Media Savvy was intrigued to read The Guardian's Graham Johnson ranting about "the shiny, skateboard-riding world of independent TV" in his article on Monday. It's less of a serious piece of journalism, more of a shameless personal rant about Zig Zag Productions and his bad experience working on a low budget production for Bravo. Really, Graham. Call yourself a journo? A little bit of research into Bravo would have informed you that it's nothing more than a low rent, male-skewed and rather seedy digital channel that specialises in tabloidy doco shows about sex or gangsters (or both). It's the TV equivilant of The Daily Star.
I mean, 1x45 documentary for a 30k budget - what did you expect?! The channel caters for people with low intellect and even lower concentration levels. It's a poor man's Panorama - think Danny Dyer, not David Dimbleby. But in Bravo's defense, they do car crash TV very well.
Much to my office's amusement, Graham went on to slag off the programme's Researchers as if somehow they're responsible for him not getting paid. Again, Graham, if you were a good journalist you'd have done some research and discovered that nowhere in a Researcher's job description does paying the talent come in. That's the PM's job, my friend.
Graham's grievances aside, the article did raise an important issue - why do TV Researchers dress like T4 presenters?
I quote, "We've all met them - the TV researchers who dress like members of the Ting Tings and come to work on scooters, skateboards and plastic children's toys . Futuristic bohemians they may be. But not necessarily journalists... Like mafia assassins, they come with a smiling face. The female TV researchers are posh and look like Peaches Geldof. (For posh read: will work for nothing for years, and can stay in Daddy's London pied-à-terre rent-free while career takes off)..."
Must dash, I'm off to Brick Lane on my vintage Lambretta to spend Daddy's allowance on skinny jeans, indie-pop CDs and Nylon magazine.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/30/freelancer-graham-johnson-tv-dispute
PS - we don't enjoy dressing like The Ting Tings or working for free, it comes with the territory. Just like a McDonald's worker doesn't like wearing a baseball cap with a big yellow 'M' on it.
I mean, 1x45 documentary for a 30k budget - what did you expect?! The channel caters for people with low intellect and even lower concentration levels. It's a poor man's Panorama - think Danny Dyer, not David Dimbleby. But in Bravo's defense, they do car crash TV very well.
Much to my office's amusement, Graham went on to slag off the programme's Researchers as if somehow they're responsible for him not getting paid. Again, Graham, if you were a good journalist you'd have done some research and discovered that nowhere in a Researcher's job description does paying the talent come in. That's the PM's job, my friend.
Graham's grievances aside, the article did raise an important issue - why do TV Researchers dress like T4 presenters?
I quote, "We've all met them - the TV researchers who dress like members of the Ting Tings and come to work on scooters, skateboards and plastic children's toys . Futuristic bohemians they may be. But not necessarily journalists... Like mafia assassins, they come with a smiling face. The female TV researchers are posh and look like Peaches Geldof. (For posh read: will work for nothing for years, and can stay in Daddy's London pied-à-terre rent-free while career takes off)..."
Must dash, I'm off to Brick Lane on my vintage Lambretta to spend Daddy's allowance on skinny jeans, indie-pop CDs and Nylon magazine.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/30/freelancer-graham-johnson-tv-dispute
PS - we don't enjoy dressing like The Ting Tings or working for free, it comes with the territory. Just like a McDonald's worker doesn't like wearing a baseball cap with a big yellow 'M' on it.
Graham Johnson was complaining about his not being paid the £1,500 owed to him by ZigZag. However, it wasn't that ZigZag unfairly decided not to 'deal' with him (hoho), but that he didn't do the work he was supposed to.
ReplyDeleteZigZag reduced his fee after he TWICE missed flights to Istanbul booked by the production team. As a result, it caused problems for the production, therefore caused a loss of money on the side of the production company... it was because of that he was only paid £750 for his services.
It's far less to do with the integrity of the production company and whether the channel caters for "people with low intellect" is irrelevant.