There isn’t a production company in the world that doesn’t need extra hands.  Especially when you’re coming down the home stretch of pre production. With last minute script changes, location permits, meals on set to arrange, props, wardrobe, set construction and the like – the final days before actual production can feel like your head is stuck in the spin cycle of a washing machine.  Your budget is tight and as a producer you’re not going to even think about going over budget when you haven’t yet shot one minute of footage.  Interns to the rescue.  However, I’ve found that there are some production companies and producers who not only don’t understand the benefits of an intern but the responsibility that comes with hiring one.  If you’re just using your interns to take out the garbage, or file paperwork, then you’re doing both of you a disservice.

When I work with interns I make sure I give them some one-on-one time and the benefit of my years of production experience.

1.     Never, never let an intern sit idly.  Yes, it’s tempting, with the pace of production, it can have the apparency that it is easier to do it yourself than to take the time to teach a ‘newbie’ to do it.   In fact, it takes more time for you to continually do a task that is so far out of your job description, than it does to just spend the initial 30 or 45 minutes to give the data to an intern.  So, take the time, give them a little bit about the business and let them get on with it.  They’ll surprise you.  And if they perform the task and it’s not quite right – don’t accept it.  Don’t assume the viewpoint that you might as well do it yourself. That is so not the point. Thank them for their effort, point out what was right about it, and then tell them what needs to be changed and why.

2.    Take time each week to teach your intern something they don’t know.  Even if they’re not ready to do that particular job.  Give them something to look forward to, or something they can work on during their own time.  For example, show them how to research, give them a list of all the vendors you use, and have them check out their websites so they’ll know in the future who you order your lights from, where props can be rented, who are the food services people you use, etc.  Let them get familiar so if they do happen to be the only person back in the production office while you’re on a shoot or in the edit session, they’ll be able to help you out without too much preamble.  Seriously, who has time for preamble when you’re on location?

3.     Put your intern in a centrally located spot in the production office.  Stuffing him or her to the outer Siberia of your office will teach them nothing.  Put them in the middle of the fray where they’ll be able to hear and experience everything.  They’re working for free- if you can’t give them money then show them the love- put them in the middle of what’s happening.

4.    Once your intern has proven s/he has the staying power, include them in meetings, invite them to outside office functions and they’ll feel like they’re part of team.  Morale will be boosted and we all now, boosted morale equals increased production.

5.    Give them different things to do.  If you’ve got a ton of transcriptions from tapes you’ve shot – don’t give them ALL to the intern.  It’s tempting; after all they’re a warm body. But if you take the internship seriously, you’ll want to help develop a well rounded production person who can crawl they’re way up the ranks like the rest of us.  Give them a sense of all areas of production.  Not just typing up transcriptions and answering phones.  Have them log tapes, type up production schedules so they can see the logistics and maneuverings that go into creating a production schedule, have them create crew call sheets and then go over it with them.

There’s lots more an intern can and will do – but it’s up to you as the producer to take time out of your hectic schedule each day to give them some guidance and show them the love.  And on a final note, there can never be too much of “what goes around comes around,” – remember we all had to start somewhere.  Make their first experience a good one.

Having been through six months of licensing deals with that production – I developed a keen ear whenever I watched a show featuring lots of music.  In the back of my mind I would think, “Oh those poor bastards at the production company, their heads must be spinning around like the exorcist child trying to make deals for the music.”

I had those same thoughts when I saw the TV show GLEE.  The FOX hit about a group of misfit high school Glee Club singers.    Each week the show features at least four songs.  I’ve come to discover that the show producers and Sony Music made a deal.  When the execs at Sony Music saw the pilot they jumped at the chance to partner with GLEE. And that was a very, very smart move.  The songs from the show have already generated over 200 million iTune downloads and the number grows weekly.  Can you hear the ‘cha-ching’ at the music publishing company?  A gold mind is being created and the show is giving re-birth to songs that were no longer bringing in the big bucks.

