People have to see themselves in a story for it to resonate with them. So it’s no wonder that decades of health promotion activities around the globe have failed to get people of colour to change their behaviour and adopt healthy habits. Not only have organizations been using boring, statistically-based materials like pamphlets and websites instead of stories, but even when they do use stories, they’re either poor quality or not culturally relevant. If you want to compete with big advertisers like McDonalds and Coke to get people to change, you’re going to need a kick-ass story that sticks.

Shyam Valera and Kashif Pasta, founders of Dunya Media, figured this out way back in high school after seeing the power of visual storytelling to move people during the 9-11 disaster. That’s when they decided to focus their careers on making high-quality, compelling stories about people of colour, like their South Asian community, to help them live healthier lives. Through their most recent campaign that featured a film about a Punjabi grandmother struggling with a diabetes diagnosis, they generated some impressive impact. Their engagement rates were 17 times the industry average. Plus most viewers learned something new about diabetes, changed their diet or adopted new exercise routines. 

In this episode, Kashif and Shyam take us behind the scenes to explore their simple and powerful approach to making culturally relevant films that don’t cost a fortune, and share their passion for purpose-driven storytelling to change the world. 

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