Andrew Mackenzie, Head of Factual Entertainment
The range of programmes within our portfolio is the broadest in the Channel - from sensitive docs like The Girls Who Were Found Alive to irreverent series like the upcoming Hunt for… The World’s Smallest Man.
We’re solely focussed on midweek 9pm and 10pm slots on Channel 4 but as keen on ambitious events like Dumped as we are on beautifully crafted one offs like My Fake Baby.
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.
Ruby Kuraishe looks after our E4 output and is looking for entertainment skewed one-off docs and series.
And I continue to commission output across all slots.
9pm
Our most pressing need right now is for another popular 9pm series. And it could be the next evolution of a number of forms.
'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 there’s a feeling at the moment that viewers are ‘fleeing the format.’ 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 for Dominique on wannabe 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. The Complainers (Whizz Kid) is a show that is constructed – in that it puts a vocal complainer in charge of the big business that’s the subject of his ire – but it’s based on a real story – when NTL employed the man running a hate website.
We should look to build other formats around stories that are a marker of the current time. Dominique has a series based on the fact that more people than ever are employing staff in their homes but there are no clear rules of engagement. RDF’s format gives employers a dry run to deciding which nanny / house keeper / personal assistant to employ and the results are as shocking as they are entertaining.
‘Big Event Ideas’
Dumped (Outline) put 10 people to live on a rubbish tip for 3 weeks – it’s an idea only TV could really make happen. We’d really like to find other simple top line ideas or experiments that could organically develop across a three or four part series. We’ve got one show coming up which is a large scale gender experiment using kids. It’s a simple thought which is frighteningly ambitious but will hopefully feel 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 ambition 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 for the 2009 schedule. What are the next constructs that can provide an entertaining and provocative take on an intelligent subject?
Dominique Walker is the lead commissioning editor for 9pm series. Right now the subjects that are often most appealing to her are ambitious and escapist. Grand Designs tapped into a genuinely new trend of self-build. Where else are the new ways in which middle classes explore their dreams?
If you’ve got a particularly entertainment skewed idea akin to Playing It Straight or Beauty and the Geek Ruby Kuraishe should be your first port of call.
10p.m
At 10 we're also looking to add to our portfolio of short series. There are two styles of series that we’ve commissioned recently but please don’t be limited to these forms…we’ve detailed their attributes to provoke thought about what we’re missing rather than just to be replicated.
'Authored journeys'
Over the next year we want to launch a new generation of 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?
At the most entertaining end of the spectrum we’ve got Bring Back...with Justin Lee Collins; in the more journalistic bent, Dawn Porter immersing herself in extreme marital relationships - polygamy, mail order bride's et al. But we need other models - the author could be fronting a big stunt that can provoke change or get something done.
‘Continuing narrative series’
We’re following Neil Morrissey setting up his own brewery, which we hope will be an entertaining and compelling 6 month journey. What other settings are there which viewers might want to return to, week in, week out? It doesn’t have to be celeb-led, it could simply be an extraordinary doc. series with the kind of characters you meet in Cutting Edge’s Dead Body Squad. Is there a modern version of Ramsay's Boiling Point? A window into a remarkable world or unrestricted access to a precinct that says something about us all or maybe we’re more Marks and Spencer? Tesco?
Alistair Pegg is the key commissioning editor for 10pm series. He’s very keen for you to think more broadly about what’s possible at 10 and his eclectic top three favourite programmes hint at some of the attributes that appeal to him…
1.) Harry Hill – can we do something as witty and postmodern and yet warm-hearted with a comedian in C4 fact ent ?
2.) Tropic of Capricorn – lovely sense of loose-limbed striding across a terrain, metaphorically and literally – very easy way to absorb surprising amounts of facts.
3.) City of Vice – great genre-crash: cop show meets history reconstruction. Can we do other genre-crashes in fact ent?
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. She wants areas that she didn’t really didn’t know existed. 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.
Ruby Kuraishe leans more towards the entertainment spectrum of Factual Entertainment. Let’s keep the channel young and reactive to popular culture; tying to contemporary ‘pegs’ or capturing an authored take on a broad appealing subject from the world of entertainment. With the days of the list show firmly behind us, what are the new ways to refresh this territory? Are there some celebrity authors out there, who feel like they have something intelligent to say on behalf of Channel 4?
