Worker co-operatives are taking the lead on a film to celebrate co-operation

Worker co-operatives are celebrating Co-operatives Fortnight by creating a short film on what it means to be a co-operative.

Worker co-operatives are celebrating Co-operatives Fortnight by creating a short film on what it means to be a co-operative.

The film is a collating footage from all types of co-operatives across the UK. The initiative is part of the promotion behind Co-operatives Fortnight that aims to show how co-operatives are “local, loved and trusted”.

To participate in the project, co-operatives had to send 20 second videos in which they explain what they do and what they think of co-operatives.

The Media Co-op then compiled this footage to create a final video. The idea behind this project was to bring co-operators together in a joint effort to promote the co-operative enterprise model.

A worker co-operative, The Media Co-op has been involved in other user generated projects before, including the finale video for Co-operatives United last year. With this collaborative film, they hope to enable co-ops from all over the UK to reach a wider audience.

Paul Cameron, Digital Media Manager at Media Co-op says he was delighted with the positive response they have received from co-operatives across the UK. “We want the message to go out,” he says, referring to the aim of the collaborative film project.

Co-operators tried to show their support for co-operative values and principles by printing and cutting out hearts on which they write “local”, “loved” or “trusted”.

They were also asked to come up with a word of their own that would describe co-operatives. The word was written on another cut-out heart. Some popular word choices have been “future”, “ethical”, “fair”, “inclusive”, “co-op to co-op”, “helpful”, “unique”, “education”, “solidarity”, “wonderful” and “community”.

The Media Co-op is also using the best captions and sending out postcards from movies that co-operators will be able to post.

“We wanted to make it manageable, easy and fun. And there have been a nice variety of shots,” says Paul. He adds that co-operators tended to be creative individuals, which meant the videos sent in were innovative and original.

The Media Co-op had set up a target of 35 responses, but overall more than 40 co-ops have signed up for the film project. The final version of the film will be released during the Fortnight. The filming project was organised by Co-operatives UK, and sponsored by Scotmid Co-operative and Chelmsford Star Co-operative.

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