Local Film Team Brings Powerful Mental Health Message to BC’s Construction Community

The campaign’s purpose was clear: to support mental health, substance-use awareness, and harm reduction in BC’s construction community.

3/3/20254 min read

When the Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA) approached us to collaborate on their Tailgate Toolkit campaign, we knew it was an opportunity to create something meaningful. The campaign’s purpose was clear: to support mental health, substance-use awareness, and harm reduction in BC’s construction community — a sector where conversations about well-being are often the hardest to start.

Our task: tell a story that felt real. No actors in hardhats pretending to care — but an authentic portrayal of what many workers actually face, and the hope that help is within reach.

👉 thetailgatetoolkit.ca

Crafting the Creative Vision

From the very start, our team wanted to create something cinematic, raw, and emotionally honest. The concept developed around a single morning on a construction site — a moment of quiet that opens a window into the main character’s struggles.

Opening Scene

As the sun rises over a job site, a pickup truck sits idling in the early light. Inside, a construction worker grips the steering wheel, eyes distant. The hum of light construction sounds, blended with faint early morning atmosphere — the calm before the storm.

Flashbacks: The Weight of Everyday Life

Through a series of flashbacks, we explore the pressures many tradespeople face behind the scenes — the crying baby in a dark bedroom, the closed bathroom door on a child’s birthday, the argument over unpaid bills, and the haunting sound of an ambulance leaving a job site.

Each moment builds in intensity, both visually and sonically, layering together until the noise becomes overwhelming — representing how easily the stress and pain can spiral out of control.

The Turning Point

Then, silence. Back in the present, the worker still grips the steering wheel — until his supervisor gently places a hand on his arm. The noise fades. He can finally breathe.

Resolution

The supervisor hands him a Tailgate Toolkit pamphlet. The two sit on the truck tailgate, talking quietly as the camera fades to the closing line: “Tailgate Toolkit. Free resources at your fingertips. A message from the Broadcasters of BC."

This visual story became the emotional anchor for both the TV commercial and its companion radio spot, each adapted to deliver the same message of empathy, connection, and hope.

Production: Real Locations, Real Emotion

We shot this piece on Vancouver Island, using authentic construction environments, local homes and real-world lighting to maintain a sense of honesty and grit. The production team approached every detail — from casting to camera movement — with sensitivity to the campaign’s tone.

Performance direction focused on subtle, genuine emotion rather than dramatization.
Sound design became a storytelling tool — the overlapping noise of life stresses giving way to silence at the moment of support.
Color palette shifted from cold, muted tones in the flashbacks to warmer, more natural light in the present, mirroring the message of finding hope and grounding.

For radio, the adaptation carried the same emotional cues through layered soundscapes — construction sounds — and a strong, steady voiceover guiding listeners toward help.

Broadcast Reach: A Province-Wide Impact

After production wrapped, the Tailgate Toolkit campaign was broadcast for a full year across 61 radio and television stations throughout British Columbia.

These stations are operated by eight major ownership groups, including:

Corus Entertainment
Pattison Media
Vista Radio
Stingray Radio
CHEK Media
South Asian Broadcasting
(and several independent regional broadcasters)

This province-wide distribution — supported through the BCAB Humanitarian Award — allowed the message to reach the very people who needed it most: construction workers, site leads, and their families in communities big and small across BC.

Lessons Learned

This project reminded us why we do what we do.

Storytelling can save lives. When handled with honesty, even a 30-second spot can open space for empathy and awareness.
Visual and audio storytelling work best together. What you see and what you hear should both move the audience emotionally and guide them toward action.
Collaboration is everything. Working with VICA and the Tailgate Toolkit team was a true partnership — grounded in purpose, trust, and shared vision.
Reach multiplies impact. Creative storytelling matters most when it’s seen and heard widely — which this campaign achieved.

Moving Forward

At Volare Media, we’re incredibly proud of how this project came together — from the first storyboards to the final on-air moment. It stands as a testament to the power of thoughtful storytelling and meaningful partnerships.

The Tailgate Toolkit campaign is more than just a commercial; it’s a call for understanding and compassion within one of BC’s hardest-working communities.

If your organization has a story that deserves to be seen, heard, and felt — we’d love to help you bring it to life.

🎥 Watch the campaign and learn more: thetailgatetoolkit.ca

— The Volare Media Team