I don’t think many music publishers, labels or recording artists thought much about GLEE when it premiered – but Sony Music was insightful enough to see that this show had legs and would be advantageous to their publishing division.  When the show featured Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” the track went gold with over 500,000 digital sales.  Those sales figures are attracting attention and there are now many musical artists offering their songs, including Brittany Spears – all with the hopes of cashing in on the phenomenon that is GLEE.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE ORDER

1.  Deliver final master to the network
2.  Create all the deliverables for the network. (Contracts, final scripts, releases, DVD copies, etc.)
3.  Close caption your show
4.  Mix your tracks
5.  Final on-line edit
6.  Rough cut delivered to the network.  Factor in the various executives who will need to weigh in, comment and approve.  You’ll need time to get their comments, make the changes, deliver those changes, and then get a second or third round of rough cuts and comments before you’re ready for your final edit.
7.  Shoot your series/show.  Schedule your shoots based on location proximity and not script order.
8.  Write the script, factoring in time for revisions from the network.
9.  Scout Locations
10. Rehearse Talent
11. Cast Talent
12. Research
13. Budget developed and approved
14. Idea/concept

Reading the list from bottom to top are the sequence of actions you would take during a production (with a million other details thrown in).  Reading it from top to bottom is how you develop your production schedule.  Why?  Because it is rare that a delivery or air date change.  Anything else in between, can be squeezed, squashed, maneuvered and manipulated.

To ensure you’re on track during production, write daily reports against the production schedule.  It allows all key personnel to know what’s been accomplished, what needs to be accomplished and what’s back logged.  It is also an opportunity for any one with concerns to speak up.  The sooner you know about a scheduling difficulty the easier you can solve it – otherwise you will be running around like a schizophrenic at a multiple personality surprise party.

Whether you’re shooting a video to upload to You Tube, working on a series for a TV network, or producing a film – a workable schedule will give your production a strong foundation.

TV Land finds love

“First Love, Second Chance” is a new six-episode original series on TV Land.  It’s a great title and accurately describes this docu-drama-reality series.  Each episode will feature a different couple who were once emotionally involved but who have since broken up.  They may have been apart for as long as 20 years.  Personally, if I broke up with you 20 years ago, I’ve probably moved on.  But that may not be the case in this series, as the viewer takes a week long journey with each couple as they try to go beyond their past and rekindle the romance that once was.  The series premiers on Wednesday, March 10^th at 10:00 p.m ET/PT.  The executive in charge of production is Marco Bresaz who I’d had the pleasure of working with and for my money there’s none better – so I’ll absolutely tune in and find out what this series is all about.

You bring the peanuts, I’ll bring the crackerjacks

I’m a baseball fan, I admit it.  Well to be honest, I’m a Yankee fan.  Nothing better than watching a game at Yankee Stadium, even if I am in the nose bleed section.  But if you can’t get to the game, there’s always television.  From April to October you can watch a baseball game across many channels several nights a week.  But for some fans, that doesn’t seem to be enough.  For the real die-hards who need their fingers on the pulse of every hit, run and error – there’s Major League Baseball TV (MLB.TV), one of the largest subscription based internet sites with over 2 million subscribers.  And to make watching baseball even easier, MLB.TV now offers mobility – you can watch games through your iPad, iPhone or iTouch, with more streaming options coming before opening day.  So, fans if you’re at a wedding and the Yankees are playing the Red Socks – no worries, you can whip out your iPhone and pretend you’re reading urgent messages from the office.  MLB.TV’s subscriptions begin as low as 99.95 for the year and that’s cheaper than a couple of tickets to Yankee Stadium.  Hmmm… now there’s an idea.

Now that deserves a standing Ovation.

Over the years arts education has been slashed and then slashed some more.   I’m all from STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) and it’s certainly important for us to create the next scientific leaders – but technology without the human spirit is in my opinion folly.  When you don’t balance science with the humanities – one could create a future we’re now seeing in so many movies and books – a post-apocalyptic barren waste land. Sorry, was that a tad dramatic?  No, I don’t think so.  The arts must be supported for any culture to survive.

