Documentaries: Treatment

Treatment

By Zak and Danny

Main characters / interviewees

Skye (They/Them) - transgender/non-binary/Agender 19 years old came out at 14 “The curriculum surrounding sex education did not provide me, or other LGBT folk, with any knowledge or resources. This resulted in me identifying (unhappily) as male for THREE YEARS after i discovered transgender people.” This excellently kicks off the discussion that sex-ed is failing to represent an audience that may need it desperately, often negatively affecting mental health and supporting the agenda of ignorant schoolyard bullies. Contrast with Molly

Elisha (19) - Questioning

Molly (13) - secondary school cishet student (daughter of Debbie and Darrell) This interview backs up the points made by Skye but from a different perspective, giving a different view on the topic but maintaining that this is a real and very serious subject.

Debbie (49) Darrell (49) - Parent of 4 We also meet Molly’s parents, Debbie and Darrell who tell us whether they would feel confident and comfortable answering their daughter’s questions about sex, sexuality and gender or whether they think it’s very much an educator’s job. Chloe -- Asexual 19 years old

Stuart Jeffery - Green Party Rep

Hilary Cooke - MGSD Centre Rep following Medway Gender and Sexual Diversity Centre sex-educators into schools to see where effective and honest information is available for young people.

Anjali - Indian student studying in Rochester (Danny and Jack’s flatmate)

Holly - bi 18 year old

QUOTES (ONLY):

Libby (They/Them) --- transgender/non-binary 14 years old

Locations

London

Miadstone tv studios

University for the creative arts

Brighton secondary school

Brighton highstreets

Farnborough

Aldershot

Whether using a presenter / reporter

We are not using a presenter but we are having a voice over narrator to help the narrative of the documentary move forward smoothly. We are having a mix of voice over between interviewees also to introduce the documentary and finish it but most importantly take you through the story being shown. We are not having a interviewer because we thought it might be a bit distracting for the documentary. There will also be voiceover for a part where we will talk for people who didn't want to be filmed or known on camera.

Transmission time / channel / platform

Past watershed somewhere between 8 - 10 pm due to the topic of sex being the underlying subject that is unsuitable to be shown to an audience of under 18 as laws and regulations set by Ofcom.

We will be airing this program on BBC three which is now an online platform.

Target audience

As we are airing this on BBC three we want to meet their target audience which are:

Gender - (mainly) Male

Age - 40 - 45 year olds

Social grade - ABC1

Top regions - west country ( yorkshire, east anglia)   

Have an interest in finance, science, music and entertainment.

Hobbies - photography and being online

Personality - knowledgeable, funny, analytical, self-conscious, disorganised, stubborn.   

Politics - left

Monthly spare -  £125

Online for 26 - 30 hours online p/w

Watches tv for 21 -25 hours watching tv p/w

‘The Birds, the Bees and the Rainbows’ is part of a series of short documentaries looking at ‘Teen Spirit’, commissioned for BBC Three’s online channel. The show is a detailed examination of the representation of gender and sexual identity within modern sex-ed. Modern schools aren’t teaching what they legally should, minimising LGBTQ+ representation to give heteronormative lessons that can have a damaging affect on many young queer people. With a specific focus on the demographic of young, LGBTQ+ people, ‘Birds, Bees & Rainbows’ combines interviews with a variety of people from all backgrounds and beliefs to reflect BBC Three’s usual 16-34 demographic.

Interviews are being conducted with individuals of varying ages, sexualities, genders, backgrounds and beliefs in order to give an unbiased view, get a fuller understanding of our topic and most importantly show that this isn’t an isolated experience.
But as a group we are also targeting teens between 13 - 17 year olds and parents with teens in secondary school as we are looking at the effectiveness of sex education in schools and whether they do or should incorporate different sexualities and gender. We are also targeting all genders and sexualities and though who do not yet know as an attempt to educate and hopefully help people.
This will be a stand alone film but it will have the potential to carry on to be a series if need be.  

The documentary will focus heavily on interviews which can become a little boring and disengaging for viewers. To combat this in an effective and informative way, we’re heading to Brighton to visit a school that is highly reputable for its approach to sex education. Their own sex ed guidelines build on the government curriculum, adding in multiple own guidelines such as: “personal responsibility in all forms of behaviour, including respect and consideration for others regardless of gender, race, religion, disability and sexual orientation;  Opportunities to understand and accept difference and diversity.”