How to Turn One Subject Area into Ten Programme Ideas

By TV Mole ⋅ January 4, 2009 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅  2 0 12 21

 

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Do you think that some subject areas are off limits because you develop TV programme ideas within in a certain genre? Do you avoid a specialist subject because you think it has already been covered? Are there some subjects that are so unfashionable that they can’t be done on TV? You could be missing a trick.

Commissioners are always looking for ’fresh’ take on a subject – so give them what they’re looking for. All you need to do is find a neglected subject area and bring it up to date, or put a new twist on a well-worn idea and your proposal will catch the eye of a commissioner.

This could mean applying a competition format to a specialist factual subject, or introducing a presenter into an environment usually associated with an observational documentary approach.

For example, consider anthropology. Sounds dry, doesn’t it?

Focus on tribes, and it gets a bit more interesting - but we still don’t know what the programme might look like.

Now imagine working up a proposal for a particular channel - this forces you to apply some limitations to the subject. Different channels have different audiences, tone and programme styles. What works on one would flop on another (or never get commissioned). These constraints force you to be more creative when thinking about your subject matter, especially if, at first sight, it doesn’t seem like a natural fit for your target channel.

Even better, one subject can be spun a number of ways, giving you several ideas for the price of one.

Here’s how nine producers have tackled the subject of tribes (from documentary through fact ent to reality):

The Tribe in the Picture – 1×60’

Essential Film and Television / Nat Geo

Essential’s founder Richard Wawman and director Ben Young search the Amazon for a previously unknown tribe who were photographed firing arrows at a passing plane.

Tribe6×60’

BBC Productions/Discovery Channel on BBC2/Discovery (as Going Tribal)

Bruce Parry, a former British Royal Marine, spends a month living with six remote tribes, interacting with his hosts and participating in their rituals.

Living with the Tribes: The Adventures of Mark and Olly 8×60’

Cicada Productions / Travel Channel

Explorers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds travel deep into the West Papuan rainforest to live with the remote Mek tribe.

Tribal Wife 6×60’

Diverse / BBC2

Six British women give up their comfortable lives to experience life as a tribal wife in some of the world’s remotest tribes in Tanzania, Namibia, Ethiopia, Panama, Indonesia or Namibia.

Return of the Tribe 3×60’

Tigress Productions / Five

Donal McIntyre guides six members of a Papua New Guinean tribe on a visit around Britain. During their two-week trip, they experience their first snow and master the art of the snowball fight.

Meet the Natives 3x 60’

KEO Films / Channel 4

Five men from the South Pacific island of Tanna travel to the UK to meet and explore the culture of three strange tribes: the working class, the middle class and the upper class.

Fat Men Can’t Hunt 4×60’

Cheetah Television / BBC3

Eight clinically obese men and women spend three weeks living in the Kalahari desert with the Ju’/ Hoansi people. They are only allowed to eat what they harvest, hunt and kill themselves.

Last Man Standing – 10×60’

BBC Productions / BBC3, aka Last One Standing, Discovery, USA

Six hardcore athletes compete in extreme sporting events with the remotest tribes on earth.

Survivor 15×60’

Castaway Television/ CBS

Competition reality show where members of different ‘tribes’ compete in a number of challenges to win immunity to being voted off the show by other tribe members. The last survivor wins $1million.

I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!15×60’

ITV Productions / ITV. One series aired on ABC in the US

Ten D-list celebrities live together in the jungle without luxury and on meagre rations. The audience votes which celebrity must undertake a stomach-churning bush tucker trial in an attempt to win food for the group. The series is stripped across three weeks (one show every night) on several channels and online. Celebrities are voted off one by one until one is crowned King or Queen of the Jungle.

There are, to borrow Russell Brand’s phrase, other tribe shows available – feel free to shout out with any glaring omissions (and visit Russell’s interactive website to rifle through his drawers).