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 sensitive docs like The Girls Who Were Found Alive to irreverent series like the upcoming Hunt for… The World’s Smallest Man.
We’re solely focussed on midweek 9pm and 10pm slots on Channel 4 but as keen on ambitious events like Dumped as we are on beautifully crafted one offs like My Fake Baby.
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.
Ruby Kuraishe looks after our E4 output and is looking for entertainment skewed one-off docs and series.
And I continue to commission output across all slots.
9pm
Our most pressing need right now is for another popular 9pm series. And it could be the next evolution of a number of forms.
'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 there’s a feeling at the moment that viewers are ‘fleeing the format.’ 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 for Dominique on wannabe 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. The Complainers (Whizz Kid) is a show that is constructed – in that it puts a vocal complainer in charge of the big business that’s the subject of his ire – but it’s based on a real story – when NTL employed the man running a hate website.
We should look to build other formats around stories that are a marker of the current time. Dominique has a series based on the fact that more people than ever are employing staff in their homes but there are no clear rules of engagement. RDF’s format gives employers a dry run to deciding which nanny / house keeper / personal assistant to employ and the results are as shocking as they are entertaining.
‘Big Event Ideas’
Dumped (Outline) put 10 people to live on a rubbish tip for 3 weeks – it’s an idea only TV could really make happen. We’d really like to find other simple top line ideas or experiments that could organically develop across a three or four part series. We’ve got one show coming up which is a large scale gender experiment using kids. It’s a simple thought which is frighteningly ambitious but will hopefully feel 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 ambition 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 for the 2009 schedule. What are the next constructs that can provide an entertaining and provocative take on an intelligent subject?
Dominique Walker is the lead commissioning editor for 9pm series. Right now the subjects that are often most appealing to her are ambitious and escapist. Grand Designs tapped into a genuinely new trend of self-build. Where else are the new ways in which middle classes explore their dreams?
If you’ve got a particularly entertainment skewed idea akin to Playing It Straight or Beauty and the Geek Ruby Kuraishe should be your first port of call.
10p.m
At 10 we're also looking to add to our portfolio of short series. There are two styles of series that we’ve commissioned recently but please don’t be limited to these forms…we’ve detailed their attributes to provoke thought about what we’re missing rather than just to be replicated.
'Authored journeys'
Over the next year we want to launch a new generation of 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?
At the most entertaining end of the spectrum we’ve got Bring Back...with Justin Lee Collins; in the more journalistic bent, Dawn Porter immersing herself in extreme marital relationships - polygamy, mail order bride's et al. But we need other models - the author could be fronting a big stunt that can provoke change or get something done.
‘Continuing narrative series’
We’re following Neil Morrissey setting up his own brewery, which we hope will be an entertaining and compelling 6 month journey. What other settings are there which viewers might want to return to, week in, week out? It doesn’t have to be celeb-led, it could simply be an extraordinary doc. series with the kind of characters you meet in Cutting Edge’s Dead Body Squad. Is there a modern version of Ramsay's Boiling Point? A window into a remarkable world or unrestricted access to a precinct that says something about us all or maybe we’re more Marks and Spencer? Tesco?
Alistair Pegg is the key commissioning editor for 10pm series. He’s very keen for you to think more broadly about what’s possible at 10 and his eclectic top three favourite programmes hint at some of the attributes that appeal to him…
1.) Harry Hill – can we do something as witty and postmodern and yet warm-hearted with a comedian in C4 fact ent ?
2.) Tropic of Capricorn – lovely sense of loose-limbed striding across a terrain, metaphorically and literally – very easy way to absorb surprising amounts of facts.
3.) City of Vice – great genre-crash: cop show meets history reconstruction. Can we do other genre-crashes in fact ent?
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. She wants areas that she didn’t really didn’t know existed. 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.
Ruby Kuraishe leans more towards the entertainment spectrum of Factual Entertainment. Let’s keep the channel young and reactive to popular culture; tying to contemporary ‘pegs’ or capturing an authored take on a broad appealing subject from the world of entertainment. With the days of the list show firmly behind us, what are the new ways to refresh this territory? Are there some celebrity authors out there, who feel like they have something intelligent to say on behalf of Channel 4?
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
| Next » |
