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Radio festival: Disrupt or be disrupted Nov 05, 2015

Show notes

J. R. Little is the head of global innovations at Carat Productions, which is part of Dentsu Aegis Network, the global network innovating the way brands are built. His job “is to help companies innovate, stand out, disrupt and to deflect disruption”.

What does this even mean and why would we want to disrupt a company’s brand?

"Fall in love with advertisers, fall in love with experiences and fall in love with technology."– J.R. Little

There has been a lot of change in the past few years, whether that is how we consume TV or radio, drive our cars, shop and use our phones. J. R. says we need to use that information if we want to grow our brands in radio, even if it means doing things that push us out of our comfort zones. And THAT might mean using Snapchat!

In this talk given at the Radio Festival 2015, you are encouraged to “disrupt or be disrupted”, embrace new technology, collaborate with other companies, take your content onto different platforms and take a more creative approach to branding.

Danny and the Human Zoo Oct 29, 2015

Show notes

Danny and the Human Zoo is a fictionalised account of Sir Lenny Henry’s life as a teenager in 1970s Dudley. The drama centres on Danny Fearon, a talented impressionist played by young actor Kascion Franklin and his large working class Jamaican family, with Cecilia Noble as Danny’s mother and Lenny Henry as Danny’s father, Samson.

It was also another 'first' as it was the director Destiny Ekaragha’s first TV project. Destiny had previously made short films called The Park and Tight Jeans, which was officially selected by the 2008 Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival. It was also voted the best short film shown at the London Film Festival by the Observer newspaper.

Kascion and Destiny talk openly about the casting process, building-up trust between the cast members, the relationship between the entire production team, filming on location in Birmingham, obtaining funding for projects and the challenges faced on this project and others. Both also share tips for those wanting to get into the acting and directing scenes.

Don't forget you can get involved with discussions about any of our podcasts using #academycast.

In conversation with Mike Bartlett Oct 23, 2015

Show notes

Award-winning writer and director Mike Bartlett didn’t always write: he dabbled in acting at university and afterwards wanted to go into directing theatre but would always “flunk the interviews”. Bad times.

He began to write for a few reasons - one of which was boredom - and suddenly found his job interviews started to go well. Good times.

The reason? “Because I didn’t have to sell myself - I just put the script on the table. It was all about the work, not me.”

His latest show on BBC One was the massively popular Doctor Foster starring Suranne Jones and Bertie Carvel. The series was the most watched new BBC TV drama so far this year with nearly 8 million people tuning into the finale.

Writing for TV didn’t come until quite a few years into his career, but that wasn’t a conscious decision, he says.

Mike has written for quite a few mediums. He’s adapted theatre for radio (Not Talking), turned radio plays into stage plays (Contractions) and written for TV (ITV’s The Town and BBC One’s Doctor Foster). Is his approach the same for all those mediums? What are the main differences he’s found?

In this podcast Mike talks to Henry Swindell of BBC Writersroom about the importance of planning before writing absolutely anything. He discusses the differences when writing for different mediums, talks about how he came to write for TV, and shares his techniques for getting into the psyche for writing.

Iain Softely on directing The Outcast Jul 10, 2015

Show notes

The Outcast has been described as a deeply romantic, uncomfortably honest coming-of-age story set in booming post-war Britain. A best-selling novel by Sadie Jones, the book has been adapted by Sadie for BBC One with Iain Softley directing the two-parter.

Iain Softley is probably better known as a director of Hollywood blockbusters such as Hackers, The Wings of the Dove, K-Pax and Inkheart. So how did he come to directing an adaptation for TV?

Iain speaks to Frankie Ward about how he felt so connected to the story he was compelled to direct it. He talks about the different methods he uses when working with actors including George Mackay, who plays the lead character Lewis.

The importance of sound design and music to telling the story is also discussed. Composer Ed Shearmur worked on the score, having worked with Iain on The Wings of the Dove.

Iain's early years as a director are explored as he talks about making documentaries and how reading English at university enabled him to become an accomplished storyteller.

Developing The Outcast with Sadie Jones Jul 09, 2015

Show notes

Beth Pattinson, development executive at BBC Films talks to Sadie Jones, screenwriter and novelist, ahead of the debut of her two-part drama, The Outcast, on BBC One.

Sadie details her journey as an unproduced screenwriter to novelist and back. The Outcast began as a feature film script but when producers were unable to make it the way they wanted to Sadie turned the story into a novel.

Within a year, the book was published to wide critical acclaim and won the Costa First Novel Award. It was also a finalist for the prestigious Orange Prize, as well as a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction.

When Christine Langan, Head of BBC Films, read the novel, she knew it had to be brought to the screen. Blueprint Pictures came on board to develop the novel with BBC Films as a feature film, but it proved too difficult to adapt the story into a 120 minute feature. BBC Drama then came on board and the story was split into a two-part drama for television.

Beth and Sadie recount the development process, structuring the story across mediums, defying the odds and never giving up.

The Outcast stars George Mackay, Greg Wise, Jessica Barden, Hattie Morahan, and Jessica Brown Findlay in what has been decribed as a deeply romantic, uncomfortably honest coming-of-age story set in booming post-war Britain.

a Brit abroad: working on drama in the USA Jun 04, 2015

Show notes

Is life across the pond different for writers and producers compared to over here? Steve Lightfoot is an executive producer and writer who has worked on BBC One's Casualty and the Emmy-award winning House of Saddam. He is currently showrunner on Hannibal on the American network channel NBC. Having made the leap from the UK to the USA, he shares his experiences with BBC Writersoom's Henry Swindell.

Radio producer/presenter relationship - getting it right May 21, 2015

Show notes

In this podcast we speak to presenters and producers alike including Capital Xtra's Marvin Humes, Radio 1Xtra's Yasmin Evans, Radio 1's Greg James and award-winning BBC Three Counties presenter Iain Lee on what radio producers do and how having a great the producer/presenter relationship is beneficial to both roles. The producer/presenter relationship is such a vital aspect to radio that Greg James says he wouldn't be the presenter he is today without his producers. Both parties have to trust, support and give each other the confidence to grow. But how do you go about building the relationship to get to that stage? We find out in this podcast.

Shark: meet producer Simon Blakeney May 07, 2015

Show notes

Bloodthirsty hunters or social and complex creatures? Natural History Unit producer Simon Blakeney talks to us about the making of the landmark series Shark, a new three part trilogy by the BBC's Natural History Unit.

Social media and the law Apr 23, 2015

Show notes

What place do traditional broadcasters have in this ever-evolving online world? Is there really one law for broadcasters like the BBC and another for nameless individuals? Gathered around the table to discuss social media, broadcasting and the law are Anna Doble, online editor from BBC Newsbeat, Mark Frankel, assistant editor from BBC Social News, and producer Tim Johns from BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show.

Fresh views on Radio 4 Mar 12, 2015

Show notes

In this podcast, we meet some of the latest intake from the BBC's Radio Journalism Apprenticeship scheme - Ben Mitchell, Daniel Parker, Kathryn Twelvetree and Thomas Harding Assinder. They take a fresh look at one of the new ways to get on the media career ladder.

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