Reporting the Developing World

Parachute Pictures is a unique international media agency of researchers, journalists and film-makers who are dedicated to reporting Development Issues in our One World.

Looking for compelling, inspirational stories behind the numbing headlines of poverty and exploitation, we concentrate on Human Rights, labour rights, children at risk, health issues, such as HIV/Aids, war and civil-strife. Parachute’s fundamental aim is to use the power of the international media to build understanding and action for the people of the so-called Developing World.

Wherever possible, we portray our characters as strong, remarkable survivors and not hapless victims.

We work in close partnership with many leading NGOs and international trade unions, among them: Amnesty International, the International Labour Office (ILO), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). Our mainstream broadcast media clients include the BBC and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, ABC and CNN in the United States, France 2, BRTN in Belgium, RTE Eire, Swedish Television, NRK Norway and satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera International.

Campaigns

Working principally in Africa, Latin America, South Asia and South East Asia, we have initiated and led many international media campaigns highlighting child labour (“Angels with Dirty Faces”), HIV/Aids (“Highway of Hope”), social cleansing and judicial impunity (“Colombia: Getting Away With Murder”) and extreme exploitation of undocumented migrant workers (“Murder at Sea”); to name some of our documentary films.

Parachute has an outstanding record on getting these pressing issues and stories on to the mainstream media agenda.

To maximise media impact – and enhance further given aims of organisational branding, advocacy, fund-raising and education – Parachute also embraces cutting-edge New Media technology through websites, quick-time Webvids, virals and straight-to-broadcast YouTube.

Many of our media campaigns have led to real and lasting change in the lives of ordinary people. For example, our exclusive exposure of the widespread use of child labour in the football-stitching industry in Sialkot, Pakistan – a massive media hit on the eve of the 1996 Euro Football Championship, and again before the 1998 World Cup – was the catalyst for a slew of international programmes to combat child labour in sporting goods.