Andrew Mackenzie, Head of Factual Entertainment
The range of programmes within our portfolio is the broadest in the Channel - from documentary singles and seasons - The upcoming My Child Champion and the Adoption Season - to formatted and constructed series - Jamie’s Ministry of Food and the upcoming Gerry’s Big Decision - to the irreverent and entertaining - The World’s… And Me with Mark Dolan and Bring Back…with Justin Lee Collins.
We’re solely focussed on midweek 9pm and 10pm slots on Channel 4 but as keen on ambitious events like Boys and Girls Alone, as we are on beautifully crafted one offs like Addicted to Surrogacy.
Our broad role is to engage with the mainstream, to challenge and inspire it in a unique way. Ideas should be popular and entertaining - maintaining Channel 4's integrity, originality and sense of purpose. Jamie Oliver’s programmes tend to tick these boxes perfectly. We want ideas that feel authentic – but not grey. We’re not the right department for ideas on hoodies, guns and giving up drinking.
Each Commissioning Editor in the department has a distinct remit:
Dominique Walker leads the search for 9p.m. series and formats.
Alistair Pegg is responsible for the commissioning of 10p.m. short series and one offs across the schedule.
And I continue to commission output across all slots.
9pm
There are a variety of forms 9pm series could come in and we’re constantly looking for new innovations. These are only some that have worked in the past but don’t feel restricted to them:
'Series and Formats'
The Fact Ent department’s core output in the past has been formatted docs that capture the passions and anxieties of contemporary Britain. But the increasingly sophisticated Channel 4 viewer could be getting jaded by the predictable rhythms of constructed jeopardy and conflict. So we need less overt construction; more authenticity; more organic and intelligent storytelling.
Betty TV are working on a series following parents going through the gruelling adoption selection process. It is lightly formatted but based on a very real authentic and emotional process. It keeps us in the rich world of family relationships but the approach is absolutely fresh. Similarly I’m Running Sainsbury’s is allowing us to look at the inner working of a retail giant through an existing fast track scheme in the company.
We should look to build other formats around stories that are a marker of the current time. We've got Gerry's Big Decision which is a sort of Troubleshooter meets Secret Millionaire...a white knight helping businesses in these bleak times; And a couple of series following people taking radical action to change their lives in uncertain times. What other real stories or phenomenon are there that we should be looking to tap into and what other classic popular factual territories can we bring a refreshing twist too?
'Big Event Ideas’
High on the wish list would be another 9pm stunt in the vein of Love's Boys and Girls Alone or Ricochet's BBC 3 series Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts. A simple one line construct that feels risky as a proposition to all involved in production, but looks like an entertaining ob doc - once you've bought the top line. What single, simple, provocative thing can we do to make people think another way about an issue in the public conscience?
Boys and Girls Alone is a large scale gender experiment using kids. It’s a simple thought which is frighteningly ambitious but hopefully feels different. What are the next incredible ideas that have some sense of purpose? The fundamental topics that viewers find interesting haven’t changed, but our sense of scale and ambitions have. Just as The Baby Borrowers was a scaled up version of a C4 doc can you think of popular territories that have worked in single films in the past and with the right approach could become a talked about event.
We need at least two more ideas of this scale in the near future. What are the next constructs that can provide an entertaining and provocative take on an intelligent subject?
10p.m
We've got plenty of opportunity for entertaining series in 10pm slots towards the end of this year and into 2010. It's a fantastically broad remit...encompassing anything that you'd watch instead of the news. There are a number of styles of series detailed below but think broadly – as long as it’s entertaining and has an alternative Channel 4 perspective on it – we want to hear about it.
'Authored Journeys'
Both Mark Dolan and Dawn Porter have found healthy audiences with their personal and at times irreverent perspective on extraordinary corners of the world.
Over the next year we want to launch more on-screen authors. Who are the new faces we should be considering to take on provocative stunts, immerse themselves in a world or tackle subjects with subversive wit? And what are the entertaining journeys they can follow to reveal real content and purpose. Equally, who should we have a go at reinventing in a new light – think of Stephen Fry (HIV and Me) or Andrew Marr (20th Century)? Think about how to lever real content into classic fact ent areas – what clever things could an author say about sex, for example, or showbiz? And we need different narrative frames to avoid the ‘sub-Louis Theroux’ feeling - the author could be fronting a big stunt that can provoke change or get something done. Equally we could follow someone’s new adventure in the way Neil Morrissey set up his own brewery, or Willie went searching for the perfect chocolate in the South American jungle.
