2 women die from domestic violence every week. Women’s Aid wanted to drive awareness of this issue, which even in the modern world is largely ignored and perceived as something that tends to happen in lower income families. On a minimal budget (21K) we decided to make a film that would provoke maximum thought and talk on the subject across social barriers.

We enlisted the help of Britain's premier film talent - Joe Wright (Atonement) directed 'Cut,' and box office queen Keira Knightley starred as a victim of domestic violence, supported by a crew of 50. We generated £500,000 of exposure through a free PR campaign, distributed film posters nationwide, placed teasers in cinema media space, which all directed people to a microsite where they could watch the film and make a donation. A week later, we showed the film, for free, in cinemas.

At the time of writing this the campaign is only a few days old, but within a week of launch it has been watched over 500,000 times on the microsite and YouTube, and donations have been raised considerably.

To create national buzz and gain maximum impact we needed to launch through a national PR campaign. We led with the news hook that Keira Knightley was brutally beaten up in a domestic violence film for Women's Aid and sold in exclusives with a TV channel, a broadsheet, a tabloid, a monthly women’s magazine, a weekly women’s magazine and trade press. We followed up with sell-ins to national and regional newspapers, TV news stations, weekly ‘celeb’ magazines, radio stations and trade press with both a news hook and analysis pieces. All of the PR, alongside nationwide film-style posters, directed people to a microsite where they could watch the film and make a donation. A week after the microsite's release, we released the film in national cinema chains (for free).

We’ve had coverage in most national and regional newspapers and news channels, a double page spread in Glamour and Women’s Own, a discussion on GMTV and radio interviews. The story was the most read entertainment story on the BBC News website and so far we have an estimated AEQ of over £500,000. Within 6 days the film had over half a million hits on the microsite and YouTube and there’s been a considerable increase in on-line donations to Women’s Aid. And the debate continues not just on a national level but on a global level with coverage in America, India, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Korea….