When you need to show the real impact of your work, documentary video gives you the space to do it right. It goes beyond surface-level messaging, capturing real people, real stories, and the moments that matter. Whether it’s documenting a community project, showcasing a company’s journey, or telling a personal story that deserves to be heard, this format brings authenticity to the forefront.
At Turps Film, we create documentary content that captures truth, builds empathy, and leaves a lasting impression. These aren’t just polished promotional pieces. They’re real films about real people shaped with care, crafted with purpose, and designed to resonate.
We’ve worked on documentaries that chart progress on funded projects, celebrate creative work behind the scenes, capture the human impact of public services, and explore how organisations make a difference. Whether you’re looking to mark a milestone, fulfil reporting requirements, or simply preserve a story worth telling, we bring the same attention to detail and storytelling to every film.
Documentary videos can take many forms. From brand and company stories to social impact films, observational pieces that follow a creative process, a construction project or cultural initiative. Some are short and sharp, others are slower paced and reflective. What connects them is their ability to connect with viewers on a deeper, more emotional level.
This kind of content can support everything from funding applications and legacy reporting, to audience engagement and internal communications. It can live online, screen at events, or be shared with stakeholders who need to see the bigger picture.
Filming documentary-style means listening closely, moving intuitively, and knowing when to let a moment breathe. We understand how to work sensitively in live environments, build trust with contributors, and shape raw footage into compelling, visually rich stories.
If you’re looking to document a journey, showcase your impact, or tell a story that needs more than 30 seconds and a punchy tagline, documentary video gives you the space to do it properly and memorably.
EXAMPLES OF OUR DOCUMENTARY VIDEO PROJECTS
Concordia was a project funded by the Paul Hamlyn foundation. Our client needed a documentary style video the benefits of the programme in a way which satisfied the funding criteria. By recruiting Turps Film to document the programme at regular intervals, we were able to capture the progression of the participants from start to finish. By the end we were able to show funders EXACTLY why Concordia was a vital programme that hugely affected a child’s confidence and achievement.
Little Inventors is a creative education organisation that teaches children to get inventing! Pioneers was a programme funded by the arts council which asked young people to come up with inventions all around the theme of energy. Turps Film interviewed the participants at regular intervals during workshops right up until COVID-19 pandemic struck. The project was quickly rejigged to make the most of remote and self-shot content. In the end we were able to capture a documentary piece which highlights the significance of the work that Little Inventors are doing, in terms of building a child’s confidence and encouraging a career in STEM.
Child Friendly Cities and Communities (CFC) is a Unicef UK programme that works with councils to put children’s rights into action and at Newcastle City Council are one of the first four local authorities in the UK to join forces with Unicef to become a Child Friendly City. We were approached by Newcastle City Council to create a documentary- style film which showcases why Newcastle Upon Tyne was chosen as one of the first cities to be named a Child Friendly City.
We were asked to collaborate for a documentary project focused on Ann Cleeves, the esteemed author of the best-selling Shetland & Vera novels which have been successfully adapted into a hugely popular TV series on ITV. Vera is set in the North East and is filmed in a number of notable, and less notable locations across the region so Ann’s books have seen a resurgence in popularity. The film touches on her love of the North, her experiences, and life as a writer. Rather than a text interview, the video brought a more digestible and interactive way to learn about Ann and how she developed the character and story for her Vera novels.
