"Blows the lid on so many TV secrets" Tom Archer, Controller Factual, BBC "If every first-time producer read this before pitching a program, I guarantee a greater success rate" Gary Lico, President/CEO, CABLEready, USA In recent years there has been an explosion of broadcast and cable channels with a desperate need for original factual/reality programming to fill their schedules: -documentaries, observational series, makeover formats, reality competitions. Yet television executives receive a daily avalanche of inappropriate pitches from pushy, badly prepared producers. Only 1 in 100 proposals are considered worth a second look, and most commissioners never read past the first paragraph. Greenlit explains how to develop, research, pitch and sell your idea for any type of factual or reality television show. It gives the inside track on: * What channel executives are really looking for in a pitch, * The life stories of hit factual shows such as The Apprentice, Deadliest Catch and Strictly Come Dancing * Advice from channel commissioners, development producers and on-screen talent on both sides of the Atlantic. * Eleven steps that will increase your chance of winning a commission In a rapidly expanding TV market, Greenlit is packed with resource lists, sample proposals, case studies and exercises designed to boost your skills and develop commission-winning proposals.

Creating Reality in Factual Television analyzes the uneasy interaction between economics, culture, and professional ethics in reality and documentary television storytelling. Through the "frankenbite," an editorial tool that extracts and re-orders the salient elements or single words of a statement, interview, or exchange into a revealing confession or argument, the book explores how and why editors manipulate truth in factual television. The author considers how the editing of documentary television is increasingly following reality television’s dictate to entertain instead of inform, how the "real" and the "truth" fall victim to the demand to "tell entertaining stories," and how editors must compromise their professional ethics as a result. Drawing on interviews with 75 North American and European editors that explore their experiences and opinions of reality and documentary television practices, and their views on their responsibilities and loyalties in the field, Creating Reality in Factual Television illuminates the real and potential ethical dilemmas of editorial decision making, the context in which decisions are made, and how editors themselves validate the editing choices to themselves and others. Addressing a dramatic development in contemporary media ecology – the age of "alternative facts" – this book is a useful research tool for scholars and students of documentary film, media literacy, genre studies, media ethics, affect theory, and audience perception.

The New Television Handbook provides an exploration of the theory and practice of television at a time when the medium is undergoing radical changes. The book looks at television from the perspective of someone new to the industry, and explores the place of the medium within a constantly changing digital landscape. This title discusses key skills involved in television production, including: producing, production management, directing, camera, sound, editing and visual effects. Each of these activities is placed within a wider context as it traces the production process from commissioning to post-production. The book outlines the broad political and economic context of the television industry. It gives an account of television genres, in particular narrative, factual programmes and news, and it considers the academic discipline of media studies and the ways in which theorists have analysed and tried to understand the medium. It points to the interplay of theory and practice as it draws on the history of the medium and observes the ways in which the past continues to influence and invigorate the present. The New Television Handbook includes: contributions from practitioners ranging from established producers to new entrants; a comprehensive list of key texts and television programmes; a revised glossary of specialist terms; a section on training and ways of getting into the industry. By combining theory, real-world advice and a detailed overview of the industry and its history, The New Television Handbook is an ideal guide for students of media and television studies and young professionals entering the television industry.

What does it mean to be a documentary filmmaker in today's world? How are new technologies changing documentary filmmaking? What new forms of documentary are emerging? Recent technological developments have made the making and distribution of documentary films easier and more widespread than ever before. Creative Documentary: Theory and Practice is an innovative and essential guide that comprehensively embraces these changing contexts and provides you with the ideas, methods, and critical understanding to support successful documentary making. It helps the aspiring 'total filmmaker' understand the contemporary contexts for production, equipping you also with the understanding of creativity and visual storytelling you'll need to excel. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, it outlines the contemporary, institutional, practical and financial contexts for production - always encouraging innovation and originality. Key features: Five sections covering creativity and creative documentary and the contemporary creative industries: strategies for developing documentary ideas; the art of documentary narrative; digital production methods; new documentary forms; distribution and financing. Provides a comprehensive overview of critical thought and techniques in digital documentary filmmaking. Authors and specialist contributors combine the experience, knowledge and skills of academics and media professionals working in the industry. Practical case studies support analysis and reflection. Exercises, checklists, interviews with professionals and further reading materials accompany each chapter. A historical overview of world documentary. Creative Documentary: Theory and Practice is an essential guide for those engaged in the study and practice of documentary theory and making, as well as key reading for those more broadly interested in video, film and media theory and production.

