RTS East

The East of England’s TV industry faces unique challenges and opportunities. I sat down with Charlie Gauvain, Managing Director of Eye Film in Norwich and Vice-Chair of RTS East, to discuss these dynamics and shed light on the region’s achievements and the hurdles it must overcome.

The East of England has seen less commissioning activity than areas such as the North East and South West. The situation is particularly dire this year. “There’s a lot less commissioning than there’s ever been,” says Gauvain.

The Drama award was awarded to She Hears Crying and the Factual prize went to Under the Blanket, both made by teams of students from Norwich University of the Arts.

She Hears Crying was praised by the judges for a “strong central performance and engaging narrative”, while Under the Blanket was “very engaging, with huge twists and great use of flashbacks”.

A panel from Norfolk Screen, RTS East and Tin Can Post, a Norwich-based post-production house, discussed how best to attract investment into the region, how to support local film and television students and how to encourage homegrown talent to stay on the patch.

Once the preserve of petrol heads, Formula 1 has become a hugely popular television sport. On the eve of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, an RTS panel – featuring experts from three broadcasters – discussed how the motor sport has found its va-va-voom.  

His Emmys were for Presumed Guilty, an exposé of Mexico’s judicial system, and The English Surgeon, which follows a neurosurgeon working in Ukraine’s Soviet-era hospitals.

His first film took him to Haiti to help make a documentary about the country's first free election in 30 years. “On the morning of that historic election, we discovered 23 people had been massacred in a school voting station,” recalled Smith.

The Goldmark Film Ron King - Alphabets, Bandits and Collaborations was nominated for RTS East Award for Best Factual Programme 2020.

Thomas has had a busy few years filming Daisy Goodwin’s period drama Victoria for ITV, Harlots for Hulu – and, more recently, Lisa McGee’s (Derry Girls) new thriller, The Deceived, for Channel 5 in Northern Ireland.

More than 30 industry professionals and students gathered to make connections and chat over a drink.

Old friends and new talked about the growing production landscape here in the East of England. Businesses that have relocated from London to Norfolk spoke about the tremendous opportunities available to them and their clients, including reduced costs, lower environmental impact, and great locations and facilities.

The centre will be showcasing what the region has to offer in events throughout the year, and we’re very much looking forward to working with our new contacts.

The early November event was held against the backdrop of an exhibition, hosted by the StoryLab research institute – “Storytelling in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” – which offered a useful means of exploring traditional and new forms of storytelling across existing and new platforms.