The Producer

Producing.

With the role of Producer for this project, I'll have a lot of responsibility revolving around much of the project. My job is to oversee the project as a whole and to delegate jobs to other members of the team. I have control over the content, style, and contributors on the show.
To get a better idea of what my role involves, I've researched into the role and reflected on how I filled the role.

The Role of the Producer

Project Development

During the production development stage, I worked on building the programme into something that was interesting and unique but also manageable. I pitched the idea to a panel who ultimately chose my idea to create.

I got my inspiration from an app game, SpaceTeam, which I began to develop into games that could be played by children. I considered the viability for the set design team to make the games, which changed my initial plans but eventually developed the programme into a more dynamic idea. My initial game plans included a screen controlled by buttons that was a lot more reminiscent of the original app game I was basing the show off of. After discussing the idea with Helen before the pitch, I realised that the show wasn't achievable with my current game ideas, and so I turned it into a programme that would test more skills from the group and moved through 4 different games rather than just replaying the same one. This would add some dimension to the show and make the most of the space that we get from the set design team.
I made a design for the set that I thought could give an idea of how it might look (although I knew it would be largely different because of the viability, I wanted to present an idea of the style) to the pitching panel, and also included a camera plan that would cover the games as a whole.

Pre-Production

 Once the idea had been chosen, I started working on the running order of the programme and then from that I began the first iterations of a script. I broke the show down into a description of the action, any visuals, sound, and graphics that were going to be used. This also included descriptions of the VTs.

This was later developed into the full script.

I began to delegate jobs to other members of the team such as Esme and Michael. I gave Michael the role of organising the funding for the programme and I asked Esme to begin the casting process by writing character profiles with my guidance. I also worked with the VT director so that the VT scripts could start production.
I held regular meetings with the whole team as well as just with my closer team Esme, Michael and Lauren to ensure that everyone in the group was always on the same page and making sure that any jobs that could be delegated were being delegated so that the workload was spread across everyone evenly. We were also able to address issues quickly and professionally this way.
Lauren and I met with the set design team from the Film and Theatre Performance Course in Rochester to pitch the idea for our set and discuss any technicalities. Lauren made our pitch which included material from the style bible that was created by Tom and Meg, which really helped us establish a style for the show early on that was built from my original pitch (and so maintaining the style throughout production).

Esme arranged a casting day where we had a couple of actors come to audition for the part of the Admiral. Myself, Esme, and Lauren asked the actors to read the script however they interpreted it for the first time, then we guided them for the second time. We recorded their auditions so that we could refer back to them and show the VT team as they would be working mostly with the Admiral. We ended up casting our presenter and the Admiral, both of whom we were extremely happy with, as they were both very skilled. Our presenter had also worked on stage for pantomime and also had worked with children, both of which were requirements that I wanted for the presenter so that they would be able to get the audience involved and would also know how to entertain the children on-stage.
We began rehearsals with runners as stand-ins so that Lauren could decide on an initial shot plan, which we then were able to practice with the presenter after a couple of rehearsals. We wanted to make sure the crew roughly knew what they were going to be doing so that we could make the most of the time with the presenter. Through every rehearsal I would edit the script with any changes we made that day so that it would stay up to date at every stage. This also helped Steve, our presenter.

Production

When it came to the show day, we were able to fit in 2 full rehearsals in the morning. The children from the school arrived at the studios at 13.30 and myself and Ollie went to meet them and get them into their costumes. Steve walked the floor with them to talk to them about their positions and how they will go through the show.
During the recording, I spoke to both Steve and OBIC via IEM to maintain the smooth running of the show, ensuring that Steve knows his lines, who will be playing the games, and how long each game will run for. In the end of the show, we made the last minute decision to give the contestants the medals, despite them losing the show, as it felt wrong to not let them have it. During the VT, I gave Steve some improvised lines as we didn't have a script outcome for this- and although it was a scary moment as I didn't want to mess up any lines when I had to think of them in the heat of the moment, it turned out well and Steve handled the situation calmly.

Distribution

Although our show won't be broadcast on television, distribution of the programme would normally be a part of my role as a producer so I wanted to research it so that I understand the process.

Mission Control will be posted to YouTube but the format is designed to be broadcast on CBBC. On the BBC's commissioning guidelines for CBBC, they supply information about their brand, and what they're looking for in new shows. They have a tariff guide (pictured). Mission Control is a combination of Entertainment and Factual Entertainment, but mostly Entertainment focused, meaning that the show would make £40-£240k p/h on the channel; therefore, Mission Control would make half this for each transmission.
CBBC commission in 2 rounds through the year, one in Spring and one in Autumn; during this time, independent producers who are part of a production company can pitch their idea to CBBC via the submission system BBC Pitch. In order to get an account with BBC Pitch, the producer must be a part of an existing production company, and have had a commission from the BBC in the last 3 years. The BBC have a separate area where members of the public can submit ideas for programmes, but for the purpose of learning about commissioning, we can assume that Mission Control was made by a production company, as I went through a pitching process in the beginning.
Using BBC Pitch, you can submit a proposal to the relevant Commissioner, who may request more information about the show. Based on the proposal, this may then develop to a meeting with the commissioner to talk more about the show and to move forward with commissioning the programme.