‘Remarkable Documentary Subjects’
We’d like to develop more seemingly single doc subject matter into cohesive series. The upcoming ‘Daredevils’ follows daring individuals who are taking on incredibly visual death defying feats. Each are spectacular, closed episode hours – following one individual in the same way as ‘The Human Spider’ Cutting Edge. Grouped together they’ll form a brand that may be returnable. Are there other subjects for blue-chip docs with high production values and scale that will appeal to 'news avoiders?'
‘An Entertaining Constructed Series’
Again – akin to Love's Boys and Girls Alone, but with an added layer of humour. One such example that is in the pipeline is Daddy Day Care - we're setting up a nursery that's totally staffed by men. The pilot promises some very funny actuality. There are other good simple formats on other channels that would fit into this slot. I'm quite jealous of BBC 3's Undercover Princess.
‘Popular Culture’
This is the Holy Grail for us! 10pm would be the perfect place for some popular history. We need a brand new idea or format in the nostalgia, archive and popular culture territory that will give us a returning 4/6 part series. There are three kinds of show we have been thinking about and so far they are as follows:
A new format that uses actuality and a present-tense narrative to anchor archive or history. We've not done a list show for a couple of years and the straight countdown is not the answer to this. But the right show probably does have the two key list show elements - short, pacy, attitudinal VT packages and a simple compelling narrative. The Bring Back format cracked it with the short VT packages grammar of a list show, and an actuality strand with the narrative building to a reunion. Is there another format out there, that can use these elements or should we think more laterally - for example the take on immersive history of Supersizers Go....?
A blue-chip, erudite and properly authored series about an aspect of recent social history or popular culture. Authors should feel familiar but clever. Think Clive James on Fame or David Bailey’s Models Close Up. Subjects could be as broad and as historical. Think the History of Pornography or The Showbiz Set. They would need a decent thesis that feels like a new take on the subject for Channel 4.
We’ve got several iterations of a new celebrity biography format in development but this is still an area that is up for grabs. The ideal here is a young version of Who Do You Think You Are - or a populist Desert Island Discs. What are the ways we can attract A-list Channel 4 faces to open up. Eating With... on BBC 2 was a good attempt at this. Is there an authored version of I Love 19xx out there?
We'd still also love access to celebs for a new Ruby Wax style show - but they seem harder to come by, more than ever before. The clever, unauthorised ways in might feel more viable for 10pm.
'Popular Singles'
From My Fake Baby to Fat Pets; Virgin School to Bring Back…The A Team we’ve built a reputation for high quality, thought provoking, single films across the schedule.
We need a range of spiky single docs throughout 2008/9. Are there precincts we can observe with wit – like the great Cutting Edge film on The Daily Sport; Visual spectacles we can document – like the early ‘base jumping’ doc; Or extraordinary past tense stories like The Black Widow or The Disappearance of Elizabeth Smart.
We’re voracious consumers of these and each commissioning editor in the department has their own passion:
Dominique Walker commissioned a single pop doc called My Fake Baby last year that really struck a chord with viewers. What are the next jaw dropping hobbies, pursuits and lifestyles that we can uncover? Dominique wants areas that she doesn’t really know exist. Avoid going too dark or grim. It should be intelligent entertainment not depressing.
Alistair Pegg specialises in films that could be tabloidy on the surface, but on closer inspection yield up a world that we can explore with intelligence and insight. His recent Cutting Edge ‘The Girls Who Were Found Alive’ revealed a decade old tale with a modern resonance. It was a subject that had enough layers of interest beyond the extraordinary top line to sustain an hour.
Where are the surprises?
The danger with a briefing letter like this is that ideas become slaves to it. The worst thing to do would be to not bring us an idea because it doesn’t fit into these categories – when secretly all we really want is to be surprised and taken out of our comfort zone and for it to be bold, surprising, intelligent and entertaining in equal measure.
This brief is to give you an idea of what we’re thinking now – we need your help to come up with the next evolutionary turn of the wheel.
