Documentary making for Sustainable Summits 2021

Background

Sustainable Summits is an international conference series for sharing solutions on protecting and preserving the world’s mountain regions. The Sustainable Summits conferences are inspired by the growing pressures on our mountain environments, the need to find solutions to the impacts of such pressures, and a drive to uphold the values sustaining these environments. Sustainable Summits 2021 (SS21) was planned to be held in Nepal to showcase the country’s mountain environment, bring international attention to the climate change impacts in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), and to highlight the role of mountains in the lead up to COP 26 in Glasgow in November 2021. SS21 aims to:

• Honour mountain voices and promote understanding of the Himalaya as an “abode of the gods”
• Provide a platform for issues from the HKH region to be consolidated and influence local, national, and international policies – particularly COP 26
• Strengthen tourism in the HKH region
• Learn and share best practices on the themes of the conference (see below)
• Explore opportunities for national and regional cooperation
• Strengthen national, regional, and global networks to share and adopt mountain solutions

Due to COVID 19, however, it is now impossible to hold the SS21 conference as originally intended. Therefore, ICIMOD – in collaboration with the Climate Alliance of Himalayan Communities (CAHC); the SS21 organizing committee; and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) – is planning to produce a series of films covering the same themes, to achieve the same objectives, and to promote the Sustainable Summits message in the region and internationally with a focus on providing an HKH message for COP 26.

Objective

To raise awareness and political support for action to tackle the impacts of climate in the mountains and promote solutions for sustainable mountain development at COP 26

Target audiences

The video should be developed considering the following target audiences:

• Regional and global public – to generate broad support for mountain action
• Nepali public – to support Nepal’s call for action and reliance on mountains and tourism
• Adventure tourism operators and mountain visitors worldwide, including trekkers and mountaineers
• HKH member country decision makers – to promote the HKH Call to Action
• COP 26 policy makers – to influence negotiations

Scope of work

The film production company should produce and assemble the film series using material from the SS21 programme, existing footage, and new presentations and/or interviews with SS21 speakers. This will largely be based on existing footage and voice recordings collected by SS21. New footage may be shot only if necessary. The production work required, in close coordination with the SS21 organizing committee, will include the following:

• Development of detailed storyboards for each 15-minute film and the composite one-hour film
• Identification of footage and usage rights
• Agreement of additional footage and where it will be sourced
• Shooting and sourcing of additional material (only if essential)
• Editing and film production

Responsibility of the production company

• Prepare draft narrative for approval from the SS21 organizing committee, ICIMOD, and FCDO.

• Supply required video footage (b-roll).
• Manage production/editing and deliver videos.
• Produce the final product working collaboratively with the SS21 organizing committee, ICIMOD, and FCDO.

Proposed format

Four 15-minute film programmes are needed – one on each theme (see next section) – which can be edited into a one-hour documentary for distribution by major international TV and channel networks, broadcast as podcasts, and split into small bites for social media. Powerful high-quality visuals with voiceover are preferred rather than “talking heads”, with subtitles/graphs to feature Sustainable Summits 2021 speakers narrating the story in their own words.

Themes

The video should contain the following themes:

• Balancing development pressures (focus on climate change)
• Mountains nurturing communities (focus on livelihoods including mountain tourism)
• Mountains and regional cooperation (big-picture solutions that work)
• Messages for COP 26 (clear messages of what we need for sustainable mountains)

(For more details on the theme, please refer to the annex.)

Approach

The SS21 Nepal organizing committee will oversee development of the film, retain editorial control, and develop the detailed storylines with producers, in close cooperation with FCDO and ICIMOD.

ICIMOD will manage the film production company in close cooperation with the SS21 organizing committee and FCDO.

The SS21 organizing committee will support the production company by contacting speakers (based on the existing virtual conference participant list), arranging interviews, and identifying suitable local HKH narrators/commentators. The documentary will focus on speakers telling their stories through resource material, film archives, and existing personal footage.

