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21 May 2010 15:22:17
Leading television producers and directors were breathing fire as students pitched their ideas for television programmes.
The Dragons’ Den assessment for TV Production level one students saw groups pitch to the panel of real television industry experts who in turn grilled them on editorial content, scheduling and budgeting.
TV Production Course Leader Kathryn Wolfe said: “The students gain experience in pitching to professional producers, just as in the real world.
“Not only that, if they impress the Dragons, students can make extremely useful contacts for the future.”
This week’s Dragons were Nigel Dacre (Chief Executive, Inclusive Digital TV), Caroline de Luc (the newly appointed Head of Production, Endemol Sport) and Kathryn (Director) herself.
Nigel was the Editor of ITV News, in charge of News at Ten and the 24-hour ITN News Channel. He was also the Editor of the 1997 and 2001 General Election results programmes, the Princess Diana funeral programme, and has been a Fellow of the Royal Television Society since 2002.
Nigel said: “I was impressed with the amount of work that many of the students had done preparing to enter the Dragons’ Den - and the quality of their ideas.
“It can’t have been easy walking into a room and presenting their thoughts to people they hadn’t met before - and I thought they all did very well.”
Caroline has worked as a Production Manger on a variety of sports programmes for Sunset & Vine for the past 11 years, including the high-profile Sport on Five and Football on Five. She said: “What a great exercise; I was pleased to be part of it. I found the students knowledgeable, confident, enthusiastic and responsive to the Dragons’ feedback.”
The previous week saw the students faced by Michael Jewitt (Producer/Director), Jackie Andrews (Producer) and Anthony Greenbank (Producer) who is a Lecturer in TV Production at the University as well as producing, writing and directing in the television industry for several years.
Michael has particular knowledge of live TV news, having played a key role in the production of high-profile television broadcasts, including Channel 4 News and live BBC election coverage. Jackie has worked in television production for more than 20 years and her credits include Kilroy (BBC), Open House with Gloria Hunniford (Five) and Hypotheticals (BBC).
Kathryn added: “This is realistic learning and realistic training for the industry. In TV Production you stand or fall by the quality of your programme ideas and how you communicate them. This is literally how thousands of people in production gain commissions and earn their living.”
Anthony agreed and said: “I was most impressed by the originality and ingenuity of the students’ programme pitches.
“The TV industry feeds on a constant stream of new ideas, so to see that our level one students are bursting with creativity and fresh thinking is very promising.”
Latest news» 2010» May» Red hot ideas are put before the Dragons