The new arts education program created by Ovation TV and Cable in the Classroom is a fantastic way to enhance young people’s education.   The network  worked with NYC area art teachers and students in developing the  lessons and selecting programming clips from Ovation TV documentaries.  This project and its outcome will serve as the cornerstone of Ovation TV’s free web-based initiative.

Social Media is TV’s Last Hope

According to Broadcasting & Cable, Elisabeth Murdoch, who is News Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch’s daughter, told TV producers and distributors at the annual National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) convention in Las Vegas:

We in the TV business have to catch up with what our audience is doing. We can no longer afford to be one-screen business. Social networks are finally the interactive dimension of storytelling. We now need to evolve with our audience. To resist this would be like resisting Technicolor.

David Baker is a filmmaker, director and actor.  I learned about David by reading an interview he gave to producers Joke Fincioen and Biagio Messina. I found him so fascinating I started following him on Twitter and since then have discovered he’s a filmmaker with that rare combination of a strong creative voice coupled with a business savvy that reaches beyond the typical producer’s job description. David wrote, produced, directed, acted and distributed his latest film, Mission X.

Mission X is the story of Grant, a documentary film student who wants to travel to Iraq and document real war.  Grant’s only experience with war is his expertise with his military Xbox game. He meets Ryan a mercenary who agrees to have him document him while he recruits a group of mercenaries for a private mission. Thinking he’ll be able to get up close and personal to a ‘foreign’ battle, Grant discovers the war is right at home.

I asked David if he wouldn’t mind answering a few questions about his film and his distribution process.

I’m going to start with a ‘typical’ question, because I am genuinely curious – how did you get the idea for Mission X?

I have had many ideas for films over the years but up until the last couple of years, I was writing screenplays that were too expensive, out my reach. I decided to come up with a concept, that could be told on a micro budget. Just to get me kick started after a long gap. So the germ came from a practical basis first.

I wanted to keep it in more or less the one location, kind of “Clerks”, “Res Dogs” style. A character story, but at the same time having a non linear set up that would cut away to action, cinematic stuff. I didn’t just want guys talking in a room 90 minutes.

I had no interest in the military at all, but I have always been interested in people’s personal battles, which can be harder to win than any war. So I wanted a story with characters that were fine in war, they survived dangerous missions, but their personal wars were harder to win when they came back to dull suburbia. And that’s why they partly do this mission that is almost suicidal. They trained to live on the edge, not to exist, settle. That can kill ya!

I also wanted to show myself as a filmmaker that could do some thrilling stuff, action, but that’s very hard to do well with no money. I had watched a lot of action Iraq videos, and military body cams, so I thought it would work to bring that type of reality action into the film. It suits the story, and it would be cheap to pull off. I also liked the idea where one minute this young gamer filmmaker is playing military games, next minute he’s in the thick of it on a real mission in his city.

You describe your film as a micro budget, self financed feature film.  Self-financing a film requires extra attention to every line in the budget.  What steps did you take as the producer to ensure the ‘director’ in you didn’t get carried away and spend more than you allocated?

It’s impossible to get carried away when you literally have no money anyway. I started the first day with £30. It was a simple scene with me (I play the Merc leader) and the film student. Once I shot that, I got the website up, pictures, people began to see the vision, and then I got offered lots of stuff that nobody would give me before. People got inspired enough to get on board

I shot another cheap scene, and shortly after that, others saw the concept, and then I got a top armourer on board. So it kind of rolled like that. I saw how Chris Nolan had shot “Following” this way over a year (Dark Knight) filmmaker, so I approached it in this piecemeal way.

I knew it would be gritty, cheap looking, but I felt that would add to the fact that this does look as if a REAL student has followed these guys. So then the budget does not become an issue, hinder the movie. The whole film cost about £4000, including post.

I got a little investment from a worker at the burger bar I worked at, after he saw footage from the gun battle, but most of that was used to buy a new computer, hard drives etc for the post. I would rather have had a producer on board, or even co-producer, as it did hugely affect my creative side, but I will continue to produce my own work until I can find the right person. It’s my future goal to partner with someone who believes in what I am trying to do.

