Just noticed the entire series of America’s Next Producer is on YouTube. If you feel like watching a Reality TV show about people competing to make the next big TV hit then this is it. Reality TV about Reality TV.

This post is not just an excuse to put up a picture of a shiny new Mini Clubman. It could be useful if you are making TV or Web video content and need to hook up with Brands looking to feature stuff in your shows. (After looking up the rules if you’re in TV)

A past example of this would be six advertising partners - including Procter & Gamble -  reportedly paid up to £250,000 each to have their products integrated into the storyline of Bebo’s Kate Modern. It could also include pure sponsorship or the loan of some props, like the car above. BranDirector is a company you should check out as they can help connect you with the goodies as BD’s Oliver White explained to me:

JTV: Please outline what Brandirector does?

We introduce brands and agencies to content opportunities in music, TV, Film, VOD and other media and vice versa.

JTV: When it comes to Web Video some commentators say it’s struggling to meet costs and prove itself as a business model, on the other hand there is a lot of momentum as people turn to get entertainment on the Web, how do you see the market right now?

Marketing and agency people are risk averse at the moment. No one ever got fired for suggesting the client puts an ad on ITV. That will change very soon.

JTV: What is the main problem encountered when content Producers and brands try to get into bed?

Producers have to understand that brands aren’t there to fund his or her project for the fun of it, they want an ROI (Return On Investment). Brands have to understand that the producer isn’t making a commercial for their product.

JTV: Do you need to be a big, massively viewed, content Producer for Brands to be interested in you?

Big audience is always a help, but a small niche audience can be just as valuable. The Shotgun and the Sniper. Both get results.

JTV: How do you see the future of branded content and integration going over the next couple of years?

The rest of the world - it’s the way forward. In the UK we have a government that thinks the audience is stupid and needs to be protected from advertisers. They don’t understand that it’s the brands that pay for content one way or another. They are stuck in another age, interruption advertising. When we get an enlightened government branded content will get big, fast.

Useful link: BranDirector

Getting a job in TV isn’t easy at anytime but with the big changes going on in Broadcasting coupled with the flaky economy - it’s going to get a lot harder. 

Cue a timely book by Elsa Sharp “How to get a job in Television” due for release in the Spring. (Published by A & C Black in conjunction with the Guardian).

Elsa has an impressive CV having worked as a Series Editor, Development Executive, Head of Talent and more recently as a freelance Talent headhunter with clients including Impossible Pictures, Objective Productions, BBC Northern Ireland and North One. 

Jules.tv wanted to find out more about the TV book of the year (I’m not working right now!)  and hired Elsa for a Q. and A.

JTV: Why did you decide to write the book?

Elsa: I was inspired to write the book when I was head of talent at Zig Zag Production. The main part of my role was to recruit people to the company - crew up productions and find key senior creative talent like series producers, producer/directors and executive producers. Though a lot of my job involved nurturing, helping and advising new entrants trainees, runners, researchers. Towards my end of my stint there I was constantly being approached for advice, help and guidance on CV writing, how to write a covering letter, who to write to and how so and thought there was a need for a book.  I wanted to share the experience I had learned the hard way!

I went on maternity leave and as I had some time before the birth I wrote a proposal document for the book and sent it to A& C Black who were interested enough to publish it!

JTV: What are the main topics you cover ?

The book is primarily aimed at new entrants – graduates, undergraduates, runners and researchers. It gives practical advice and tips as well as including profiles of leading industry figures on how they started – from presenter/producer Anna Richardson to Tim Hincks, the chairman of Endemol.

Based on interviews with successful people working in the industry it covers topics such as how to get a foothold in the TV industry and progress – from writing covering letters and targeting companies. Getting Started – Work experience, the seven stages of a CV, the golden rules of interviews including the Do’s and Don’ts, it explains what skills are required to be a runner and researcher and advice on career progression discussing the different roles and what you do as an assistant producer, producer, producer/director and series producer.

JTV: What’s the biggest mistake people make when approaching companies?

Elsa: Not accurately targeting the company or knowing who you are writing to. There’s no point in sending a general email that is the same for everyone.  If you want to work in a certain field you should target the companies you want to work in. You should know what the programmes are, who’s making them and why you want to work in that area. When you write an email you should make sure you address it to the right person without being too familiar and know their work, needs and explain why you are the right candidate. And make sure there are no spelling mistakes or your letter could end up straight in the bin!

JTV: What does it take to start a career in TV and stay in the profession?

Elsa: An absolute love and passion for TV, guts, charm, resilience, tenacity, determination and a healthy dose of luck!

JTV: I am sure some Jules.tv readers can’t wait for the book to hit the shelves so can you give us a quick tip now how to get a job in TV?

Never take no for an answer, be prepared to work hard and have a thick skin!

UPDATE: THE BOOK IS NOW PUBLISHED YOU CAN BUY IT BELOW

FCP Control 1.0 is an iPhone app that enables you to play your Final Cut timeline from across the room using you iPhone and Wi-Fi, You can do things like Play, Pause, Add a marker, set an In and Out but you can’t yet edit. It requires download of the App plus installing Snatch from iTunes and the Snatch Server.

