Budding film makers from Cleveland College of Art and Design have won a competition that will see their concept used to help end mental health prejudice across England.

Winning students Morag Barber and Samantha Slater are working with North East film production house Jim Knight Media and NHS staff to produce their film, One in Four, as part of a region-wide campaign to help end mental health stigma.

Time to Change - England’s most ambitious programme to end mental health prejudice – ran a competition for advanced TV and media production students at Cleveland College to create a storyboard tackling the issue in a 60-second film.

The students beat off stiff competition from their classmates with One in Four, which touches on the message that 25 per cent of people in the UK will have a mental illness at one time in their life. The story is about four friends doing day to day activities, one of whom has a mental illness, but it is impossible to tell which one has - and the viewer never gets to find out.

Students were inspired to make their film after watching the Time to Change campaign’s challenging promotional Schizo film – a horror movie-style trailer produced to overturn misconceptions that people with schizophrenia are violent.

They were then given two weeks to come up with their own idea for a promotional film and present it to a panel of judges. They included Joe Chidanyika NHS health improvement specialist for mental health promotion in Stockton-on-Tees, Jim Knight former regional television presenter and freelance media producer.

Winning Cleveland College student Samantha Slater said: “We aim to educate those who have hurtful perceptions of people diagnosed with mental health issues. The idea of our film is to show how people with mental illnesses are stereotyped and seen as different when in reality they are just ordinary people. In our film we have four friends seen doing normal everyday things. The point is that you can't tell which one has the mental illness as they are all doing the same things, and viewers never find out.

“We are so excited to have won this Time to Change competition that allows us to work with Jim Knight in producing a professionally made film that holds so much educational importance for the NHS and it is a great career opportunity."

Time to Change director Sue Baker said: “Evidence shows that provocative films make a big difference to attitudes and I’m sure One in Four will go a long way to reducing the stigma associated with mental health problems."

One in Four is currently being shot in various locations across Teesside using professional equipment. It will then be used as an educational resource on the national Time to Change and NHS North East’s You Tube channel.