Andrew Mackenzie
Head of Factual Entertainment
Channel 4
The range of programmes within our portfolio is the broadest in the Channel - from documentary singles and seasons - The upcoming My Child Champion and the Adoption Season - to formatted and constructed series - Jamie’s Ministry of Food and the upcoming Gerry’s Big Decision - to the irreverent and entertaining - The World’s… And Me with Mark Dolan and Bring Back…with Justin Lee Collins.
We’re solely focussed on midweek 9pm and 10pm slots on Channel 4 but as keen on ambitious events like Boys and Girls Alone, as we are on beautifully crafted one offs like Addicted to Surrogacy.
Our broad role is to engage with the mainstream, to challenge and inspire it in a unique way. Ideas should be popular and entertaining - maintaining Channel 4's integrity, originality and sense of purpose. Jamie Oliver’s programmes tend to tick these boxes perfectly. We want ideas that feel authentic – but not grey. We’re not the right department for ideas on hoodies, guns and giving up drinking.
Each Commissioning Editor in the department has a distinct remit:
Dominique Walker leads the search for 9p.m. series and formats.
Alistair Pegg is responsible for the commissioning of 10p.m. short series and one offs across the schedule.
And I continue to commission output across all slots.
9pm
There are a variety of forms 9pm series could come in and we’re constantly looking for new innovations. These are only some that have worked in the past but don’t feel restricted to them:
'Series and Formats'
The Fact Ent department’s core output in the past has been formatted docs that capture the passions and anxieties of contemporary Britain. But the increasingly sophisticated Channel 4 viewer could be getting jaded by the predictable rhythms of constructed jeopardy and conflict. So we need less overt construction; more authenticity; more organic and intelligent storytelling.
Betty TV are working on a series following parents going through the gruelling adoption selection process. It is lightly formatted but based on a very real authentic and emotional process. It keeps us in the rich world of family relationships but the approach is absolutely fresh. Similarly I’m Running Sainsbury’s is allowing us to look at the inner working of a retail giant through an existing fast track scheme in the company.
We should look to build other formats around stories that are a marker of the current time. We've got Gerry's Big Decision which is a sort of Troubleshooter meets Secret Millionaire...a white knight helping businesses in these bleak times; And a couple of series following people taking radical action to change their lives in uncertain times. What other real stories or phenomenon are there that we should be looking to tap into and what other classic popular factual territories can we bring a refreshing twist too?
'Big Event Ideas’
High on the wish list would be another 9pm stunt in the vein of Love's Boys and Girls Alone or Ricochet's BBC 3 series Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts. A simple one line construct that feels risky as a proposition to all involved in production, but looks like an entertaining ob doc - once you've bought the top line. What single, simple, provocative thing can we do to make people think another way about an issue in the public conscience?
Boys and Girls Alone is a large scale gender experiment using kids. It’s a simple thought which is frighteningly ambitious but hopefully feels different. What are the next incredible ideas that have some sense of purpose? The fundamental topics that viewers find interesting haven’t changed, but our sense of scale and ambitions have. Just as The Baby Borrowers was a scaled up version of a C4 doc can you think of popular territories that have worked in single films in the past and with the right approach could become a talked about event.
We need at least two more ideas of this scale in the near future. What are the next constructs that can provide an entertaining and provocative take on an intelligent subject?
10p.m
We've got plenty of opportunity for entertaining series in 10pm slots towards the end of this year and into 2010. It's a fantastically broad remit...encompassing anything that you'd watch instead of the news. There are a number of styles of series detailed below but think broadly – as long as it’s entertaining and has an alternative Channel 4 perspective on it – we want to hear about it.
'Authored Journeys'
Both Mark Dolan and Dawn Porter have found healthy audiences with their personal and at times irreverent perspective on extraordinary corners of the world.
Over the next year we want to launch more on-screen authors. Who are the new faces we should be considering to take on provocative stunts, immerse themselves in a world or tackle subjects with subversive wit? And what are the entertaining journeys they can follow to reveal real content and purpose. Equally, who should we have a go at reinventing in a new light – think of Stephen Fry (HIV and Me) or Andrew Marr (20th Century)? Think about how to lever real content into classic fact ent areas – what clever things could an author say about sex, for example, or showbiz? And we need different narrative frames to avoid the ‘sub-Louis Theroux’ feeling - the author could be fronting a big stunt that can provoke change or get something done. Equally we could follow someone’s new adventure in the way Neil Morrissey set up his own brewery, or Willie went searching for the perfect chocolate in the South American jungle.