Get more development and pitching tips in Greenlit: Developing Factual/Reality TV Ideas From Concept to Pitch

http://www.tvmole.com/2009/01/how-to-turn-one-subject-area-into-ten-programme-ideas/

"The Knowledge" by Anton Califano (Produced by Louisa de Carvalho, ManifestoNYC)

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SMALLS FILM FESTIVAL 2012 Excitement builds… Hold your hats as The Smalls Film Festival 2012 is fast approaching! Over the last seven years our film festival has grown from a 2-day showcase of short films screened on video iPods, all the way back in 2006, to a 5-day extravaganza of film screenings, panel discussions and master classes, with the involvement of some of the leading innovators in independent filmmaking today. While we may have grown bigger and expanded our reach, our dedication to unearthing the best of the world’s short film creators has remained steadfast. With this in mind, our festival would not be complete without a showcase of our latest discoveries in filmmaking talent. Hundreds of films were submitted to compete for top nods in the categories of Comedy, Drama, Documentary, and Music Video. From a selection of incredible entries our esteemed judging panel, including: Elliot Grove (Founder of Raindance Film Festival), Scott Horscroft (VP of A&R Labels, EMI), Derek Thorne (Director of One World Media) and Steve North (General Manager, Dave & Gold at UKTV), has determined which films will be included in this year’s program. Documentary THE HARDEST FIGHT by John Hicks KERI’S TAPES by Rory Alexander Stewart THE BUBBLEOLOGIST by Jan Bednarz SHELTER – A LOOK AT MANCHESTER’S HOMELESS by Michael Staniforth OIL & WATER by Gemma Atkinson NO PLACE LIKE HOME by Gemma Atkinson THE KNOWLEDGE by Anton Califano UK UNCUT by Gemma Atkinson Sept 21st, 6:30PM The Smalls Presents: Official Selection, Documentary (Screening) We are honored to present some of the world's best documentary short films, as chosen by The Smalls and our esteemed judging panel, at this unique screening during The Smalls Film Festival 2012. When our judging for the festival is complete, we will announce the films selected and the screening venue for this event.  http://www.thesmalls.com/festival/about

Watch the "Postcards from East London" films here:

Visit the Postcards from East London website here:

http://www.postcardsfilms.com/pages/intro.html

SHOOTING PEOPLE "FILM OF THE MONTH" COMPETITION

The following films funded by the Eastern Edge Film Fund, which is one of the Film London Borough Film Funds, are taking part in September's Film of the Month competition on Shooting People - a network of independent film creatives. This month's competition is being judged by Danny Boyle (Oscar winning filmmaker and artistic director of the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony).

HOW IT WORKS

The top 5 films which get the most votes in the First Round go through to the final round with 5 other films selected by Shooting People. In the Final Round the votes go back to zero and the top 3 will be judged by Danny Boyle, and a winner selected. Only Shooting People members can vote, but it won't hurt to take a look at the films if you haven't seen them yet and you are not a member!!

Each of these films was Executive Produced by Anton Califano, working with each of the filmmakers throughout the process of script development, production and editing to help develop their talent.

Here are the films:

"Walk Tall" by Kate Sullivan

https://shootingpeople.org/watch/111256/walk-tall

"Moments" by Ida Akesson

https://shootingpeople.org/watch/111255/moments

"The Promise" by Luke Losey / Maverick Litchfield Kelly

https://shootingpeople.org/watch/111252/the-promise

"Knock 'Em Dead" by Danny and Andrew Baxter

https://shootingpeople.org/watch/111253/knock-em-dead

Some good advice from Raindance about working with distributors

http://www.raindance.org/site/10-ways-to-make-film-distributors-hate-your-guts

Some good advice from Raindance about filmmakers and festivals:

http://www.raindance.org/site/16-things-film-festivals-hate-about-filmmakers

SHOOTING PEOPLE FILM OF THE MONTH COMPETITION - AUGUST 2012

Vote for "Still Life" or "Angel Alley" in FINAL ROUND

"Still Life" is a short film funded by the Eastern Edge Film Fund and Exec Produced by me, directed by Nelson & Kuvera Sivalingam.

"Angel Alley" is one of my Postcards from East London one-minute films.

Both have been voted through to the FINAL ROUND of film of the month on Shooting People.

