Revenge porn: What making a TV documentary taught me

Pottering in my kitchen in a mildly self-congratulatory state of mind (almost one week of filming down, two more to go) my phone buzzes like a dying fly. 1 new message: Anna Presenter

"Call me. I've been thinking... I should revenge porn myself."

Suddenly, I'm in a very different brain space, juggling an erratic kaleidoscope of half-formed thoughts; is she serious, what will legals say, who is going to take the photos, should her face be in them, how do we upload them, what's the best and the worst that can happen?

I reach for the phone and text: Angela Producer.

"Just had a text from Anna!!! Will forward to you now….Can you talk?!"

What feels like a thousand legal, ethical, practical, creative, schedule-juggling conversations later, I am poised on my living room sofa, ready to witness the very moment it's all been about making happen. Monday, August 17 is here. Our documentary Revenge Porn presented by journalist Anna Richardson is being broadcast on Channel 4 at 10pm.

On first transmission nights like this, I'm usually glued to the TV, trying to imagine I'm an ordinary viewer who is watching the film for the first time. If I ever peel my eyes away, it's to gauge the responses of the other people in the room (in this case, 20 members of crew, friends and family invited to the TX party). I try and read their faces. Are they bored or upset, are they following the story, how are they feeling right now?

But this time, my face reading is futile. None of the production team is even watching the screen. Instead, their eyes are focused downward, on their smartphones, their index fingers moving in a constant scrolling motion as they try desperately to keep up with what's happening on Twitter. #revengeporn. The response is absurd. Twitter has gone bonkers. We are trending. And instead of listening, the crew are reading selections of the best (and worst) tweets out loud.

"Why do these dumb girls send naked pictures & run the risk of getting exposed?

Channel 4 doc demonstrating just how dangerous and scary the internet can be.

Just sensationalist TV.

Anna Richardson, one brave lady!

Where can I find Anna's photos dude? Anyone got them yet?

Take my hat off to Channel 4 and Anna Richardson.Truly harrowing but informative doc.

This should be shown in EVERY school

So disturbing to see women's sexuality turned into something shameful"

A new tweet every few seconds. This is the #revengeporn effect. And I didn't see it coming.

Rewind eight months, to when Channel 4 commissioned us to make the programme. When we started production, revenge porn was not a criminal offence in Britain and the idea was to make a film following the campaign to ban the practice in the UK. Revenge porn is what happens when someone shares an intimate or sexual photo of you, for malicious purposes, without your consent. The message we wanted to communicate was clear - this practice is awful and should be banned! But before we shot a single frame, the legal landscape suddenly changed and it was announced that revenge porn was to be made illegal in Britain.

My first thought was thought "Wow! That's amazing" closely followed by "so what's our story now?"

We decided we would make a film that raised awareness around the new laws and explored the revenge porn phenomenon from a 360 degree perspective, in the most impactful way possible. To lead us on the journey, we needed a presenter who was not afraid to tackle tough, controversial subjects. Enter Anna Richardson. With several series of C4's The Sex Education Show under her belt, Anna knew how to speak to a young audience, had a reputation for totally immersing herself in whatever she was doing and tackling tricky subjects like aterrier on a rabbit trail. Deal done!

The more we researched, the more we realised how frighteningly multi layered revenge porn is. The angry ex who betrays your trust and posts your naked photos on social media is just the start of the story. Beyond that, there's a whole industry that stands to profit from a victim's "shame". Worldwide there are thousands of ad-sponsored sites specifically designed for hosting revenge porn photos. Details of victims' social media and email accounts are posted alongside their naked pictures and viewers are encouraged to leave offensive, abusive comments. Threats of rape and extreme sexual violence are commonplace. The vast majority of victims are women.

We knew that these victims' experiences were the heart of our story. We approached and consulted with many more than feature in the final film. All of these who spoke with us showed great courage but the victims who agreed to appear on camera were, to my mind, extraordinarily brave. These were women who had been betrayed and purposefully humiliated by someone they once loved and trusted. Their dignity, reputation, self-esteem, even their personal safety had been compromised. Yet here they were, willing to risk being identified and vilified all over again (the nature of the internet is that your photos could re-emerge at any time) to raise awareness and help others who might be facing the same trauma.

We also knew we had to speak with perpetrators, to hear them explain what motivated them to revenge porn someone in the first place. After months of negotiation two eventually agreed to take part one man, one woman - both had posted intimate photos of a lover and a friend online. Whilst I can never sympathise with or condone what they did, I respect that they agreed to appear in the film. It's easy to hide away when you have done something wrong. Not so easy to go on camera, tell the world about it and face the potential consequences especially when everyone on social media are free to voice an opinion about you.

So now our storyboard was filling with vivid shapes and colours. Filming began. But still, we didn't have a central narrative or a sense of the big picture; of why and how this kind of online misogyny spreads like wildfire and is circulated way beyond the two people whose love turns sour. Our victims and perpetrators experiences and motivations were personal but revenge porn is a global phenomenon. We needed to demonstrate how hideously fast, furious and forever the revenge porn effect can be. But how?

That night when my phone buzzed, 1 new message: Anna Presenter, we found the answer.

Anna would post her own naked photos on a revenge porn site along with a fake name, fake email and social media account and we would film whatever happened next. Within a few days, Anna's photos were viewed by over 43,000 people and received a barrage of abusive comments. Within a week, they had had mysteriously disappeared from the site. A few days later, Anna was emailed by someone who had seen her photos and was trying to make contact directly. In Anna's words, this was "stalker territory".

Today, two weeks after transmission, the tweets are still rolling in. Ironically, Google's billboards at Old Street roundabout London have been reading "Today the UK is searching for Revenge Porn" (What have we done?). Within hours of the programme being broadcast, tens of new victims called the Revenge Porn Government helpline to report abuse and numbers of calls hit record highs.

I may not have seen it coming but the #revengeporn effect is still resonating. Long may it last.

Amanda Rees is the director of 'Revenge Porn'.