NSW Government launches new coercive control campaign via Entropico

Following eight months of research, strategic planning, and creative development with Entropico, the NSW Government has launched a campaign to raise awareness and promote understanding of coercive control. The campaign will also support upcoming changes to NSW legislation that introduce an offence for coercive control.

Coercive control is when someone repeatedly hurts, scares, or isolates another person to control them, and as a very serious issue, Entropico knew that bringing the right creative approach to the campaign would be an immense challenge.

Says Timothy Burnett, team lead and executive producer, Entropico: ‘Coercive control is a really tricky and complex subject. But more often than not, having strict creative obstructions can lead you to unique places. The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) team did some amazing research, consultation and testing, and the campaign ended up being quite simple, but powerful and moving. Getting the right balance between informative and engaging is something at the core of everything Entropico does.”

Leading the creative and strategy from Entropico was Tom McMullan and Camille Bui Viet.

Says Bui Viet: “Post #MeToo, we’ve seen a mass revisiting of cultural moments in film and media through a new, more enlightened lens. We’re now looking back on our own experiences and questioning, was that behaviour ever really love?

“Our creative approach highlights this contrast between the perceived love and actual abuse in order to assist the audience to identify coercive control in their own experiences, as well as the relationships around them.”

Says McMullan: “Coercive control is insidious. It hides in plain sight. And because it’s a pattern of behaviour that varies case to case, it can be difficult for victim-survivors to pinpoint exactly what’s happening to them. These films aim to communicate what coercive control feels like, and help people experiencing it (or observing it in others) make a clear distinction between love and abuse”

Entropico’s various teams worked across the project from the pitching and strategic phases, all the way through to post production.

Says Burnett: “Being able to bring on the production and post production team early is something really unique with this offering of Entropico. We had the whole production team diving into script adjustments and changes very early on. This set the creative up for a real win, as we weren’t developing scripts that couldn’t be executed, or had to be dramatically adjusted later for budget reasons.”

Entropico brought on Charlotte Evans to direct.

Says Evans: “As a woman and a mother of two young girls, I feel extremely passionate about this campaign and have been fortunate to work with a passionate and talented team to pull this together. The challenge with these scripts was that from a legal standpoint, we needed to show that coercive control always comprises a pattern of behaviour, so we needed multiple behavioural examples over different time periods. Creatively I wanted to ensure that the campaign felt authentic and relatable as well as subtle but intentional all within 25 seconds. To be able to be part of a campaign that helps people recognise their or others’ current situations, has been an incredible achievement.

CLIENT: NSW Department of Communities and Justice

CREATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY: Entropico

CREATIVE:
ECD / EP: Timothy Burnett
CD: Camille Bui Viet
CREATIVE STRATEGIST / CD: Tom McMullan
ACCOUNT MANAGER / RISK: Andrew MacAlpine
ART DIRECTOR: Tessa Westerhof
PRODUCER: Maddison Costello
PRODUCER: Gus Kennelly

PRODUCTION & POST PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR: Charlotte Evans
PRODUCER: Maddison Costello
DOP: Grégoire Lière
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Michaela Le
1AD: Kate North-Ash
1AC: Tom Rolfe
2AC: Alexander Mayo
GAFFER: Matt Willis
BEST PERSON: Craig Knight
GRIP: Mark “Moose” Abrahams
GRIP ASSIST: Scott Parsons
H&MU: Cherry Cheung
ART DIRECTOR: Ella Butler
ART DIRECTOR: Emma White
ART DEPT ASSIST: Samuel Russo
ART DEPT ASSIST: Pat Rickshort
ART DEPT ASSIST: Nell Ferguson
STANDBY: James Cox
STYLIST: Laura Bracken
STYLIST ASSIST: Annie Lewis
LOCATIONS MANAGER: Garrett Robinson
PROD ASSIST: Hewett Cook
PHOTOGRAPHER: Cybele Malinowski
PHOTO ASSIST: Ben De Kok
DIGI OP: Maddison Woollard
INTIMACY COORDINATOR: Shondelle Pratt
UNIT MANAGER: Janna Richert via The Production Unit
ANIMAL WRANGLER: Suzanne Richards at Action Animals
EQUIPMENT: The Front
EDITOR: Andrea Chen
EDITOR: Charlotte Evans
ONLINE EDITOR: Ange Scott
SOUND DESIGN + MIX + COMPOSITION: Rowan Dix
DESIGN: Tessa Westerhof
DESIGN: Bridget Leigh
ANIMATION: Oliver Eather
VFX: Tom Spiers
COLOURIST: Alina Bermingham
CASTING: Daniel Berini at Wayward Creative

STARRING:
Kat Waller
Orla Saphron
Haylee Rivers
Deepka Ratra
Clayton Moss
Esmee Bocking
Jessica Melchert