Hollywood actress Kate Winslet lends voice to anti-bullying film ‘Daisy Chain’ via Protein One

Award-winning writer and director Galvin Scott Davis has released the sequel to his anti-bullying app ‘Dandelion’ with the launch of a new film voiced by Academy Award winning actress Kate Winslet.

Davis developed the project with his company, Australian digital agency, Protein One. The project was also assisted by Screen Australia, following the success of Dandelion.

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Daisy Chain is an inspirational, magical anti-bullying project that will be released in conjunction with National Bullying Prevention Month (NBPM). Winslet has put her voice to this story of a little girl that doesn’t fit in.

Daisy Chain tackles the global issue of cyber-bullying by telling an original Tim Burton-like fable about a little girl named Buttercup Bree who falls victim to nasty posts from shadowy bullies… until she discovers that her love of Daisy Chains unlocks a power that will bring light to the darkness of the playground.

The story is being released as a free animated film online, with the interactive app and book available for purchase. Embracing the spirit of the book’s message that ‘sharing is for caring’, the makers are donating 20% of all app and book sales of Daisy Chain in October to PACER, the founders of NBPM.

The first book was written after one of Davis’ sons was bullied and he could not find an adequate creative story on the book shelf to help him discuss the topic with this son. The incredible response that Dandelion had globally encouraged him to write Daisy Chain to tackle the subject of Cyber-bullying.

Davis took a chance and sent the book out to his ideal choice for the voice of the book… Kate Winslet. Incredibly, Winslet responded to the story, herself a victim of bullying, and leant her beautiful voice to the story. Not only is Winslet one of the world’s most respected and recognised actresses, she is also a passionate advocate against the way people are judged by how they look. Daisy Chain captures this message and captured her attention.

When recording, Davis had the opportunity to relay an incredible story of fate to Winslet. Twenty years previous, they had met on the set of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet where he had told her that one day he would create his own stories for audiences. Winslet’s last words to him were, “My advice would be, never give up”. And twenty years on, his tenacity and passion to never give up on the story saw them work together.

Dandelion had become the #1 Book App on the App Store, won the New York, London and Sydney Design Awards and awarded Best in iTunes 2012 by Apple among other accolades. Davis wanted to use this momentum to dove-tail into a side of bullying that is worryingly on the increase and find a way to help young children understand the impact of cyber-bullying. Having seen the positive effect that the first story had on people around the world, the opportunity was to give parents and children a larger opportunity to discuss bullying. In a way that was accessible and optimistic.

Agency – Protein One

Composer – Hylton Mowday

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