Why bother you might ask?  Apart from it’s cool, if you are an Editor who would like to watch the cut with the clients at the back of the room rather than at the desk it could be handy to control the desktop at a distance, also for clients who want to sit on the comfy leather sofa, take notes and spool through the timeline at their leisure it might be of use. This comes via the creator who is still adding features to it at James N Weber

Check out the coolest of steadicam moves. The above video shows the Camera Operator test his move during the rehearsal for the recent Eurovision Song Contest held in Moscow.

He rides a Segway at top speed towards the stage, leaps onto the stage and continues the move for a few 360’s around the talent, before exiting.

Below is the actual shot broadcast live during the semi-final. You need to spool to 2.40 in.

TV Producer/Director Hannah Springham has come up with a new business idea to connect people making TV with people who want to get their brand, location or expertise on TV.  Even better she’s got support from serial entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones. JTV caught up with Hannah for a Q + A.

JTV: Hannah, tell us about your new business?

I have recently set up a web based business called Get My Business On.TV or www.gmbo.tv. Essentially it’s a one stop shop for TV makers when they’re setting up for shoots; we provide contact details for everything a TV person might need from a groovy bar to film in, a fashion brand happy to lend clothes, a personality expert, a dog groomer, make up artists, caterers, the list goes on . . . It’s very simple to use, built with TV Producers and Researchers in mind who are constantly up against tight budgets and deadlines. 

JTV: How did you come up with the idea for GMBOTV?

It was a no brainer. I’ve been making TV since I was 19 so I knew there was a huge gap in the market. Whenever we make a programme we start from scratch, it takes huge amounts of time to find everything we need. There was nothing universal out there that we all used for pre-production. Now there is. 

JTV: What are the main benefits for people that produce TV?

Saving time and money as well as giving us ideas for new shows by searching listings of experts and services. How many times have you needed to find a bar to film an interview in last minute? I reckon on average if you call a list of 10, at least half will be uninterested or unable to facilitate your needs, a couple may take too long to get back to you and if you’re lucky a couple may say yes. Getting an answer from them all takes time. This is a database of people who are all willing to help instantly.

JTV: Product Placement is a thorny issue in TV right now, are there any problems that could arise from using your service?

We know that Product Placement is illegal and don’t claim that this service is free advertising. TV channels are notoriously strict about showing logos or obvious undue prominence, however there’s nothing illegal about a credit on the show or via the shows website or even getting paid for hiring out your bar for an afternoon. If your business is struggling with the current climate this could be a useful little earner. Either way we leave those negotiations up to the client and the Production Company, we just introduce. 

JTV: How did you get Peter Jones to back you?

I demanded a meeting with the Creative Director, barged my way in really. She liked me and handed me over to Eric White, Peter’s right hand man. I think they invest in a person as much as an idea so we’ve been working on a few TV related ideas. Peter owns a TV Production company so this was something close to his heart. The fact that he entered into this at this present time makes me feel even more confident that i’ve done the right thing.

JTV: How does GMBOTV make money out of this venture? What’s the business model?

It’s very simple. We charge the clients £1000 a year to register (or our special offer of £500 at the moment) and for that they get exposure on our website and become connected to people who may want to use their business for TV purposes. We send mail outs to the industry once a month to keep them posted on who has joined, who has appeared on TV and who might be offering freebies or discounts to us all too. Both clients and TV people will also gain updates through facebook and Twitter too.

JTV:  TV is in a state of flux right now with job losses and reduced advertising revenues, do you think TV people need to be thinking ‘out of the box’ and maybe developing sidelines as back up?

Although things feel a bit up in the air it seems to be mainly drama or sponsored TV that’s being hit, good news for anyone else in TV who is making something else. ‘Cheap’ telly will be in demand and with budgets being lower productions will need things quickly and cheaply. Enter gmbo.tv. Being freelance is always risky, so yes another string to your bow is a great plan. Starting up a business during the recession could be a wise move is you can find a gap where people need help.  

You can register and find out more details about gmbo.tv here.

You can’t beat a good mess up by a Live News Anchor to make you realise why it’s easier to hide behind the camera! Especially with YouTube on hand to turn the outake into a smash hit.

Find out what happens when cheeky Dutchman Max Cornelisse hacks into the the autocue script during a live studio broadcast. Or is this video an amusing fake? You decide.

Green TV is becoming a buzzword right now. Sky TV has just announced a range of measures to protect the environment whilst making Television. These include energy efficient studios, upgrading set-top boxes to automatically go into standby and promoting eco-friendly TV production to Production companies.

One of the methods is sending updates via satellite to their customers set top boxes which will put the boxes on standby mode if it isn’t in action for 2 hours at night or 4 hours in daytime.

The broadcaster says it will save a massive 90,000 tonnes of CO2. At Sky HQ in West London they are building a £233million production centre which will use the heat emitted by the studio lights to provide an air-conditioning system, They are also looking to get the go ahead for two turbines to top up their significant energy requirements.

Sky is encouraging indies via a forum to use energy efficient lighting and reduce the use of tapes in favour of solid state media. They claim the next series of Gladiator will use 35% less energy than the last - that won’t apply to the production team itself no doubt.

