A still from the GLAA film: a woman holding a clipboard turns to a colleague, looking concerned

Sector:: Charities and non-profits
Client:: Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Services:: Marketing and PR

Modern Day Slavery film targeted at Businesses

The GLAA and their three corporate partners wanted to create a film on modern-day slavery in the workplace to raise awareness across UK business. We jumped at the chance to tender for this worthwhile project and were thrilled to be the chosen agency to take this forward. Researching what media was already out there, we found that most films talked about the signs of slavery, but crucially very few discussed what you should do once you have decided to take the next step to ensure the safety of everyone involved. This became our starting point for a creative concept.

A still from the GLAA film: police officers guide a man into the back of a patrol car

Scripts and Stories

It was vital that the story engaged the viewer but also stayed true to the signs and actions of both the perpetrator and victims in these cases. We worked closely with our clients to ensure that the script gave an authentic portrayal of exploitation. We then created a storyboard, providing a visual representation of how the story unfolded, shot by shot.

Another key consideration for this project was to portray the story of the victims and gangmaster without assigning a nationality or language.

A page of the GLAA film script: the factory canteen scene

The GLAA storyboard shot by shot: each drawing beside its shot, description, location and cast

Pre Production

With a conservative budget, strong organisation was crucial for this project which ran to a tight deadline. Next steps were to source locations, cast actors, assemble the production team, produce wardrobe and set date.

Behind the scenes on the GLAA shoot: a field monitor shows four actors in a scene while the sound recordist and crew work behind it

The GLAA crew setting up in the college car park, with lights, a camera track and a reflector on the tarmac

A still from the GLAA film: a young man sits on the edge of a bed in a bare bedroom

A still from the GLAA film: two young men sit at a canteen table, a woman behind them

A still from the GLAA film: a manager in a suit and a colleague sit side by side at an office desk

We allocated two days shooting having sourced a college location that could allow for four or five different scene settings, a bedroom, a canteen, outside car park, manager’s office and park. Casting 12 actors, we worked to a tight schedule to shoot the eight scenes.

A fitting launch

The release of the film was shown at the GLAA’s prestigious annual conference, where stakeholders and figureheads from the UK and international business-world, warmly received its powerful message.

The GLAA poster for victims: Victim of labour exploitation or modern slavery?, what happens next, and the confidential hotline

The cover of the GLAA leaflet Modern Slavery: Help Them, in the authority's purple over a raised hand

Promotion

We worked with the GLAA to produce supporting marketing material for the launch of the film and produced 5,000 USB keys and a suite of leaflets, posters and cards to distribute throughout their network.

Expanding on the message

With this success of the film we were also commissioned to create an animated short to highlight some of the significant volumes of women, men and children around the world who are victims of modern day slavery.

Results

90,000+views of the film on YouTubeOctober 2017 to November 2026

Neil Court, Head of Compliance (UK), Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

It was a pleasure to work with Ideate on this project. It’s great to work with a team that are so passionate about what you are trying to create and can take the brief and produce something beyond your expectations.

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