The Routledge Companion to British Media History provides a comprehensive exploration of how different media have evolved within social, regional and national contexts. The 50 chapters in this volume, written by an outstanding team of internationally respected scholars, bring together current debates and issues within media history in this era of rapid change, and also provide students and researchers with an essential collection of comparable media histories. The Routledge Companion to British Media History provides an essential guide to key ideas, issues, concepts and debates in the field. Chapter 40 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315756202.ch40

Screenwriters and Screenwriting is an innovative, fresh and lively book that is useful for both screenwriting practice and academic study. It is international in scope, with case studies and analyses from the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland and Denmark. The book presents a distinctive collection of chapters from creative academics and critical practitioners that serve one purpose: to put aspects of screenwriting practice into their relevant contexts. Focusing on how screenplays are written, developed and received, the contributors challenge assumptions of what 'screenwriting studies' might be, and celebrates the role of the screenwriter in the creation of a screenplay. It is intended to be thought provoking and stimulating, with the ultimate aim of inspiring current and future screenwriting practitioners and scholars.

Greenlit explains how to develop, research, pitch and sell your idea for any type of factual or reality television show. It gives the inside track on what channel executives are really looking for, stories of how hit shows actually came about and advice from channel commissioners and development producers.

"Blows the lid on so many TV secrets" Tom Archer, Controller Factual, BBC "If every first-time producer read this before pitching a program, I guarantee a greater success rate" Gary Lico, President/CEO, CABLEready, USA In recent years there has been an explosion of broadcast and cable channels with a desperate need for original factual/reality programming to fill their schedules: documentaries, observational series, makeover formats, reality competitions. Yet television executives receive a daily avalanche of inappropriate pitches from pushy, badly prepared producers. Only 1 in 100 proposals are considered worth a second look, and most commissioners never read past the first paragraph. Greenlit explains how to develop, research, pitch and sell your idea for any type of factual or reality television show. It gives the inside track on: - What channel executives are really looking for in a pitch - The life stories of hit factual shows such as The Apprentice, Deadliest Catch and Strictly Come Dancing - Advice from channel commissioners, development producers and on-screen talent on both sides of the Atlantic - Eleven steps that will increase your chance of winning a commission In a rapidly expanding TV market, Greenlit is packed with resource lists, sample proposals, case studies and exercises designed to boost your skills and develop commission-winning proposals.

You can present to camera, speak to time, read autocue, conduct an interview, write and memorise scripts; you have a showreel, headshots and a CV—but what next? How do you decide which genre to go for, market yourself and establish your career? The TV Presenter’s Career Handbook is full of information and advice on how to capitalise on your presenter training and contains up-to-date lists of resources to help you seek work, market yourself effectively, and increase your employability. Contents include raising your profile, what kinds of companies to aim for and how to contact them, what to do with your programme idea, video and radio skills, creating your own TV channel, tips from agents, specialist genres such as News, Sports, Technology, Children’s and Shopping channels, breaking into the US, and more! Features interviews and case studies with over 80 experts so you can learn from those who have been there first, including: Maxine Mawhinney and Julian Worricker BBC News anchors, Jon Bentley and Jason Bradbury presenters The Gadget Show, Melvin Odoom KISS FM, Gemma Hunt presenter Swashbuckle, Matt Lorenzo presenter Premier League, Tony Tobin chef/presenter Ready Steady Cook and Saturday Kitchen, Alison Keenan and Marie-Francoise Wolff presenters QVC, Maggie Philbin and Jem Stansfield presenters Bang Goes the Theory, Kate Russell presenter BBC Click, Sarah Jane Cass Senior Talent Agent Somethin’ Else Talent, Emma Barnett award-winning radio presenter, David McClelland Technology presenter Rip Off Britain, Louise Houghton and Tina Edwards presenters London Live, Fran Scott presenter Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom, and Claire Richmond founder findatvexpert.com