In late August, RTS London invited a panel of Arrow representatives, chaired by Muki Kulhan, to explain how the factual indie did it.
Production executive Carrie Pennifer explained that lockdown had meant no shooting or access to the edit suite, and everyone working remotely. Post-production manager Kyran Speirs had more than 20 unfinished programmes to deliver.
Unprecedented times demand creative thinking. An RTS webinar heard that shows as different as ITV’s Coronation Street, the BBC’s Top Gear and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch have all learnt how to adapt their production routines to keep cast and crew safe in the age of Covid-19.
Nearly nine in every 10 people working in the sector have experienced mental health problems, according to research from The Film and TV Charity, which co-hosted the online event in early June.
“That is significantly higher than the UK population as a whole, where the figure is 65%,” said Alex Pumfrey, CEO of the charity. “There is a much higher prevalence of mental health problems for people working within film and television.”
She added: “More than half of people working in the industry have considered taking their own life.”
The guidelines provide practical suggestions for assessing and managing the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) whilst in production, but in practical terms what are the biggest challenges? How are different departments having to innovate? What is the impact on the finished product? What at the biggest challenges? How are we balancing physical and mental well-being of cast and crew? And what learnings can be shared between productions and between countries?
As TV producers, we’re facing more global competition than ever before. Whenever they wish, viewers can watch one of many programmes from around the world on Netflix or Amazon, rather than one of our shows. Or they can stream or download dozens of feature films available via their TV sets.
I genuinely believe that the best response to this difficult situation is to embrace the creativity of the whole country, and not just rely on Londonbased programme-makers.
Alleycats head of production Judy Wilson kicked off the season with the session, “How to manage a production”. Over almost five years at the indie, she has worked on many projects, including the BBC NI/ RTÉ documentary, How to Defuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story.
Ryan Kernaghan, the director of photography on revenge thriller Bad Day for the Cut, offered a crash course in camera and lightning techniques, explaining to the students in the audience how they should prepare for a shoot.
More than 150 students from 20 universities heard Lime Pictures’ Hollyoaks production team and a panel from Leeds-based factual indie True North give two masterclasses. Both panels stressed the importance of work experience placements as a way in to the industry.
True North development producer Eleanor Wight, editor Luke Rothery and Hollyoaks editor Jake Whiston were all snapped up as a result of successful placements.
This years awards will be presented at a gala dinner held at The National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull on the evening of Thursday 3rd November. Our compere for the evening will be ITV News Central's Sameena Ali Khan.
MIDLANDS AWARD CATEGORIES 2016
Best Promotional Programme
This Award recognises production excellence and creativity in programmes intended either for general or specialised audiences made either for corporate purposes or retail/mail order sale.
They may have promotional, public information, training, educational, entertainment, special interest or other purposes.
They must not have been broadcast other than as an insert to a separate programme
Reviving a much-loved drama series from a less competitive and less knowing TV era was never going to be easy. But everything fell into place for the team that resurrected the swashbuckling period romance Poldark, originally a big hit for BBC One in the mid-1970s.
Even the notoriously unpredictable Cornish weather played ball – and the show went on to spark a media sensation when the rebooted Ross Poldark took his top off.
