Creative Outpost Brings the Sound of Domestic Abuse Awareness to Life for Women's Aid

Soho/Noho-based boutique post-production studio Creative Outpost has contributed to Women’s Aid’s impactful new campaign featuring educational film, The Monster Who Came to Tea, which was launched to coincide with International Women’s Day 2025. The campaign’s aim is to pressure the government to re-evaluate funding for domestic abuse support services ahead of the Spring Spending Review. It highlights the realities of domestic abuse for women and children and will be shown across cinemas, online social platforms, and in Sixth Form schools and colleges.

Creative Outpost worked on several key aspects of the project including audio, grade, clean up and comping the animation into the live-action pages. The film’s sound design was created in Dolby Atmos, with a poignant voiceover performance from Bad Sisters and Shameless actress Anne-Marie Duff.

Dave Robinson, Creative Outpost’s head of sound, shared his thoughts on the project, “This has been an immensely rewarding project to work on, and I’m grateful to have played a small part in helping to draw attention to such a vital subject.”

From an audio perspective, the film provided Dave with an exciting opportunity to experiment with sound and create a cinematic atmosphere that matched the growing tension throughout the story. Drawing inspiration from the incredible animation, he set out to create a soundscape as wide ranging and emotional as the visuals, jokingly describing his approach as “Pixar meets Peter Jackson’s King Kong.”

One of the key factors in achieving the right sound was the film’s musical score, which Dave found particularly inspiring to work with. He noted that the composition was broad and dynamic, and he was careful to create sound design that complemented it, building a steady intensity from start to finish while avoiding any clashes between the music and sound effects.

One of the most creative aspects of the process was Dave’s hands-on work with the monster’s voice. To achieve the perfect vocalisation, Dave recorded himself making various noises in the booth, pitching them down for the monster's friendly introduction. When the monster’s tone turned darker, he used a combination of layered sounds—dogs, tigers, volcano rumbles, and more of his own recordings—to create a performance that was both menacing and complex. This careful layering brought the monster to life in a way that added depth and intensity to the final piece.

Dave noted the mix required delicate attention, particularly in balancing the deep frequencies in the final scene. “It’s certainly one of my favourite mixes,” he said. “A huge thank you to the team for the opportunity to work on something so special & important.”
Women’s Aid is determined to bring the underfunding issue and the failing of women and children subject to domestic abuse to the forefront of national conversation. To support the cause by signing its open letter, please visit here.

Creative Outpost is a boutique post production company offering full service Picture/Audio Studios and end to end post production.

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