Social licence is the informal permission a community gives a project to operate. It isn't written down anywhere and no regulator issues it, but most energy and infrastructure companies have seen what happens when it's missing: objections, delays, angry meetings and headlines.

Video won't create social licence on its own. Nothing will except the project's own behaviour. But the right video, made the right way, helps people see what the project is doing, and the wrong one can set it back months.

What towns want to see

People they know

Local contractors, local apprentices, the local member of the community reference group. A face from the main street means more than any number of executives in hi-vis.

Local benefit, shown, not claimed

Not "hundreds of jobs", but the apprentice from the next town who got a start on the project. Not "community investment", but the footy club's new lights and the people who use them. Specific beats general.

The impacts, stated plainly

Trucks on the road, noise during construction, the change to the view. People know these are coming. A project that names them, and says what it's doing about them, looks like a project that can be trusted.

Follow-through

The single most powerful thing a project can show is that it did what it said it would. A video six months later that says "you told us the school bus route was a worry, here's what we changed" does more for social licence than any launch video.

What towns don't want to see

Stock footage of somewhere that isn't here.
Corporate language about "exciting opportunities".
Drone shots and music with nobody talking.
Locals who were clearly told what to say.

Who should make it

Someone who understands regional towns and the energy sector both. Filming in a small community is different from filming in a city: people know each other, word travels and a crew that treats locals as props is remembered for the wrong reasons. A crew that turns up, listens and treats people with respect becomes part of the project's reputation too.

We're based in Gippsland, at the centre of Victoria's energy transition, and we make community video for the projects being built around regional towns. See our community engagement work or get in touch.