View the films and vote here:

https://shootingpeople.org/filmofthemonth/leaderboard

My "Angel Alley" 1 minute Postcards from East London film made with choreographer Alesandra Seutin is currently a contender for Shooting People's film of the month!!

The top 5 go through to the final round, judged by Plan B!

Feel free to click and add a few more votes to it if you like it!

https://shootingpeople.org/watch/110312/angel-alley-postcards-from-east-london

Eastern Edge Film Fund film "Still Life" directed by Nelson Sivalingam & Kuvera Sivalingam is currently in 1st position on the Shooting People film of the month competition, which this month is being judged by Plan B!!

Watch and vote for the film here:

http://shootingpeople.org/watch/110315/still-life

1. 
   

Postcards from East London

ANGEL ALLEY

The site of the oldest Anarchist bookshop in the world. The shop is located somewhere between KFC and Whitechapel gallery. This location is a hidden back alley of revolutionary history and protest. But where will it lead us?

Angel Alley from Jo Parkes on Vimeo.

QR codes for Postcards from East London films, try them out!

Devons Estate

Angel Alley

Whitechapel Market

EASTERN EDGE FUND FILM WINS AWARD AT FILM LONDON BoBs AWARDS 2012

"Stop" directed by Paul Murphy, and produced by Mark Downes has won a Special Mention award at the Film London 2012 Best of Borough Awards. This builds on the success in 2011, when the Eastern Edge Film fund won the Jury Award, Audience Award and two Special Mentions. "Stop" was Executive Produced by Anton Califano.

More information here:

http://filmlondon.org.uk/news/2012/july/winner_of_best_of_boroughs_film_awards_announced

Devons Estate

Postcards from East London film, directed by Anton Califano

Here is the first of my "Postcards from East London" films Devons Estate:

A typical estate in Bow. Less than a mile to the London Olympic site. It looks like many other old housing estates. Are they all just the same, or can they be unique?

DEVONS ESTATE - CLICK HERE TO WATCH FILM

Please post this postcard film to your friends and family.....

In 2012, MobileDance and East London Dance came together to deliver Postcards from East London, with teams of artists based in east London and four different community groups from the area. Each community group worked with a different schedule - some meeting once a week for two months, others working intensively over three or four days. The teams had only three hours to shoot each film. 

The result is nine contrasting short films revealing different viewpoints on this vibrant, diverse and rapidly changing part of east London.

The project was funded by High Street 2012, a programme to enhance and celebrate the ribbon of London life that connects the City at Aldgate to the Olympic Park at Stratford in the year of the London Olympics. Postcards from East London was part of Big Dance 2012 in the London 2012 festival, the culmination of the cultural Olympiad.

A recent "vignette" made for ManifestoNYC.

LDN Vignettes: The Knowledge from Manifesto NYC on Vimeo.

Walk Tall  - director Kate Sullivan (Exec Prod: Anton Califano)

Great to see the BFI supporting this short animation doc, funded by the Eastern Edge Film Fund

Winner of Special Mention at the Best of Borough Awards 2011

Click on the link below to see the film:

http://thespace.org/items/e00004tg

A film I edited called "The Middle Men", directed by the very talented Meghan Horvath is going to be on TV in Australia this Wed evening. If you have ever wondered what being middle-aged means to men these days, then give it a watch (providing you are in Australia!). If you are a middle-aged man and not yet ready to admit it, then see if you recognise yourself!!

Wednesday 30th May @ 10 pm

The Biography Channel

Australia 

Here is the link to the television listing: http://www.biographychannel.com.au/featureddetail.aspx?ID=1298

And a link to the film's website: www.themiddlemenfilm.com

Click below to watch my new "vignette" made for Manifesto NYC:

http://www.manifestonyc.com/vignettes/the-knowledge

Great to see the BFI showcasing one of the Eastern Edge funded Films:

Watch Kate Sullivan's "Walk Tall" here if you haven't seen it yet. Share it!!

http://thespace.org/items/e00004tg#

Monday 7th May 2012 @ 6pm Night @ Rich Mix, London , E2

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Eastern Edge Film Fund films have previously been nominated and won these awards!

