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Dr Mohamed M. Sirdar
A Creative Proposal
Some drug-resistant microbes are now considered as dangerous as agents once built for war. Two years of global surveillance data show the warnings exist, but too often arrive too late. This is the case for sharing them sooner.
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A Note from Jim
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About Scrolly Science
Scrolly Science is a science communication brand built for researchers, institutions, and mission-led organisations.
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What We Heard
You're presenting at the November congress, where the paper we've focused on is your two-year analysis of ProMED-AMR, ISID's global AMR alert network.
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The Paper
A two-year analysis of ProMED-AMR, a global early-warning network for antimicrobial resistance.
ProMED-AMR is the antimicrobial-resistance network of ProMED, ISID's long-running, internet-based system for near-real-time alerts about emerging disease outbreaks in humans, animals and plants worldwide. It draws on both formal and informal sources, with expert moderators checking each report. Set up in 2020, it is ProMED's newest network and its only topic-based one, and in a short time it has carried thousands of alerts. Your paper analyses two years of that data, 2023 and 2024, to ask what it tells us about how the world reports resistance.
The central finding is the one that stays with you. Across those two years, only about one AMR post in fifty described an actual outbreak. It isn't that the threats are rare; some resistant organisms are now considered as dangerous as agents once built for war. It is that the information moves too slowly, because AMR data is laboratory-generated, has to be pulled together from scattered sources, and is often held back for months or years so it can appear in a formal, peer-reviewed paper. ProMED-AMR shows what a faster, more open channel can do, and the paper makes the case for building early reporting into how this data is shared, in the way preprints did during the pandemic, without taking anything away from the formal publication that follows.
The analysis surfaces two more gaps worth a wider audience. Reports routinely record which antibiotic was used, but often not whether the right one was even in stock, so critical drug shortages go undocumented. And the data is unevenly spread: a handful of countries account for a large share of all reports, while whole regions are underrepresented. These are exactly the kind of structural points that get lost in a citation and land hard in a film. The people who most need to see them will not all read the paper. A 60-second film gives the argument a door into the congress room and beyond.
Paper (IJID): ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(25)00478-3/fulltext
Too Late to Warn
The Script
Written for the 60-second Spark in 60 format, five scenes, and kept inside the package's 135-word script limit. A first draft, built from the paper, and a starting point rather than a finished thing.
Timing
Visual
Voiceover
0:00–0:12 · The hook
A single resistant microbe, rendered with a quiet sense of threat, set against a sober echo of a historic hazard symbol.
Some drug-resistant microbes are now considered as dangerous as agents once built for war. You would expect the world to sound the alarm the moment one appears.
0:12–0:28 · The gap
A vast field of reports. Only a tiny share light up as real outbreaks; the rest sit greyed out, held in a slow pipeline toward a formal paper.
Yet across two years of global surveillance, barely one report in fifty was an actual outbreak. The warnings exist. They are just held back, for months, while the data becomes a formal paper.
0:28–0:44 · The network
A world map comes alive with alerts appearing in near-real-time, posted and checked by experts. Counters rise into the thousands, across a hundred-plus countries.
ProMED-AMR takes a different path. An open, near-real-time network where experts post resistance alerts worldwide. In two years it carried thousands, from over a hundred countries.
0:44–0:54 · The gaps that remain
The map shows bright clusters beside dark, underreported regions. A clinical record appears with a blank where whether the right antibiotic was in stock should be.
It shows what fast, open reporting can do, and where the gaps remain. Whole regions underreported, and often no record of whether the right antibiotic was even in stock.
0:54–1:00 · The close
A calm closing frame. Paper title, authors, journal, and the link to read the full study.
Catching resistance early means sharing what we know sooner. The full study is below.
This script is a first draft, built from the paper. Every word is open for refinement together.
Look and feel
Visual Direction
Spark in 60 works from four established 2D animation styles. For this film, two of the four fit naturally. No images here — the written direction gives you the feel before anything is drawn.
Option 1: Data and Discovery
Recommended
Built for findings and evidence-led stories. The film would make the data move: the global map of alerts lighting up, the share of reports that are real outbreaks shown against the rest, the clusters and the dark underreported regions. Clear and authoritative. Palette: restrained and precise, with the key figures and live alerts picked out in a single clear accent.
Option 2: Typography and Motion
Bold messaging
Built for bold messaging and statistics. The film would lead with the hardest-hitting figures themselves — one report in fifty, the jump in alerts — as kinetic text, with the data visualisation supporting rather than leading. Stronger if the priority is a sharp, shareable piece that lands a single statistic hard.
Spark in 60
What We Will Build
The Spark in 60 package is a single, complete production. Everything below is included.
01 / The 60-second film
Purpose-built 2D animation
Professional digital narration, full sound design and a music bed. Built to present at the congress and to share widely.
02 / Script and science communication
PhD-level writer, up to 135 words
Specialist editorial and creative direction for research communication. You choose the visual direction.
03 / One preview revision
Single consolidated feedback round
A preview before full animation begins, so the film is right before it's finished.
04 / Four-week campaign and report
Promotion across relevant channels
Paid media support, targeted or broad, plus a clear post-campaign report on engagement and performance.
Light on your time
How We Work
Spark in 60 is built to be light on your time, which matters given the congress deadline.
Brief
01
You submit a short brief, roughly ten minutes of your time, and we agree the strongest hook and story from the research.
Script and preview
02
A PhD writer drafts the script and we build a preview. You give one consolidated round of feedback. Total review time on your side is around an hour.
Production
03
We animate in the chosen style, with narration, sound and music. Standard delivery is fourteen days, set to land before the November congress.
Campaign and report
04
The four-week distribution campaign runs, then we send the impact report.
Timing
Why Now
There's a clear reason to move now — and a second that matters more.
What it costs
Investment
The Spark in 60 package is a fixed, all-inclusive price. There is no separate charge for scripting, narration, sound, the campaign or the report.
£970
Spark in 60 package · Total, all inclusive
60-second 2D animation; script (PhD writer, up to 135 words); professional digital narration; sound design and music; science communication input; one preview revision; project management; four-week distribution campaign with paid media support; impact report.
Distribution runs over four weeks — targeted to the congress and public-health community, or broad for maximum reach. We'd agree which at the brief.
What happens next
Next Steps
The next step is yours: take this to your financial colleagues for approval. You mentioned you'd expect their answer within a day or two, and we'll follow up gently at the end of the week to see where things stand.
Forward for approval
01
Share this proposal with your financial colleagues. It is written to be forwarded as-is.
Optional Teams call
02
If it would help to talk through the script, visual direction or campaign first, a short Microsoft Teams call is easy to arrange.
Script tweak if needed
03
If you'd like the script adjusted before you forward it, tell us and we'll turn it around quickly.
Gentle follow-up
04
We'll check in at the end of the week to see where things stand — no pressure, just a clear next step.
Legal
Legal and Commercial Terms
This proposal is prepared for Dr Mohamed M. Sirdar and the International Society for Infectious Diseases, and is otherwise confidential. The script, visual concepts, creative direction, and structural approach in this document are the intellectual property of Animara Studios Ltd until a formal agreement is signed and a deposit received. This document is not a contract or binding agreement. All pricing, timelines, and deliverables will be confirmed in a separate Statement of Work. Animara Studios Ltd operates under English law.
Animara Studios Ltd. Registered in England and Wales. Company number 16074216. 701 Stonehouse Park, Sperry Way, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, GL10 3UT.