The SS21 organizing committee and production company will seek to avoid the need to collect additional film footage as far as possible, given the difficulties of filming during the pandemic. Only footage that is essential to ensure the films are as up to date and capture timely messages (e.g. on the most recent climate events in the HKH or for COP 26) should be included.

In addition, the production company should anticipate that new footage will be provided by participants themselves on non-professional cameras/phones and factor that into the production and editing process.

The SS21 documentary series will be shown at COP 26 as a powerful summary of the HKH messages.

The SS21 organizing team, FCDO, and ICIMOD will also be responsible for identifying and liaising with relevant media outlets for international broadcast/listing of the films.

Skills and experience needed

The majority of the work will be editorial; however, the selected production company must be able to demonstrate:

• An understanding of HKH and climate issues
• Access to existing footage, and ability to film in the HKH
• An ability to remotely direct the collection of new footage (if required given COVID-19 travel restrictions)
• An ability to ensure that local voices are well represented as informed, capable, and proactive and not as passive recipient/victims
• An ability to use footage from a variety of sources (including, where necessary, mobile footage)
• A proven track record of producing broadcast-quality, engaging, and powerful documentaries
• A proven ability to deliver within tight and exacting deadlines

In addition, preference will be given to film production companies with a proven track record of:

• Working with Nepal-based international development agencies
• Connections to international distribution channels (e.g. National Geographic, Netflix, BBC)

Timeline for deliverables

Annex

Themes

1. Balancing development pressures
   Show the impacts of climate change and its stresses on the Himalaya and other mountains. Introduce the science and show what real effects climate change is having on the ground for resident communities and visitors.
   Key message: Vulnerability of mountains to climate change
2. Mountains nurturing communities
   Present solutions by mountain people for mountain people, with climate-smart sustainable livelihood and business examples including tourism, agriculture, and energy initiatives. Show solutions at the local, national, and international scales, from the HKH to Chamonix to New Zealand etc.
   Key message: Solutions are available to tackle development and climate change in mountain communities
3. Regional cooperation
   Show regional impacts, opportunities, and solutions. Highlight practical cross-border actions needed to preserve mountain resources in energy, disaster management, etc. with examples from the HKH, Alps, Rockies (e.g. effects of receding glaciers, erosion/landslide, GLOFs, floods, forest fires)
   Key message: Regional/global action is possible if we work together
4. Messages for COP 26
   Deliver key messages for COP 26 to support solutions on climate mitigation, adaptation, and financing. Feature common messages from communities, spiritual leaders, resource managers, policy makers, politicians, scientists, academics, media, private sector organizations, and business leaders with powerful visuals.
   Key message: COP 26 is the moment for action

The service provider will be selected on the basis of the highest ranked technical proposal (60% weightage) and lowest cost financial proposal (40% weightage).

The service provider will be selected on the basis of the highest cumulative scores obtained in the technical and financial proposals using the following formula:

• Technical score = Score obtained based on technical proposal (total 100)
• Financial score = Score obtained based on financial proposal (total 100)
• Total score = 60% of technical proposal + 40% of financial proposal

The service provider scoring the maximum score based on the aforementioned criteria will be awarded. However, the service provider should score at least 70 points in the technical proposal.

Contents of the technical proposal

Applicants are advised to present their technical proposal in four sections:

1. Technical approach and methodology

In this section, applicants should explain their understanding of the objectives of the assignment, approach to the services, and methodology to produce the video and obtain the expected output.

2. Work plan

Applicants should propose the main activities of the proposal, content and duration, milestones (including interim approvals by the clients), and delivery date. The proposed work plan should be consistent with the technical approach and methodology. The final video to be delivered as an output should be included here.

3. Organization and experts

Applicants should propose the structure and composition of their team, mentioning their qualification and skills. Applicants should list the main discipline of the assignment, the key expert responsible, and proposed technical and support staff.

4. Relevant past experience

Applicants should include the past experience of their organization relevant to this request for proposals. Technical proposals will be evaluated on the basis of their responsiveness to the terms of reference, applying the evaluation criteria and point system specified.