How did you become a researcher on Light Lunch?
Someone I'd come across doing 'History's Turning Points' told me that a new company - Princess - needed someone to do photocopying for a couple of weeks. I must have been very keen, because they then gave me a job on Light Lunch running and, during the live transmission, in the phone room - answering the calls and deciding which should be put live through to the floor.
This was a strange job. People who called in really regarded you as the show's shop front. When Mel and Sue's guests were Stephanie Beacham and Kate O'Mara: an old buffer from Surrey called in and spent ten minutes telling me what 'those awful girls' could learn about femininity from the Dynasty Divas. You know - what did he expect the guy in the phone room to do about it?
After one season - 59 episodes - I became a researcher, which mostly involved briefing guests to the assistant producers' instructions, and doing other stuff for them. They were all very kind. I also looked after the website, writing a bit of blurb about each day's guests, which I tried to make as funny as possible, and supervising the forum which was called the Cake Shop. Early days of the net!
Did you have any bad experiences gaining work experience?
Not really, but I did find that you have to work hard from the word go - and not always in the genre you ultimately want to work in. There was a Trisha-style show presented by Fay Ripley called Sofa Melt. I found an armed robber who had broken out from prison, proposed to his girlfriend, but then been arrested at the altar. They hadn't seen each other for twenty years, and we reunited them. You get so caught up in making the programme, there's no time to think about the emotional impact of what you're doing.
How did you take the step from researcher to producer?
Two bits of good fortune. First, I was lucky to be nurtured by Princess Productions: I stayed with them for first four years and they put me onto various different productions throughout that time. Second, the arrival of digital TV. In 1998 Princess did a teenage entertainment show for new channel ITV2. It needed day producers, but couldn't really afford the ones that worked on terrestrial. So that was an opportunity.
I ended up script editing, gallery producing, then series produced a news debate show called 'Good Evening Rockall' for BBC3 - which was then BBC Choice. The writers on that were Will Smith and Roger Drew, the producer was Andy Milligan (who is now a writer): it was my first experience of working with writers and I knew that this was what I wanted to do.
What would be your advice for people looking to start off in TV comedy?
At home, watch as much as you can. Not just comedy, either. And of course read loads. Getting experience on a production is a good idea so you can see how it all works. If you're a performer, go for it. Try writing stuff yourself - even if you're not pleased with the results, it's such a learning process. (And there's so much good stuff on the net about writing at the moment: for example, may I recommend janeespenson.com)
If you do write, though, try to get a few projects on the go, otherwise when the sitcom you've been crafting for five years doesn't get made, you'll be inconsolable.
Can you explain to our users what your role is as a comedy producer? How does your typical day pan out during pre-production, production and post?
Depending on the nature of the project, in pre-production I'll edit (sometimes even write a bit of) script, and assemble the most appropriate (and best) programme makers for the project. The importance of getting the right people for a project cannot be overstated.
Leading up to and on the shoot, and in post, it's a series of collaborations with artists - with casting directors, directors of photography, the art department, location manager, costume and make-up, the director and assistant directors, the actors, the editor, the colourist, the composer and so on. And of course I try to work closely with the line producer - clever use of a budget can improve the end product so much. The nature and closeness of these collaborations is different on each project - that's the joy.
The most important thing is to establish a vision of what you want to achieve - what the show is about and what kind of tone you are aiming for. How 'real'/surreal? How warm/uncomfortable? What world are you trying to create? These things will probably stem from conversations with the writer and director. Once the core of the production has a sense of what they are aiming from, there's a context for all the other production decisions to be made in.
Read the third part of the interview here!
