REALITY TV?

I wanted to share something with you - and apart from it just being interesting to me, I think it might say something about Reality TV as a genre.

So, mid conversation yesterday my other-half was describing the trials and tribulations a friend of our’s is experiencing in her career. Then it came… “Oh yeah… and now she’s, like, producing a reality TV show?!”.

There it was.

Right at the end of the sentence was the question-mark - that upward inflection of incredulity and questioning uncertainty that comes along when talking about something rather unsavory.

She followed up by stroking my ego a little. “Oh, er… you know. You know what I mean?”.

But, aside from the abject indignity our friend was so clearly (in my other-half’s opinion) having to live through while being associated with Reality TV, it struck me that this is actually a problem the whole genre faces.

You see, Reality TV has always been seen as the rather fun, young uncle of ‘propper tv’, the one who knows how to have a great time, knocks em back at family functions - amuses everyone with his self-confident ballsy behavior and his cheeky Coyote Ugly dancing, and who sometimes shows us his butt-crack for a laugh, but …er… has that problem with Bacardi and Coke and that issue with your daughter’s high school friends. Yes, that guy.

When I speak to friends or get introduced to people - even at a party last night - I find myself saying ‘oh, but not all that RUBBISH reality TV - you know, good stuff’.

I do have a rule when I choose a job - 1) NO ISLANDS/HOUSES WITH CONTESTANTS and 2) NO VOTING OFF. I’ve done pretty well by those rules. You know, the ‘good stuff’.

But, I think now we all have to recognize that it’s ok - multi-million dollar companies are making shed-loads of cash off of Reality TV, more and more people are being kept employed by the industry, in a time when movie production is slowing and dramas are cutting back - and I’d like to think expectations and therefore the bar is being raised.

 This week, I wanted to call a few DoPs - people who all work in features or drama to come and shoot a show I’m producing right now, they were all busy shooting reality shows. All of them. How many other filmmakers is Reality TV keeping in work? Keeping ready to produce the next awesome indie feature or award winning Documentary?

So, aside from the fact that Reality TV is evolving fast and keeps a lot more people working than a lot of other film and tv genres, it’s worth remembering also that Reality TV has been on major network tv for over fifteen years, keeping the networks nice and rich and happy.

So, I think Reality TV should come out of the closet and take a bow.

Welcome to society Reality TV. We’ll get you sober and present you to the family soon. (But, er, stay away from Suzy and her friends please).

Network with your Network

The most difficult thing to quantify is the time and money you’ll spend meeting and greeting the producers and executives you’re going to be working with.

My parterns in my company certainly don’t have the same appreciation for it that I do - but then again, I’m usually the one who gets to go, so who can blame them?!

There is a big event in DC that has just finished called ‘THE REEL SCREEN SUMMIT’, attended by all the big name cable companies, Discovery, History, A&E etc etc… all the people in factual entertainment who my company NEEDS to know. They’re all there, there’s a bar, there’s restaurants and there’s good talking time.

Now, you’re not going to want to go there and pitch to everyone, you’re not even going to want to go and sit in on all the panels - you don’t even need a badge.

But, make a couple of calls and say to your exec that you’re going and you’d love to have lunch or a beer with them and it does two things. It gives you some face time, which is always good, and if you end up pitching then so-be-it. But it also shows that you’re serious about your work. Imagine any other company, a shoe-store or a pizza restaurant who didn’t advertise? That’s what you’re doing. Showing that you can be trusted with their money and reputation. That you won’t rest until every show you deliver will be the best tv you’ve ever made.

Trust me, you can do that over a beer in a hotel lobby. And it’s more than worth it.

My policy is to go to all these events, genuinely hang out with these people. They’re your work colleagues, they share your interests and their success relies on your’s. It’s not brown-nosing - it’s vital to your growth as a producer. If you understand them, are fresh in their minds and are good to be around you’re far more likely to get a call from them in the future when they want someone to rework an idea they have, or if they have a hole in their schedule they need filling.

But, it’s very difficult to explain to your accountant why a plane ticket, four nights in a hotel and lot of food and drink is directly related to your success. The truth is you can’t explain it. It might not even pay off. Ever.

But it might. And if you get a special or a series out of it and your company earns 10-15% production fee each time, he’ll surely begin to see things your way.

Put it this way, last night I was out on the town in LA and bumped into a commissioning editor I work with sitting at a restaurant bar. We chatted for maybe five minutes, and now I know the real status of a couple of our projects in much greater detail than I would have known otherwise, and they promised to call me next week to arrange a ’stage 2′ meeting over another show I have with them. I was sure to make certain we didn’t talk all work, so now we have a little more personal history - not a lot - it’s not like we were exchanging baby photos, but it’s something.

The long and the short of it is that people work with people they like, people they like are usually people they know. You see, mostly, it’s not the old-boys’ network, it’s not school-ties - it’s just being around.

 Also - look at it this way. You’re in this industry, you work here, meeting the people you work with is just much more fun than not. They talk your language, have similar conerns to you and can offer you consolation, insight or some good old life lessons. What’s not to like about that?