The nominations for this year's awards will also be announced on the night!

http://limelightawards.com/may7th.html

Vimeo Awards 2012

Some very beautiful films:

https://vimeo.com/awards/vote/documentary

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Crowd-Funding your Next Film

Plan to crowd-fund your movie or documentary on Kickstarter or Indie-gogo, eh?

Well before you do, arm yourself with the difference between the two platforms: Kickstarter is what I call “Reno on steroids.” It’s an all-or-nothing crowdsourcing platform for artists, entrepreneurs, and filmmakers to raise a targeted sum of cash within a delineated period of time, usually a month to a month-and-a-half. If you don’t hit the mark, you don’t keep the cash and all your efforts – usually a month to 45 days – is for naught.

IndieGoGo? Similar to the ‘Kick, but more of a “consolation prize” (at least in the States) for crowdfunding, in that you can raise partial sums of pledged cash for a higher withholding amount (9% as opposed to 5% if you raise your target), but without the cachet of Kickstarter which is a serious proof of concept for filmmakers.

Here are 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Crowd-Funding your Next Film (on any platform under any circumstances!) if you plan on it all going off with nary a hitch, Mitch.

1.   Don’t crowdfund for a ridiculously high sum if you’ve never done it before:
I see this happening way too often (at least three times since I’ve been PMDing)…first-time crowdfunders who peg Kickstarter targets at exorbitantly-high targets – somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000-60,000 – when they’ve never proven their bona fides at crowdfunding before, believing their totally awesome project to be so amazingly popular and obvious to the universe that the target will be a breeze to nail. Unless you’ve been vetted by journalists or have a stack of alarmingly positive testimonials or reviews or have amazing A-List cast or talent attached – in which case you , wouldn’t be crowdfunding, would you? – then don’t be too big for your britches and think a several thousand ducat target is a foregone conclusion, bub, because you may be in for a chilling surprise.

2.   Don’t start crowdfunding before you’ve got your crack team assembled for the 30-45 day assault on Precinct 13:
Crowdfunding isn’t about one person, her/his keyboard, a few tweets on Twitter sprinkled with some Facebook Status Updates, friends. It isn’t about sitting back on your laurels and waiting for the pledges to come rolling in, either, just because your project is so alarmingly ab-fab. It isn’t about a few sign-ins per week, monitoring your campaign’s progress from the Admiralty, and hoping for the best. Make sure you’ve got a stalwart team of staff or interns – including yourself, if you’re the filmmaker, that is – that will man the machines throughout the duration of the entire push – especially towards the final stretch in the final week – so stay on top of those tweets by updating pledgers and prospects how close your target is within reach, and to thank everyone personally and uniquely for their contribution.

A good example I’ve used before is (within 140 characters):
SoMe | Tales From A Social Media Expert | http://thep.md/GJveTY | @loren1938 (Loren Feldman) | Yes, Loren’s #crowdfunding! or SoMe | Tales From A Social Media Expert | http://thep.md/GJveTY | 64 BACKERS | $4,812 RAISED | 12 DAYS LEFT.

As many hands-on-deck as you can bring aboard early on is best. Paying these people can be as simple as offering them a percentage of what’s raised provided the target is reached (if we’re talking about Kickstarter). You can incentivize the team in other ways too, like offering them meaningful film “producorial” credit.

3.   Don’t expect people to pledge just because you hang a darned shingle over at Kickstarter or IndieGoGo:
With the number of projects crowdsourcing today (egs. asking for feedback/ideas/design opinions and advice, let alone crowdfunding), the space has become astonishingly competitive! Potential donors are becoming inured to the constant appeals for cash and filmmakers (or other artists and business owners crowdsourcing) are being compelled to up the ol’ ante in terms of what they’re offering in return. Also, in certain European jurisdictions, there’s a huge disconnect between, say, filmmakers asking for cash from the public and the expectation of the public has about how it’s the government’s responsibility to pay for things like marketing and distribution or providing a film’s post-production budget. Crowdfunding has made significant inroads in the US/Canada/UK/Australia, but in other jurisdictions there’s still a huge gulf which needs crossing.