Methodology

As producer, I used certain methodologies in order to professionally fulfill my role. 

Style

The style of Mission Control was established early into the development process thanks to my interest in what can be described as 'vaporwave' style; the futuristic lights combined with 80s influence drove the key aspects of the programme and this was maintained in every feature of the show, such as:

• The logo
• The set
• The colour palette
• Fonts
• The music
• Costumes
• Promotional material

Logo created by Jess Fairhall, designed by Meg Tanner and Effie Lyons

Promo Poster created by Harvey Flux

Colour Palette created by Tom Clarke

This meant that everyone always had a clear idea of how the show should look, and gave the Style Bible created by Tom Clarke and Meg Tanner a really clear idea that could be presented to any outside input (such as the Set Design crew and lighting crew). I was proud that there never seemed to be any confusion about the show style.

Script-writing

As a producer it was my responsibility to write the script for Mission Control, and had ultimate control in the plot of the show. I used examples from a Jools Holland show script to format my own, as well as input from Helen. There were instructions for each aspect of the show, such as sound ques, presenter script, and actions. The script went through development after every rehearsal, through which I would watch the show and change anything that didn't make sense or the presenter wanted to change. We reached a final script after the second day of rehearsal.

Set Design

To build the set, I worked closely from beginning to end with the set design team, initially giving them a pitch (as seen above) which I then developed with them. We had a rehearsal where they were able to walk the set and get a better idea of the sizes needed. They worked in 'flats'; 8ft tall boards that would be combined to make the walls. They took the colour palette and made a set out of the given colours and ideas. They also helped with the workings of the games, and changed 2 of them to be more achievable. There were changes that had to be made to their plans as it wouldn't work with cameras and lighting, for example they had made a screen out of perspex but it was too reflective and the cameras wouldn't be able to pick up what they were seeing in person. They changed this to a maze with a sliding wooden rocket, which worked much better. I also ensured that they stuck to the style of the show and didn't move too far from the initial plans. I stayed in daily contact with them in order to get updates and give as much input as I could.

Delegating

I delegated jobs to different people within the team, mostly relevant to their roles but sometimes regardless of role depending on the scale of the job. In particular, we needed to find a school that would be able to make up the audience of the show and also the contestants, and so I ensured that at least 3 members of the team were calling different schools at once. This was largely orchestrated by Esme Southam. I wrote a script for everyone to follow to ensure that everyone got the relevant information into a short phone call which could then be followed up with a more detailed email (also scripted). This secured professionalism with any contact we had with potential audiences.
Furthermore, the whole team had regular meetings where we could address any 'problems' (I preferred to call them obstacles; they could all be overcome) and everyone could work together to find a solution without putting any blame on anyone. I wanted to maintain positive relationships between everyone in the team and to do this I made sure to address any issues that we were having in a professional and respectful manner. I also wanted to make sure that everyone felt they could come to me about any issues they were having, and create a positive learning and working environment for everyone. I wanted to try and even the workload around everyone, but I feel that at times I trusted people to delegate jobs themselves but they felt they couldn't which held back some members of the team (at no fault of their own). I should have made it clearer that if they couldn't take a role on they were allowed to say no and I would be able to delegate the job to other people, but some people felt they were given too much work, which I can reflect now and know that I need to make myself clearer that if I ask someone if they can do a job, they can definitely say no. 

Adjudication

During the show, I acted as the adjudicator of each game, relaying the winning or losing verdict to the presenter so that the show would be accurately judged, and the last game time (variable) was accurate to their score. This also meant that when they lost the show, I was the person to make the decision to give the children the medals anyway, but we hadn't scripted this outcome, so I had to relay improvised lines during a VT to the presenter. This turned out fine, but in the moment was very nerve-wracking. I believe this is also a testament to the skill of our presenter Steve; he handled the situation calmly, and delivered the improvised lines as though it was planned, despite the slight panic in the gallery!

Reflection

Overall, the show went to plan and nothing went terribly wrong. I was very proud of our 'brand' that we had jointly created; and I believe the casting could not have gone better. In reflection, I know I need to improve on the delegation of roles and ensure that everyone is okay with the work that they are being given rather than just trusting them to sort it out themselves. The whole team worked brilliantly together, but I think there were people who could have taken more responsibility and people who should have taken less due to my own work of delegating jobs, but ultimately, I can recognise everyone worked very hard. 

I feel that the script lacked in places where it could have heightened drama and tension. It covered the show adequately, but I think the action and urgency was added into the show by direction during the rehearsals rather than the script. The tension that the show ultimately held was down to the performance from Steve and the participation from the children, which I can't take credit for. However, I liked that the script stuck with the 'story' behind the show; it was difficult to write with this added obstacle, but ultimately, the VTs and the show script worked coherently to move along the plot and keep the audience engaged.