Pictured above is Integreatmedia’s  vision for the next generation of camcorders which Designer David created for this site. Introducing the Turbine powered Z10!

In all seriousness, I’m all for going green. Ways I can see this working at the coalface of production are:

• More homeworking during times of pre-production to save using cars, public transport, limos etc.
• Being regularly hooked up via the Web to the Editor who works at home on their own power efficient desktop suite whilst I direct from the comfort of my sofa on my Web enabled Sky TV system.
• Less Coke on shoots, too many cans in the world.

If you have any brainwaves for green TV Production please send me a comment. PS I allow you to link to your online CV.

These days it seems everyone wants to get on TV, this German moggy decided to make a bid for stardom on a live TV weather forecast. No doubt in a few years this feline will show up on Big Brother.

If you are one of the thousands of people looking for a career in TV after college you must watch this Video.

WARNING: Afterwards you may opt to retrain as a debt collector or become a traffic warden for an easier life!

Let’s be straight, this is not because busy TV workers are so overstretched with childcare they are having to dump their kids!

In fact the home for abandoned babies is being set up in Uganda by TV Producer Lucy Buck. In her own words here she describes the mission and the concept behind her Child’s i Foundation:

“We are going to build a babies’ home in Uganda on the outskirts of Kampala for 50 infants, from newborn babies to five years-olds. The home will have medical facilities to help with premature and sick babies and children with special needs.

We will do this in two ways:

To build a “transitional babies’ home” with full medical and educational facilities that provides a safe haven for babies and young children.

To place these children into secure and happy families, giving them something we believe every child has a right to – a loving home.

We will recruit and train a team of Ugandan social workers, and set up a fostering and adoption service with the aim of finding loving families for every one of our children, eradicating the need for them to remain in long-term childcare institutions.

Our Home will provide nursery and pre-school education.

Alongside the home, we will build volunteer accommodation for 12 i-volunteers to provide assistance with the running of the home and local community projects. All profits generated from the project volunteer’s fees will directly finance the home.”

Lucy is using video and Web 2.0 to promote the project (see YouTube Video above) and is looking for filmmakers to volunteer to go to Uganda and film and edit the story of the creation of the new home to distribute around the Web.

Having worked at Big Brother Producer Endemol, they agreed to support Lucy and the Childs i Foundation and offered her £5,000 of kit including a Z1 with a Sennheiser microphone. The London post facility The Farm also helped out with some edit time to get the VT’s rolling.

To find out more about the babies of Uganda and how to volunteer to film for the project please take a look at the Child’s i Foundation website.

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Rule 12.3 in the book of How to be a TV Producer - never lose your cool. It seems no-one 
told this Live News Producer who clearly needs to take a chill pill! Now those of us who work in TV might be wondering how his audio got on air, could this video actually be a fake?

I’m just wrapping up as Producer/Director on Miss Naked Beauty for Channel 4/Maverick TV.

The show is presented by Top Stylist Gok Wan (How to Look Good Naked) along with the lovely Myleene Klass. The first episode is on Tuesday 14th October on Channel 4 (UK) at 8pm. My episode is number 3 and is broadcast on November 4th at 8pm.

As described by the Channel 4 microsite “Miss Naked Beauty is the definitive hunt for a woman who embodies the confidence, sex appeal, spirit, brains and true natural beauty of a modern-day Eve. The show sets out to challenge conventional notions of what is “beautiful” by turning the traditional beauty contest on its head. Forget the fakes and size zeros, the winner of this beauty contest will not only have to possess natural beauty, but also have the brains and balls to tackle some of the uglier sides of the industry.

The series winner not only clinches a coveted title: she has a job to do. She’ll write a regular magazine column to expose the sinister side of beauty and promote the natural beauty message. She’ll also become the face of a revolutionary new model agency with a fresh twist on the typical, stick-thin catwalk clothes horse. Plus, she’ll report back to Gok Wan in the next series of How to Look Good Naked with her discoveries during her year on the job.”

The show has had some great pre-launch press. You can read what happened when the girls first arrived in Blackpool for the auditions here. Also ‘Last Broadcast’ has an interview with Gok about the series here.

Enjoy.

In this Video interview, TV Producer Richard Hall describes the main Production Team roles on a Reality TV Show. The American system is a little different to the UK - the team is bigger and more money is spent on specialised roles, which explains why it’s often so high in production values!

Also the terminology is quite different, in the UK a Runner would be doing quite a lot of menial work from driving staff around to buying Cafe Lattes for the crew - in the US a ‘Show Runner’ is a high level member of the team equivalent to an Executive Producer.

About Richard Hall
Job: Reality TV Producer
Qualifications: The Amazing Race, Nanny 911, Celebrity Fit Club
Summary: Richard Hall has been working in reality television since its emergence as a dominant television genre. He has produced over 50 national prime time shows for networks including CBS, Fox, A&E, TLC and Discovery. He served as a producer for the Amazing Race for four seasons, winning an Emmy (his third) for Season Six. He was also the Supervising Producer for Nanny 911 and Executive Producer of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club. Hall is also a documentary filmmaker.