What is the Big Issue | Big Issue

A comprehensive film talking about The Big Issue, how it works and what it does

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A hand up, not a hand-out

In 1991, John Bird and Gordon Roddick founded The Big Issue, a magazine designed to give a helping hand to homeless people. The concept is simple: vendors buy the magazine for half the cover price and sell it to customers on the street. From the outset, it attracted high-profile cover stars and soon became a publishing revolution with editions all over the world. The Big Issue now has a bank, an online shop and more, all with the ethos of giving people a hand up not a handout. For the first time, The Big Issue commissioned a short documentary about its history, that focused on its continuing relevance. Chocolate Films wrote the script in conjunction with Lord Bird, who narrates much of the video. We filmed with vendors and beneficiaries of the Big Issue foundation, showing the impact of this great organisation.

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The producers at Chocolate Films are available to talk through your project at a time that suits you. They’ll make sure they really understand your organisation and what you’re looking to achieve with video content. Following the discussion, they will send over a detailed proposal for the work you’re looking to commission.

What our clients say

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Culture Croydon
12:37 29 Sep 25
Culture Croydon has had a great experience working with Chocolate Films creating social-first reels and highlights films for our events. The team have been excellent at turning around the content quickly to meet our tight deadlines, and perfectly executing the films to meet the brief.
We worked with Chocolate Films on our rebrand videos and couldn’t be happier with the results. The team was knowledgeable, supportive, and a real pleasure to work with throughout the process. They did an excellent job using video and animation to bring our new brand to life, capturing exactly what we wanted to convey. I’d definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a creative and reliable video partner.
Edward Butler
12:38 08 Aug 25
Chocolate Films helped us with the films for our 10-Year Strategy
and annual Awards. Mary, Lucia and the team did a fantastic job at capturing the look, feel and emotions tied to the events and we were really pleased at how they turned out. They held a number of briefing calls and kept us updated of their progress throughout! Looking forward to working with the team again!
Charlotte Hollinshead
17:43 05 Aug 25
ActionSpace had a great experience working with Chocolate Films, in renting their fantastic studio space for an event and in hiring their excellent camera team for a live stream broadcast. They were welcoming, inclusive, highly professional and sensitive to the needs of our artists. We very much hope to work with them again.
Megan Crawley
15:20 05 Aug 25
At RCK Partners, we use Chocolate Films on a monthly retainer basis. We love working with Chocolate, have fun filming, and the quality of the work delivered is top tier. Super impressed with the service delivered and could not recommend them highly enough to anyone considering! Thanks to Lucia who is our producer!
Rachel Butler
10:14 05 Aug 25
We have worked with Chocolate Films a few times now and they have created some great work for us. They are always professional, great with deadlines and making sure they capture the right tone and content for what you need. I would 100% recommend.
Emma Chisholm
11:34 12 Feb 25
Chocolate films made a film for our small charity and the quality of the product was excellent. They really managed to capture the essence of what we do and that is so valuable to us in recruiting new members and attracting funding. Very easy feedback and amendment process too. Would recommend
Igino Fucci
21:46 23 Nov 24
Chocolate Films workshops are absolutely amazing for my child! The team is so friendly and does a great job of keeping the kids engaged. My child loves learning about filmmaking and always comes home excited to share all the cool things they’ve done that day.
The workshops are really hands-on and encourage so much creativity, which is fantastic to see. My child feels so proud of what they’re creating, and the films they work on always turn out brilliant.

If you’re looking for a fun and creative activity for your kids, I can’t recommend their workshops enough.
Chloe Abbott
21:43 17 Oct 24
We were very impressed by Elton and he was professional and kindly with the children for our photo shoot. Thank you!
Jake Subba Row
11:26 07 Oct 24
Diana Furlong
11:23 07 Oct 24
Any artist or creative who has not wrapped their head around creating unique visual imagery needs to invest some time, effort and energy on this powerful medium which is now taking priority over a business card or website. Even a short workshop like those on offer at Chocolate Films will set you off in the right direction.
Idrissa sailor Koroma
00:36 26 Sep 24