BAFTA

The UK television production sector is constantly changing. An expert panel discuss career decisions, offer creative insight into their craft + businesses, chat about what drives programme-makers to set up their own companies + what really happens when you go it alone.

Featuring: Roanna Benn (Joint Managing Director, Drama Republic), Jago Lee (Co-founder and Managing Director, NERD TV), Melanie Leach (Chief Executive, TwoFour Group), Richard McKerrow (Chief Executive and Chief Creative Officer, Love Productions), and Jamie Munro (Joint Managing Director, Greenbird),

Chaired by Chris Curtis (Editor, Broadcast). Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 21 May 2015.

In this month’s Guru, Spooks star Peter Firth talks us through the differences acting for the small screen + the cinema screen, and the audio team at Creative Assembly, makers of Alien: Isolation and Total War: Warhammer, tell us how they make games sound cinematic.

In this month’s Guru, Spooks star Peter Firth talks us through the differences acting for the small screen + the cinema screen, and the audio team at Creative Assembly, makers of Alien: Isolation and Total War: Warhammer, tell us how they make games sound cinematic.

Focusing on production craft, members of the Studio Lambert team talk about the show’s inception and development and its crucial casting, to represent the cross-section of British society. How do they agree which television programmes are watched and reviewed each week? How labour-intensive is the shoot and edit to prepare the show for each Friday night? How do they work to keep the cast engaging for viewers, and what do they look for when introducing new faces? This is the inside track on the TV hit which is making Britain feel great...

Featuring Tania Alexander (Director of Factual Entertainment, Studio Lambert), David Glover (Head of Specialist Factual, Channel 4) and Lucy Whelan (Casting Producer). Chaired by Amy Raphael. Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 9 May 2015.

Focusing on production craft, members of the Studio Lambert team talk about the show’s inception and development and its crucial casting, to represent the cross-section of British society. How do they agree which television programmes are watched and reviewed each week? How labour-intensive is the shoot and edit to prepare the show for each Friday night? How do they work to keep the cast engaging for viewers, and what do they look for when introducing new faces? This is the inside track on the TV hit which is making Britain feel great...

Featuring Tania Alexander (Director of Factual Entertainment, Studio Lambert), David Glover (Head of Specialist Factual, Channel 4) and Lucy Whelan (Casting Producer). Chaired by Amy Raphael. Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 9 May 2015.

Focusing on production craft, members of the Studio Lambert team talk about the show’s inception and development and its crucial casting, to represent the cross-section of British society. How do they agree which television programmes are watched and reviewed each week? How labour-intensive is the shoot and edit to prepare the show for each Friday night? How do they work to keep the cast engaging for viewers, and what do they look for when introducing new faces? This is the inside track on the TV hit which is making Britain feel great...

Featuring Tania Alexander (Director of Factual Entertainment, Studio Lambert), David Glover (Head of Specialist Factual, Channel 4) and Lucy Whelan (Casting Producer). Chaired by Amy Raphael. Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 9 May 2015.

So, you are serious about developing a career in television and full of ambition to step up to the next level. What are the key attributes required to progress and what core skills should you have in this multi-skilled world of TV?

The expert panel includes Ian Critchley, Independent Talent Consultant, currently at Sony Pictures Television, Charlotte Reid, Executive Producer and Director, Factual Entertainment, Discovery Networks International (Too Ugly for Love, Katie Hopkins: My Fat Story), and Steven D Wright, TV Producer and Broadcast Columnist (Body Language Secrets, How to be Famous, Bush Pilots). Chaired by Joe Godwin. Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 9 May 2015.

Good research skills are the backbone of TV. As part of the role, researchers develop programme ideas, are fact checkers, find contributors and locations and source archive material. A good researcher can quickly establish rapport with key members of the production team and potential contributors... and become indispensable. The panel is made up of emerging talent in this area who tell it like it is, as well as execs running a team who will offer advice on how to stand out.

Featuring Hannah Keep, Casting Producer/Assistant Producer, The Garden (24 Hours in A&E, Saved), Michelle Matherson, Talent Executive, Shiver (Come Dine with Me, For the Love of Dogs, 56 Up), Joe Smith, Assistant Producer, Blakeway (Dispatches), Neil Smith, Creative Director, Betty TV (Bear’s Wild Weekend with Stephen Fry, Country House Rescue). Chaired by Laura Mansfield. Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 9 May 2015.

The all-important credit you have been aiming for - director. How do you get a production to trust you to take the step up to direct your first hour? There are not as many opportunities out there, with magazine shows on the wane, so it’s tricky to get your first break. Should you stay at one company for a while or is moving around and adding credits the best route? A panel of new and established directors talk to us about their trajectory, key elements to their success, and insight on how they approach their craft.

Featuring Vickie Ager (Desi Rascals), Olly Lambert (Syria: Across the Lines), Steve Smith (The Graham Norton Show), and Marc Williamson (The Last Chance School). Chaired by Emma Morgan. Recorded at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on 9 May 2015.

Access-led documentaries are all the rage, with viewers hooked to the “behind the scenes” view of airlines, hospitals, magazine houses, retailers, schools and call centers. Producers are now taking it a step further, accessing trickier territories such as a courtroom for a murder trial or dealing with bolder issues such as paedophilia. Creating these shows is about trust and building relationships, with both contributors and institutions. What’s the best approach and what are the challenges? What if a relationship breaks down during the process? How should sensitive or difficult subject matter be handled both during production and on screen?

The panel includes Nick Holt, Olivia Lichtenstein, Dan Reed, and James Rogan. Chaired by Lorraine Heggessey. Recorded at BAFTA 195 on 9 May 2015.