Media Leaders was a collaboration between BBC Media Action and BBC World Service to produce two E-Learning modules providing vital education to managers and staff of radio stations in developing countries.

Working with experts in the radio business we took the complex topic of generating revenue from radio and broke it down into tangible sub-topics for an international audience. Situation based leaning with animated videos would be the core of the modules. User testing of a proposed style recieved positive feedback and stakeholders were keen on animation.

We went through the process of proposing to stakeholders at BBC Media Action and World Service our intentions for production. Outside of the scripts and storyboards my primary responsibility was the design proposal and storyboards for the films. Our initial proposal was approved with only minor amendments.

We had to ensure the world depicted would have appeal to our target audiences who were often in small regional towns that are typically quite poor. A radio station would often be operated out of a normal family house with basic equipment. We depicted a small African style town as the location of our fictional radio station with a small house as it’s HQ.

We developed a multi-ethnic cast for the animated films reflecting people from Africa to Nepal. In designing the cast, I had to address issues of professionalism, religous sensibilities, diversity, and inclusion.

We translated the module into four different languages but this still left many audiences with the English version. We addressed possible issues with a language barrier by making the modules as visual as possible. A huge amount of iconography and symbolism was generated re-iterate key messaging to assist audiences.

This project required the production of 16 films, comic strips, and a huge number of individual graphics. Utilised fast paced production techniques with Sketch Book Pro to create assets and employed skills in Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere Pro for a fast turnaround. Adobe Character Animator was crucial for bringing this project to life with its lip-sync compute function enabling me to generate animations in different languages quickly.

We have had very positive feedback from stakeholders and audiences. ‘Media Leaders’ is intended to assist Radio Stations dependant on NGO funding to be self-sufficient. We are certain that this product successfully makes a contribution.

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Reference from Elizabeth Mearns - Senior Producer, Digital @ BBC Media Action

Original reference on Linkedin