‘Remarkable Documentary Subjects’
We’d like to develop more seemingly single doc subject matter into cohesive series. The upcoming ‘Daredevils’ follows daring individuals who are taking on incredibly visual death defying feats. Each are spectacular, closed episode hours – following one individual in the same way as ‘The Human Spider’ Cutting Edge. Grouped together they’ll form a brand that may be returnable. Are there other subjects for blue-chip docs with high production values and scale that will appeal to 'news avoiders?'
‘An Entertaining Constructed Series’
Again – akin to Love's Boys and Girls Alone, but with an added layer of humour. One such example that is in the pipeline is Daddy Day Care - we're setting up a nursery that's totally staffed by men. The pilot promises some very funny actuality. There are other good simple formats on other channels that would fit into this slot. I'm quite jealous of BBC 3's Undercover Princess.
‘Popular Culture’
This is the Holy Grail for us! 10pm would be the perfect place for some popular history. We need a brand new idea or format in the nostalgia, archive and popular culture territory that will give us a returning 4/6 part series. There are three kinds of show we have been thinking about and so far they are as follows:
A new format that uses actuality and a present-tense narrative to anchor archive or history. We've not done a list show for a couple of years and the straight countdown is not the answer to this. But the right show probably does have the two key list show elements - short, pacy, attitudinal VT packages and a simple compelling narrative. The Bring Back format cracked it with the short VT packages grammar of a list show, and an actuality strand with the narrative building to a reunion. Is there another format out there, that can use these elements or should we think more laterally - for example the take on immersive history of Supersizers Go....?
A blue-chip, erudite and properly authored series about an aspect of recent social history or popular culture. Authors should feel familiar but clever. Think Clive James on Fame or David Bailey’s Models Close Up. Subjects could be as broad and as historical. Think the History of Pornography or The Showbiz Set. They would need a decent thesis that feels like a new take on the subject for Channel 4.
We’ve got several iterations of a new celebrity biography format in development but this is still an area that is up for grabs. The ideal here is a young version of Who Do You Think You Are - or a populist Desert Island Discs. What are the ways we can attract A-list Channel 4 faces to open up. Eating With... on BBC 2 was a good attempt at this. Is there an authored version of I Love 19xx out there?
We'd still also love access to celebs for a new Ruby Wax style show - but they seem harder to come by, more than ever before. The clever, unauthorised ways in might feel more viable for 10pm.
'Popular Singles'
From My Fake Baby to Fat Pets; Virgin School to Bring Back…The A Team we’ve built a reputation for high quality, thought provoking, single films across the schedule.
We need a range of spiky single docs throughout 2008/9. Are there precincts we can observe with wit – like the great Cutting Edge film on The Daily Sport; Visual spectacles we can document – like the early ‘base jumping’ doc; Or extraordinary past tense stories like The Black Widow or The Disappearance of Elizabeth Smart.
We’re voracious consumers of these and each commissioning editor in the department has their own passion:
Dominique Walker commissioned a single pop doc called My Fake Baby last year that really struck a chord with viewers. What are the next jaw dropping hobbies, pursuits and lifestyles that we can uncover? Dominique wants areas that she doesn’t really know exist. Avoid going too dark or grim. It should be intelligent entertainment not depressing.
Alistair Pegg specialises in films that could be tabloidy on the surface, but on closer inspection yield up a world that we can explore with intelligence and insight. His recent Cutting Edge ‘The Girls Who Were Found Alive’ revealed a decade old tale with a modern resonance. It was a subject that had enough layers of interest beyond the extraordinary top line to sustain an hour.
Where are the surprises?
The danger with a briefing letter like this is that ideas become slaves to it. The worst thing to do would be to not bring us an idea because it doesn’t fit into these categories – when secretly all we really want is to be surprised and taken out of our comfort zone and for it to be bold, surprising, intelligent and entertaining in equal measure.
This brief is to give you an idea of what we’re thinking now – we need your help to come up with the next evolutionary turn of the wheel.
Andrew Mackenzie
Head of Factual Entertainment
Channel 4
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