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Stories from the Studio

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This category contains 9 posts

Phillip Schofield, David Cameron and THAT List

By Shu ⋅ November 9, 2012 ⋅ 4 comments

Otherwise entitled, The Production, The Presenter & The Press Part 2 (part one is here!). Was Phillip Schofield to blame for the way in which ITV’s This Morning programme handled the interview with Prime Minister David Cameron? I won’t rehash the details – they are available all over the Internet if you want to [...]

A lesson in looking after guests on TV & Radio

By Shu ⋅ February 9, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

After reading a previous post about dealing with the myriad problems that pop up when working in TV, writer Jean Buchanan sent me this true story. It is such a great illustration of how best to help an anxious guest that I asked to share it with you all. If you are a runner, a researcher - in fact anyone who may find [...]

Stories from the studio: “What does he know?”

By wanttoworkintelevision ⋅ June 17, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

Someone who works in television sent in this true story – anonymously of course..… ‘I think the problem with telly these days is the commissioning editors! The new younger breed behave like exec’s but without any experience or knowledge of how a programme is made. Last year, for instance, I had one turn up for [...]

Stories from the Studio: When to say No!

By wanttoworkintelevision ⋅ May 20, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

The show was ‘Angela & Friends’ for Sky One. It’s was a live, studio-based daily afternoon show. I was the series editor. The budget was tiny and the team even tinier. It was a matter of all hands to the pump at all times just to survive the punishing schedule and tight deadlines. It was [...]

Live TV Through the Eyes of a Guest (albeit an inanimate one!)

By wanttoworkintelevision ⋅ April 4, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

There’s a snappy post title! So what it is like to appear as a guest on a studio show? Well it can be the most exciting day of your life, nerve-wracking, plain disastrous or simply a non-event. Live television in particular can be unpredictable, even when you have been briefed by the production. Ralph ‘Dem’ Bones, skeleton to the [...]

Finding a Television News Scoop – The Girl with X-ray Eyes

By wanttoworkintelevision ⋅ March 30, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

If you read the post about working on the news desk (http://wanttoworkintelevision.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/so-you-want-to-work-on-the-news-desk/) you’ll know I mentioned how Natalie (the news producer at the time I was editor of ITV’s This Morning show) bought me the girl with x-ray vision. I promised to return to that story and here it is: Natalie spotted a tiny piece in [...]

When Things Go Wrong in Television

By wanttoworkintelevision ⋅ March 23, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Kerry Burch is an experienced television producer and one of the most organised, calm and glamorous producers I’ve worked with. But she didn’t to get to where she is without going through her own baptism of fire. Kerry has done her time on live television, including producing ITV’s daytime magazine show, ‘This Morning’ – two [...]

Friday Fun!

By wanttoworkintelevision ⋅ March 18, 2011 ⋅ 5 comments

It’s Friday and you’re not in the mood for a heavy lecture on the finer points of television production, are you? So let’s have some light relief. One of the topics we will return to many times, I’m quite sure, is When Things Go Wrong (and what you can learn from it!). This is a famous incident [...]

So You Want to Work in Television?

By Shu ⋅ March 15, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

Consider this first if that is your goal: An experienced producer friend of mine has recently taken up a job on a popular morning show, one that starts around the break of day. This show is topical and to keep abreast of changing running orders and news updates there needs to be teams working around the [...]

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