Eating disorders can affect anyone - the background

This Eating Disorders Awareness Week is all about raising awareness of eating disorders and busting through stereotypes.

We know that when someone has an eating disorder it can affect every aspect of their lives from their relationships with friends and family, to their education or work environment. At least 1 in 50 people suffer from an eating disorder, yet still in 2025, their symptoms can still go unnoticed by those around them. Stereotypes are widespread and lead people to think eating disorders only affect young women.

We want to change perceptions. So, this year we’re targeting people with no knowledge of eating disorders, to let them know that eating disorders can affect anyone - and it might not be who they expect.

How did we develop our campaign?

Once we’d decided on our theme, we started talking to the experts - our lived experience volunteers - to help us shape our campaign. We also launched a survey to gather a wide range of responses from as many people affected by eating disorders as possible.

We had a brilliant response, from 1900 people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

Running through the experiences shared were common themes relating to misconceptions about eating disorders and those affected fearing that people wouldn’t understand what they’re going through or may judge them for it.

Finding our audience

So, we set about building a campaign that was easy to share and engage with, that got our message across to people who weren’t familiar with eating disorders in a quick, memorable way.

We worked with the film production team at Meantime on a concept to highlight the struggles that people and their families face when someone is struggling with an eating disorder.

The Concept

The concept was a collaborative effort from the film production team at Meantime. Initially concepted by Luke Billing:

“I aimed to incorporate several key elements: a swiftly established bond between our main characters to ensure the audience feels invested from the start, a diversion that leads them to believe they know the outcome, and a twist that challenges their preconceptions.

To immediately build a strong relationship between the father and daughter, I lent on my own experience of taking my 7-year-old daughter to her football games. It’s something special that many can relate to across the country. Building on that personal foundation, the goal was to challenge the audience’s preconceptions, so the narrative leads viewers down a familiar stereotypical path. The twist in our story isn’t just a narrative shock; it’s a mirror held up to society’s often narrow view of who can be affected by these struggles.”

”From the initial concept the collaboration between Meantime and Beat really began. With Beat, we tackled sensitivity issues and story tweaks with Director Joe Murray and Producer Kellen Playford revising the script until all parties felt it was strong. Joe then continued to storyboard the film and worked out the stylistic choices needed.”

How it was Brought to Life

By Director Joe Murray:

“One of the biggest challenges was balancing our dual narrative—each scene had to convince the audience the daughter was struggling with an eating disorder while also working for the true reveal, that the father was the one struggling. The actors and I worked together on this until we felt we’d respected and achieved both narratives faithfully. On the camera side of things, we made the choice to use an experimental anamorphic lens setup that subtly channels the visuals to the centre, creating a hopefully beautiful yet slightly tunnelled effect making the viewer feel slightly boxed in.

On a personal level, this film was a difficult one. In my early twenties, I wrestled with some of the same themes explored in the film, and after years of moving past it, revisiting that headspace was tough. But I was open about this with our cast—especially in the final scene, where the father confronts his own reflection. We explored how that moment might feel for him, but also what it would mean for his daughter to witness her father in such a vulnerable state. The cast brought so much of their own vulnerability forwards, and I’m deeply grateful for that. Our hope is that anyone watching can empathise, to feel as though they’re in the room, experiencing it with them.”

Involving those with lived experience

Throughout this process we asked our lived experience volunteers to feedback on each stage. The comments were overwhelmingly positive, with some great feedback to incorporate.

What next?

Throughout Eating Disorders Awareness Week we’ll be sharing our video, highlighting important stats and sharing stories from those who have had an eating disorder or have supported someone with an eating disorder to help spread the word that eating disorders can affect anyone – and it might not be who you expect.

If you have a story to share, we’d love to hear it – share your story.