The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs did not want to explain basic income support. It wanted to show it: with real people, in real job centers, from Osnabrück to Chemnitz.
The result is a series of ten films and two short versions for social media. They run on sgb2.info, the platform of the SGB II service center, and speak to the professional audience: job centers, providers and everyone who puts the citizen's benefit into practice every day.
| Client | Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, SGB II service center. Produced via neues handeln AG |
| Scope | Ten films plus two short versions for social media |
| Locations | Halle, Chemnitz, Paderborn, Börde, Mannheim, Osnabrück, Nuremberg, plus two events and one trade fair |
| Running times | 2:21 to 4:04 minutes, social versions 45 and 90 seconds |
| Publication | sgb2.info, SGB II service center |
Standard rates, case numbers, quotas. Only nobody experiences a reform that way. People experience it in a conversation at a job center desk, in the company that hires someone, in the week when a person signs an employment contract for the first time in years.
That is where we filmed. Every location got its own film, because every region has its own situation. What carries in Chemnitz works differently in Mannheim. So the films claim no nationwide truth. They show specific people in specific places, and the sum of them creates the picture.
Before every shoot came the conversations: with the job center, with the people involved, with the companies. On this subject, accuracy decides credibility. Anyone who confuses responsibilities and funding routes loses the professional audience in the first sentence. And anyone who is merely correct reaches nobody. The films have to do both.
Single assignments turned into a collaboration spanning several years. The BMAS approves every film itself, and afterwards the people in front of the camera see it a second time and can object.
In over six years of working together, not a single change to the content was needed after approval. For an institution that has to answer publicly for every sentence, that is the number that counts.
Where do the films run?
On sgb2.info, the platform of the SGB II service center. The audience is the professional community: job centers, providers and specialists who put the citizen's benefit into practice.
Why one film per location instead of one film for all?
Because the situation differs from region to region. A film covering every location would stay general. Ten films show ten concrete situations, and job centers recognize their own work in them.
How did approvals work?
The BMAS approves the content. Afterwards the people in front of the camera see their film once more and can object to statements or images.
Who was the client?
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs through the SGB II service center. The commission and invoicing ran through neues handeln AG.
Are the films available as short versions?
Yes. For Osnabrück and Paderborn we produced additional social versions of 90 and 45 seconds.