You spoke with producers Joke and Biagio about why you made the decision to distribute your film and not rely on traditional distribution methods.  Since that interview what success have you had with self distribution and what would you change if you had to start again today?

To be 100% honest, I did know from day one I wanted to self distribute, but my real goal was simply to make a calling card for private investors, industry to see, because I had such a gap from my first funded feature.  I knew I was making a very cheap film, and because of that, I knew I would have the freedom to hold on to it, experiment with it, retain rights. If I had a large investment, I might have had pressure from others to take a more conventional approach. That’s why I think new filmmakers should keep the budget very low.

I attracted investment to do a little tour across the UK, but the guy wanted a bigger cut at the last minute. That would have allowed me to do screenings, and really get the film out there. It would have also paid for the very basics of the cinema release in Scotland, as a top multiplex chain saw it, and wanted to test it on an audience.

I have no regrets, because I never assumed a cinema would want a £4000 movie, so it did give me a boost that I might have a glimmer of talent. I believe I can make films for indie and big audiences, so it has made me focus on getting the bigger budget version into development. So I treat Mission X as my short film, and I am using it to develop the US remake.

MissionX is selling a steady flow of DVD’s. Enough to keep running, but I know I could make 1000 times more if I gave up my ambition, and just focused on sales for another year or two, but then I am a sales person and not a filmmaker. There has to be a balance. I would rather make more films, climb higher, and it will make more sales on a slower burn. I have the Roger Corman attitude, make films! However, in my next film, the global tour, marketing plan is at the forefront of my strategy. I believe in a solid six months marketing, but make the marketing and selling fun, that ways it’s not a drag.

Once I partner with more military sites, get downloads up, cool merchandise, it will roll faster. It’s doing the job I intended. It’s also attracting the investment for this horror movie, and it will give my investor a great return over the next few years.  I know in the worst case scenario, the £4000 Mission X will easily make a very healthy profit over the next 18 months. Especially when I can afford cool merchandise.

What would I have done different? I can’t regret anything, because I was 1000% from even calling myself a filmmaker just 18 months ago. I was working in a burger bar, with zero contacts, and pretty down. This little flick is already opening many doors, so even if it did not make a penny, it’s already done its job.

Mission X has a large potential for merchandising opportunities, particularly to males ages 18-35.  What types of merchandising have you done or plan to do with the film?

The age range for this version is around 18 to 35. It’s a more introspective, character driven film than it looks. A remake would be for a younger global gamer market.  I am not a big believer in just throwing out t-shirts, mugs, and then wondering why people don’t buy them. It needs more effort than that.

Somebody pointed out to me that the hit military game “Modern Warfare 2” has a character that wears a similar mask to what we have in the film. A lot of young males are looking for these masks, so I am on to a few companies to try and get the best deal to manufacture them. I also wanted to put an Xbox live file of the film on to a flash USB drive, that looks like an ak-47 bullet.

If the film gets pirated, it’s easy to find the Mission X name on top of the search engines. Some traffic could go there, see the masks, cool looking flash drives, (That are cool to own even outside the film) so I could then start making sales on these. I also have my eye on dog tags, and several other merch items.

If the film really spreads, and if I get a remake deal, then people also go back to the original film. So this little flick, and all the stuff connected with it, could be a bigger earner for the rest of my life. It could turn into a brand, so that’s why I am patient in this biz. Nothing is overnight. And that’s why I turned down small offers from sales agents and distributors.

I understand you’re working on a larger U.S. remake of Mission X – can you tell me about that?

I am working on a horror at this minute, with a tour, and if I am successful with this, I think that will really give me the clout to get the remake done. I am packaging the MX remake  this year to take to the states. Get an agent on board, and finding a producing partner. We know the industry is bumpy at the moment but Hollywood will always want big event style films. My remake version is in that mold.

