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PORTRAIT gallery
THE MEMBERSHIP Cleone Chetwode Clarke Allan Tott Andrew Tiernan David Orr Derek Freeman Jamison Simmons Jon Henson
BAFTANEWSAND
BAFTANEWSAND
CALLING ALL
MEMBERS FROM DIANE GLYNN BAFTA Events Officer
The wet weather may have spoilt the summer, but BAFTA members who had- n’t escaped to warmer climes were treated to a veritable feast of exciting events at 195 Piccadilly, while barbecues rust- ed away in garden sheds. If you did manage to jet away to the sun you’ll kick yourself when you realise just what you missed back home...
DIGITAL ARTS
BAFTA’s new award for Interactive Arts has widened the scope of the Interactive Entertainment Awards to reflect an exciting new pool of talent and ideas. To introduce some of these new developments BAFTA hosted Digital Arts, an evening of exploration of Interactive Arts.
This truly interactive event allowed participants to get up to speed with some of the latest developments in this field. The evening helped attendees explore some of the ways in which both emerging and established artists are employing digital technolo- gies. Terry Braun, chair of the BAFTA Interactive Arts jury,
introduced a panel of artists and commentators who pre- sented a range of work and set the context for current trends in digital arts. These short presentations were fol- lowed by an opportunity for the audience to interact with some of the work installed in the David Lean Room, and to chat with the artists to dis- cuss their work.
HOW TO MAKE...
Hot on the heels of our Television Awards we con- tinued the celebratory theme with How to Make an Award-winning Documentary. The winners of the BAFTA Award for the Flaherty Documentary, Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir Hosseini (Divorce Iranian Style) joined Olivia Lichtenstein (Producer of the Grierson Award-winning Gulag) on the BAFTA stage to share some of the expertise that led to their Awards.
BOB’S MASTERCLASS
Our Management Masterclass strand in asso- ciation with Arthur Andersen continued in May with Bob Phillis, Chief Executive of the Guardian Media Group Plc. Bob was formerly Deputy Director- General of the BBC and Chief Executive BBC Worldwide and has worked in various managerial roles throughout his career.
He imparted a great deal of managerial wisdon, emphasising the need to listen and to recog- nise that not one individual is the font of all knowledge. He echoed Charles Allen’s philoso- phy of managing upwards but extended this to include upwards, downwards, sideways and everywhich way! He revealed that he felt proud and privileged to have worked at the BBC, which he regards as one of
the best broadcasting organisa- tions in the world. However – whilst there he was struck by the length of time it can take 20 people in a room NOT to come to a decision!
He also spoke of his proudest moment in his career – at ITN when it overcame its financial problems whilst retaining its stan- dards because of the commitment and integrity of the staff there.
BAZAL’S VIEW
Respect for one’s staff was a topic which also came up in the next installment of The Independent View with Bazal Productions. Founder Peter Bazalgette, the high priest of lifestyle programming and responsible for Changing Rooms, Ready Steady Cook, Ground Force and Pet Rescue, talked about both the pressures and profits of Bazal’s exponen- tial rise. Group brainstorming sessions are an accepted part of Bazal’s existence and all staff are encouraged to air ideas.
Consequently Peter and his company have turned lifestyle programming into money spin- ning, ratings winning entertain- ment and this year are bringing to the UK the show that has taken Europe by storm - Big Brother, the first fully interac- tive mass TV experience.
Peter talked to Michael Attwell.
SOUNDING OFF SEQUEL
This was the follow up to the Sounding Off event held at BAFTA in November 1999. Run in conjunction with the London College of Music and Media, it examined the role of audio in interactive media. The Academy’s first full day confer- ence it consisted of lectures, seminars and panel debates, with plenty of opportunity for audience participation. Sessions
included: a comparison of writ- ing music for TV and games; the reality of interactive music; the power of music, sound design and silence in interactive media; the future of audio for new and not-so-new media.
Lord Puttnam CBE, Barrington Pheloung, and Professor Stephen Deutsch were among the guest speak- ers and legal clinics were avail- able to all attendees. It proved popular and successful and future one-day conferences may be planned.
PREVIEW SCREENING
Our series of pre-transmis- sion television series continued with Anchor Me. Journeying to the dark heart of a family mystery, this explosive drama weaves a compelling story of sexual jealousy and accidental death and is set for an autumn trans- mission on ITV. After the screening there was a discus- sion with the writer, Ashley Pharoah (Where the Heart is; Silent Witness; Life Support) director, Patrick Lau (Fragile Heart, Scarlet Pimpernel), pro- ducer Sita Williams (Reckless, Last Train) and executive pro- ducer Simon Lewis (Where the Heart Is, Touching Evil, No Child of Mine, A&E).
It was a packed house and the audience included many of the cast and crew, including Iain Glen, Julia Ford and Frank Windsor. Granada Television kindly supplied a drinks recep- tion after the screening which may explain the bustling bar long after the event had finished!
STEVE’S MASTERCLASS
June’s Management Masterclass in association with Arthur Andersen fea- tured Steve Morrison, Chief Executive, Granada Media
Group. Steve was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Granada Media Group in January 1996 and became Chief Executive in December the same year.
Steve attracted an audience of well-respected TV executives to his class who all came to wit- ness his take on convergence and Granada’s venturing into ‘new, dangerous territory’. Steve described himself as a ‘grubby- luvvie’ and told us about the most thrilling day in his career.
He also predicted a shift of public services broadcasting ulti- mately becoming broadcasting of public services but stressed that many changes in television will happen in addition to the current climate rather than instead of.
MARKETING SECRETS
Peter Buckingham also proved a hit with the audi- ence at his special presen- tation entitled Marketing a Film: The Story of East is East. Film Four’s Director of UK Distribution gave an insightful and informative presentation on the campaign strategy which took the film from post-produc- tion to £10m box-office hit.
Winner of the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film at this year’s Orange British Academy Film Awards, East Is East has taken the world by storm, becoming the highest grossing British film of last year and the second highest grossing British film of all time.
With the might of FilmFour behind it, and a clever market- ing campaign, the film soared to success fulfilling the wide-appeal that the touching, insightful script and magnificent perfor- mances promised. Peter covered FilmFour’s positioning of East Is East, the findings of their research into the film and the UK campaign (including poster, trailering, advertising, PR, pro-
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