Election Broadcasts
26 Mar - 3 May 2007The Festivals Company have successfully completed three short films which were broadcast on TV and radio in April 2007 as Party Election Broadcasts for Plaid Cymru. The three 2’ 40" films were developed, written, directed and produced by the company following discussions with the client.
Adam Price, Plaid’s director of elections, said, "We decided early in our campaign planning to be innovative and ambitious. We identified party political broadcasts as one area where we needed to invest more resources, and try different ways of communicating our key election messages.
The aim of these broadcasts was to highlight some of our key election pledges in a manner different from a simple piece to camera."
"We established and agreed a number of basic rules to guide our work in producing the films. Firstly we felt that the films should have a positive message and be used to introduce key election pledges from the client. Secondly we decided it was important to deliver these positive messages via third party, i.e. individuals, in this case actors representing another political party, who discuss the manifesto pledges of the client," said Berwyn Rowlands.
"Party Election Broadcasts are generally considered to be very solemn affairs - they tend to be a turn off rather than a turn on. As a company, we were excited to attempt a more unconventional approach to the format, rather than reverting to the more traditional PEB tactics. We did this by creating three characters and developing their relationship through a narrative that addressed the topical issues of Wales as identified by the client. Our aim was to engage the viewer through conventional drama that was both entertaining and thought provoking," said James Nee
"The first film has already been viewed by a large audience on YouTube, which perhaps shows that the films are generating more of interest than is typically expressed for your usual run of the mill party election broadcast. It also shows that there’s no harm in a little provocation to get people interested in politics," added Berwyn Rowlands.
To watch Part 1 click here (english)/ here (welsh)
