Business media publisher the Financial Times has dropped a new digital-first film this week that explores the lack of regulation and responsibility for children’s welfare. Called Capture, the 15-minute drama features Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker, Paul Ready and Shaniqua Okwok. Produced by FT Film, the show has been produced to coincide with the return of the UK’s online safety bill to the legislative agenda.
Capture is described as “a short film about big tech and young people, beginning with every parent’s worst nightmare: returning home to realise your child is nowhere to be found. It examines where our children really are when they’re online and who is responsible for their safety.” FT editor Roula Khalaf said: “Our mission with FT Film is to bring new attention and perspective to stories already in the news, and Capture asks important questions about an issue that affects a majority of young people.”
The film uses the idea of a child’s disappearance to examine a much more common occurrence. With children spending increasing amounts of time online, they find themselves at risk of a range of mental health conditions and exploitative interactions with other users. The film’s writer, Nina Segal, said: “We wanted to bring an urgency to the subject of children’s safety online. Parents are very aware of children’s physical safety. With this film I hope we can harness that same feeling towards safety online.”
Capture is free to view on FT.com, YouTube, the FT’s social media channels, and freely embeddable. FT Film’s previous drama, People You May Know, received international recognition for tackling the issue of personal data and surveillance.
The director of Capture is Juliet Riddell, head of new formats at the FT. The director of photography is Franklin Dow, who won the Primetime Emmy for his work on BAFTA & Oscar nominated documentary Virunga, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. He also shot von Einsiedel’s documentary Evelyn, and the Oscar winning The White Helmets.
