Whimn officially launches social video series Doco180
News Digital Networks Australia’s whimn.com.au has officially launched its Doco180 series – a collection of three-minute online documentaries tackling topics and issues of importance to women.
Previously described by Whimn’s general manager Melissa Overman as “fresh, raw, honest content that tells women’s stories”, the digital video series will roll out each week at 10am on social media and whimn.com.au from today.
A clip from the first documentary ‘My Body Says’, directed by Loani Arman
The series will cover issues such as body image, terminal illness and IVF provoked by unique stories, and aim to explain, entertain, shift perceptions and ‘change minds’.
Made in partnership with Screen Australia, the series will be supported with analysis around the topics discussion across whimn.com.au and the social media channels.
Overman said the idea was born out of a gap in the market around creating meaningful video content for women.
“There’s a lot of people out there who are taking broadcast video and putting it online or who are cutting out video for online, or running viral video and that’s all great. But we wanted to try and do was to show that you could create really meaningful video content in a snackable format that still was really powerful and had a lot of cut through,” Overman told Mumbrella.
“We knew that it [Whimn] was launching into a relatively crowded market and we wanted to do something different and we wanted to make sure we were providing content that was meaningful and that was meaty and addressed issues affecting modern women and absolutely entertain.
“It is something that is genuinely new and genuinely fresh and we are really excited to see where it is going to take us, because to be honest, it was a little bit of a test to see if it could be done and to see what we got back and we’ve been really excited by it so I think it’ll just be the start”.
Videos are a powerful way to connect with audiences, says Overman
Overman said the process, which involved working closely with the filmmakers to deliver feedback on how to create video for social has been rewarding, and said whimn.com.au will look to work on other projects with the filmmakers going forward.
“There’ll be stories on the site and on social and then we are obviously doing social work around the stories and around the videos. They’ll also be amplified across the whole network,” she said.
“Then also we are doing some media and consumer media with these filmmakers because it is also about championing them and their work and that’s a really important point to make, we are trying to help female creatives get their work out there.
Overman told Mumbrella a second version will run next year, and an additional project with one of the filmmakers has already been commissioned.
For Overman, working with video was the perfect way to connect with audiences.
“Video is such an emotional medium so that was really something cutting through with women,” she said.
“With digital these days, you have to really offer the whole experience and written is one part of a very big pie and so video is really important to us and audio, and similarly imagery is really important. There’s also experiential stuff we are looking at doing next year, so there’s a whole range of things.
“The internet and online have gone so much further than words on a page.”
MY BODY SAYS – Premieres Wednesday 8 November
Director: Loani Arman
Synopsis: A body-conscious woman undresses down to her underwear to share the stories and experiences that are documented in the scars, markings and folds of her body. Inspiring women to redefine their body image and rethink their bodies as a map of their lives.
COMING UP FOR AIR – Premieres 15 November
Director: Dominique Pratt
Synopsis: Shannon (aka Foxy) and Dom met through the most unusual of circumstances – Shannon
had just one year to live, and Dom had a camera. Coming Up for Air is intimate look at life with a
terminal illness and what it really means to have someone else’s organs inside you.
IVF VS THE ONE – Premieres 22 November
Producer/Writer: Jasmine Richwol
Synopsis: Have a baby in your prime or risk waiting for the one? IVF vs. The One will ask single
women in their mid to late 30’s to consider: should they stop looking for a man, and have a baby on
their own?
BLACK AS ME – Premieres 29 November
Director: Santilla Chingaipe
Synopsis: A female artist shares her story about learning to embrace her dark skin tone when the
stereotypical Australian woman doesn’t look like her. Santilla Chingaipe, most recently seen as the
presenter of Date My Race on SBS, makes her directorial debut with this documentary.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – Premieres 6 December
Director: Shannon Harvey
Synopsis: Follow health journalist Shannon Harvey on the elusive and all too familiar challenge of
the modern day woman, trying to ‘do it all’, as she flies through her day attempting to be the perfect
mum, the corporate fighter, the wellness warrior and the domestic goddess all in one.
