A Birmingham man is developing a short film that looks at the stigma attached to those suffering from schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
Jermaine Pinnock created the educational film help viewers recognise and understand the symptoms of schizophrenia.
The project is being funded by O2’s Think Big, a £5 million programme designed to help young people run projects and campaigns in their local community.
Young people between 13 and 25 can apply for an award for their projects and benefit from a package of training, support and mentoring in areas such as project management, communications, presentation skills and networking.
The 25 year old decided to apply to Think Big after his sister was diagnosed with the illness at a late stage in life.
He used the money from Think Big to purchase a camera to capture the scene for his film, as well as editing software to put the film together.
Mr Pinnock created the film to challenge people’s prejudices against those suffering from mental diseases.
He said, “People don’t really understand what Schizophrenia is and how it can affect a person and their loved ones. A lot of people have preconceptions of mental health and I want to change this. With support from Think Big, I’m on my way to doing this.”
The passionate filmmaker plans to make a feature film called ‘Simple Simon’, leading on from his short film – May Be the Devil, which will focus on creating an accurate, positive and unpatronising on screen depiction of people suffering from schizophrenia.
Helen Parker, Community Manager at O2 commented that the organisation believes in young people and the difference they can make.
She said, “Through the Think Big initiative, we are giving young people cash, training and support so that they can make a positive change to their areas.
Jermaine’s initiative is a perfect example of how nurturing a young person’s idea can create genuine social action.”
