Peat worked as a producer at several Bristol-based indies before moving to National Geographic, where she is now Commissioning Executive Producer at Nat Geo International Channel. “Once I joined the channel and got inside it was a little bit Kafkaesque, because it’s a really big organisation and there are a lot of departments.”
ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall talks transforming the business, integrating ITVX alongside linear broadcasting, growing ITV Studios and why they invest in shows like Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
She also shares some good news for indies: as the ad market recovers, so does their commissioning.
Executives from Sky, Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company and Paramount debate their approaches to production, streaming, and winning audiences and subscribers.
Speakers: Cécile Frot-Coutaz – CEO, Sky Studios and Chief Content Officer, Sky
Andrew Georgiou – President & MD, Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe
Nami Patel – Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, The Walt Disney Company EMEA
Sarah Rose – President, Channel 5 and UK Regional Lead, Paramount
For one of the most powerful programme chiefs in the UK, Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content for Sky UK and Ireland since June 2019, wears his authority lightly. He is responsible for a portfolio of services that includes Sky Atlantic, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries and Sky Arts. He has helped to nurture such hits as I Hate Suzie, Gangs of London, Bulletproof, A Discovery of Witches, Save Me, In the Long Run, Breeders and Brassic.
“Never write with a filter – thinking about what ‘they’ want you to write.”
“Love the one you are with.”
“Don’t be a wanker.”
These were some of the good-humoured but sound pieces of advice on offer from established writers at the inaugural one-day RTS Story Conference, which was packed with informative sessions featuring some of the biggest names in UK television.
In a TV landscape where it's harder than ever to get eyeballs on your programmes, how have commissioning and scheduling evolved to meet the challenges of new platforms, greater competition and a changing audience? And what does the future hold for commissioning and scheduling strategy in a world of on demand viewing? In this session we hear from industry leaders, revealing the secrets of the modern commissioning and scheduling relationship, and how it influences what ends up on our screens.
Panellists:
Commissioning Editor Lee McMurray, Series Director James Kayler, Story Producer Phil Krstic, Casting Producer Emma Pringle and Researcher Izzy Garvan discuss the making of Married at First Sight UK.
In this RTS Thames Valley session, each stage of getting a script on TV is explained, from how to come up with an idea to the commissioning process.
Chair:
Lyndsay Duthie, CEO, PGGB and RTS TVC Committee
Panellists:
Chloe Seddon, Head of Development, Parable Films
Bianca Gavin, Head of Production, Pulse Films
Karen Redfern, Post-Production Supervisor, (To Olivia)
Dee Allen, Company 3/Method Studios / No Chiefs
Written by Roger Goldby (The Durrells) and Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly), Finding Alice focuses on Alice (Keeley Hawes) as she navigates grief, love and life following the death of her husband Harry.
Harry’s sudden accidental death happens not long after him and Alice move into their newly finished dream home and he falls down the stairs.
His death sparks a storm of secrets, mess, debt, suspicion and criminality, which Alice must confront in order to survive.
The series gives unprecedented access, granted by Glasgow High Court, to a high-profile murder trial that has gripped Scotland and solves a 20-year old disappearance.
The exclusive access documented suspects Edward Cairney and Avril Jones as they faced trial for the murder of Margaret Fleming.
When a Personal Independence Payment application – a welfare benefit for someone with a disability – was submitted in 2016, suspicions were raised when authorities couldn’t contact the claimant.