4.   Don’t ignore your audience for weeks on end after inception:
Here’s another thing I see too often: filmmakers set up a campaign, go through the meticulous schmoo of crafting devilishly excellent pledge rewards or premiums, devoting two full days to pump the stuffing out of the campaign’s existence on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and elsewhere, then proceed tocompletely ignore their audience for weeks afterwards, expecting their campaign to pretty much run on its own stones from that point onward. Doesn’t work that way! Consider crowdfunding akin to the relationships you cultivate in your life: if you don’t nurture them and give them the requisite attention they deserve, they atrophy and die. Check in several times a day with your audience (especially those who have already pledged) and be thankful as all get-out that you’re even able to raise, say, $5,000 of extra funds you never would have had in the first place…

5.   Don’t forget to include a revolving slew of engaging extra-diagetic materials to keep your audience engaged throughout the month+:
Filmmakers who have played the extra-diagetic game well (stuff related to your film but not your film itself, egs. interviews, behind-the-scenes, location reccies, etc.): Gregory Bayne and Loren Feldmanwith their campaigns for JENS PULVER | DRIVEN, BLOODSWORTH: An Innocent Man, or SoMe | Tales From A Social Media Expert. In Bayne’s case, he generally likes to run his campaigns tight and risky at a maximum of 30 days, but somehow always pulls through in the clutch because his publikumloves him. Loren’s in the midst of one now, but can boast of an equally magnetized audience.

6.   Don’t offer been-there-done-that conventional has-been pledge rewards:
I see this happening way too often also…filmmakers don’t invest the requisite time to think up really cutting-edge pledge perqs. Remember, it’s the great films which get distribution, not merely the “good” ones. Instead of the usual $10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 5,000 reward tranches, offering up silly premiums like “associate producer” (which is basically a monkey credit in this business), try a limited edition hardcover copy of the film script in limited quantity (say, 20), bound, embossed, and signed personally by the director, cast, and crew which has a shop value of $100. There are dozens more examples where that came from. But the idea is that you should do your research first by seeing what’s already out there, then crank it up several notches. Take another couple of weeks – a month even – to cook up excellent rewards before you release a half-baked campaign to your public, because you won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. You’ll have already shot yourself in the foot. And don’t believe me? I’ve seen it happen three times before where people thought they knew better than the market…

7.   Don’t leave comments ignored for too long:
If someone pledges and then takes the time to leave behind some kind remarks (again, Kickstarter), respond to them immediately and directly. Attempt to do more than simply “thanks for your support, Jack!” type reply. Up the ante and personalize it, okay? It will leave a superb impression and shows you’re on top of things instead of  throwing your weight around, sense of entitlement-style.

If a crowdfunding campaign is imminent but you haven’t launched yet, why don’t you take the weekend to rethink those pledge rewards and test them out on a few people in your local community before releasing them to the world. Don’t deep-six the effort before it even begins!

http://raindancecanada.com/2012/04/7-mistakes-to-avoid-when-crowd-funding-your-next-film/

B3 TalentLab 2012 - now calling for applications TalentLab is back for 2012! This year, we are partnered with the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund, University of Nottingham’s Horizon/ Mixed Reality Lab, and the Binger Filmlab. We are looking for Black, Asian and minority ethnic artists and filmmakers based in the UK, with short or long form film, digital art, or transmedia projects, to take part in a series of development labs. If you get through to the final stage, you'll get substantial development support, a development bursary, and the chance to pitch to a room-ful of invited industry experts and potential funders at BAFTA before the end of the year. Join us at www.b3media.net/talentlab for our live online launch event, Thursday 10th May from 7-8pm. We'll tell you about the scheme during our live video, give you some more detailed insights, and interview some past B3-funded filmmakers and artists live. We will also take your questions and answer them on the spot. If you still have questions about your individual project after the session, you'll have the opportunity to touch base with us afterwards to talk one-on-one, ahead of your application. Click here for more information, to read the guidelines, FAQs, and to apply online. If you've still got questions after reading these, drop us a line at studio@b3media.net.

This competition looks interesting!!

You enter a script you can win £4000 cash prize.

Look at this:

http://bathfilmfestival.org.uk/awards.html

Well worth entering!!