
- Volunteer Internship with Africa Radio
Partnerships were established with different media outlets and educational institutions across the region to provide Volunteers opportunities to study or do an internship related to content creation which simultaneously supported their professional development. For example, in Cote d’Ivoire, a partnership was established with Africa Radio where four Volunteers were interns and helped produce podcasts, record testimonies, and participated in live shows. At the end of the partnership, two of the interns were offered permanent jobs at the station, thanks to all the skills developed throughout the MaM project.
- Photobook collaboration between Volunteers and professional photographers
A partnership with a world-renowned media outlet, Magnum Photos, allowed Volunteers to co-create a photobook under the guidance of professional photographers. The initiative supported their capacity-building process and had positive impacts on their mental health. In addition, the book is a good product supporting the visibility of the project and the work that Volunteers and associations can do.
Recommendations for future implementation:
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Create a content creation strategy, including a calendar with relevant international days, the different types of content, languages, target audiences, etc.
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Create WhatsApp groups with Volunteers (or other messaging groups) to keep them engaged and stay in regular contact.
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Organize regular trainings and practical exercises to continuously build capacity and engagement. The more confident someone feels about content they are creating the more likely they will want to share the content with their networks.
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Pre-test content in focus groups with target audiences.
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Make sure that there is someone in the country office team that is an expert in content creation that can accompany the Volunteers in their content creation initiatives. It’s always helpful to have someone they can share draft versions of their content with for feedback before they finalize content.
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Create a strategy to store, organize and distribute content from the very beginning of the project and be consistent about it with Volunteers and country offices.
“Before, the knowledge I had about operating smartphone was limited to my usual phone calls and communicating on WhatsApp and Facebook. But MaM expanded my knowledge to understand that the smartphone is a powerful tool that can transform our lives in many ways. Being able to create content with smartphones that were used in our awareness raising activities was an amazing experience. “ – Mariama, MaM Volunteer, Sierra Leone