Here’s Televisual’s recent interview with Channel 5 factual commissioning editor, Denise Seneviratne.
This is the eleventh in a series of films – The Televisual Factual Films – for factual producers and filmmakers.
Commissioning Editor, Denise Seneviratne explores the style, tone and format of Channel 5’s factual slate. Seneviratne articulates what has worked on the channel, how this has translated into new commissions, Channel 5’s changing audience, the kind of content she’s looking for and how the channel likes to work with factual Indies.
“Another show that I’m really excited about that’s coming up this year is Larger Than Life which is a docusoap about large people. And it’s interesting to do a docusoap where we look at people celebrating whoever they are, whatever size they are and I think in a landscape where the only programmes that go on about large people are whether they’re going to lose weight, or whether they’re positive or not positive about their body image or whether they’ve got to worry about their health…”
For more in this series of Televisual Factual Films, including interviews with the UK’s leading commissioners of factual television, head to televisual.com/watch
The Televisual Factual Films have all been shot two-camera with professional crews (from Procam Take 2 and Run VT) and have been edited as if for broadcast (at Clear Cut and Sky Production Services) with illustrative show clips to make them concise, informative and above all watchable.
All of the eleven Televisual Factual Films posted to date are open access and don’t require payment or even registration.
We have a comprehensive line-up online already with more films coming up and where you can find them all linked following:
Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual at ITV is here
Watch Shaminder Nahal commissioning editor, arts and topical, Channel 4 here.
Alf Lawrie, head of factual entertainment, Channel 4 is here.
Simon Downing, head of factual and docs, Discovery UK and Ireland is here.
Dan Korn, Vice President of Programming, A+E Networks UK is here
And our very recent post of UKTV’s Hilary Rosen, Deputy Director of Commissioning and Head of Factual and Factual Entertainment is here
Interviews with BBC commissioning editors Claire Sillery and Jack Bootle are here
Televisual also caught up with some of the UK factual community’s leading voices to hear their thoughts on opportunities, challenges and the future of factual production. Interviewees include Will Anderson, Sam Richards, Alan Yentob, David Dehaney, Simon Chinn, Christopher Hird, Jess Search, Luke Hyams and Danielle Graham. You can see that film here
Accompanying this series of films is a new magazine Televisual Factual Briefing with all the headline information Indies might want to make sense of the UK commissioning landscape. The magazine was sent to all Televisual subscribers with the Winter issue and is also available as a free, open access digital e-zine here – bit.ly/TVLFactBrief
And posting within the week Lucy Willis, commissioning editor at Channel 5 completes a total of 12 Televisual Factual Films within the series
Jon Creamer
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