The £4000 version was never written as a big movie, made with a no budget. It was written to suit the budget. So we see the film student hang out with this Merc leader as he prepares the attack, and then he gets to hang out with the gang before the attack. Mixed with some action in different time frames. So it does not look like a $15m movie that was made on the cheap.

After I saw the film in the edit, I realized this remake has HUGE potential to appeal to a global gamer market. Not a CGI film, but a real gritty “Cloverfield” meets “Black Hawk Down” style film. Some “Saving Private Ryan” style wild action.  It came to me in minutes.

The remake would start like a Spielberg film, where an ordinary character lives in dull suburbia. His friends are all gamers, “armchair Adventurers”. They live on the edge, but a dull edge of inactivity, entertainment, booze, drugs. He wants to go to Iraq, but wants to speak to a Merc he met online for his college documentary.

That night he is picked up by a chopper, taken to an airfield hangar, 50 mercs have just landed, and they are all preparing for a revenge attack in a US city. (All shot through his HD camcorder very real. District 9 style)

He gets his interview with the Merc leader, but then gets to go on the attack. The movie then kicks into a rollercoaster, as they attack the city building, then spend the rest of the film trying to escape the 1000 armed contractors who try to kill them all. They chase them all over the city. So it’s much more of a thriller for an international audience.

The movie would also have a transmedia aspect to it, where you don’t see a boot camp scene in the movie, but you do on video diaries, and you see other POVs of the mercs bodycams before the film comes out.

Ninety minute big films have to really move these days, but character stuff can spin off to transmedia, to support promo trailers. Even mini movies from other POVs. This way you get to explore interesting characters on the web, away from the pure thriller movie ride. So it’s the best of both.

It’s also all part of a viral marketing plan, and spin off story telling. I also have a solid sequel, possible game, theme park. The game and theme park is a bit ambitious, but I always think you should aim beyond your reach. If your life ambition is just to make a £4000 movie on your doorstep, than that’s all you will get. I have bigger plans.

David’’s very clever when it comes to marketing.  He’s created a great website for “Mission X” where you can also purchase the DVD. And he’s got a new site up for his next film “Death Movie”.  I know we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.  Thanks you David, it was wonderful having you here today.

You can follow David on Twitter @indiemoviemaker or on Facebook

When producing a clip based show, you have ideas of what clips would work but unless you actually see the footage in the rough cut, it’s a gamble as to whether or not they will work in your story.  Typically, you’ll have your researcher, associate producer, or production assistant contact the studios to inquire if the footage is available for licensing, send a letter of intent and then pay for a screener.  The screener will usually arrive within a day or a week depending on how many other orders the one studio person assigned to rights and clearances has to fill.  If you’re in a hurry, be prepared to plead with said studio person on the phone hoping he or she will understand that your project is more important than any other order.

Meanwhile, back at the production offices, the producer and the editor are ‘pacing’ the edit room wondering where the heck the footage is because the story their telling depends on whether the footage will work, and of course they won’t know that until they see it.  When the screener finally arrives, it’s got the biggest visual time code embedded into the clip to ensure you don’t ‘steal’ the footage.  The clip from the screener won’t be replaced with clean footage until everyone has signed off on the rough cut, and if your delivery deadline is approaching you may just be biting the last of your finger nails waiting for the clean footage.  It takes time to get a clean copy of the footage, rights have to negotiated with the studio and with each actor that appears in the clip, contracts will need to be signed and in some cases the studio will have to pull the original footage out of a vault just to get a print made and duplicated onto a format you need.

As you can see, in a production if you’re using clips you practically need a department devoted to securing clips and obtaining the rights and clearances. That’s why I was happily surprised to see that Paramount Pictures has decided to make the process easier.  I don’t believe it was out of sense of altruism, but rather due to declining DVD sales and poor box office revenues. I’m sure someone said, “Hey we’ve got a gold mine in the basement vaults, let’s make the process easier and make some money.”

By logging onto ParamountClips.com, you can search for the exact clip you want with the licensing parameters you need.  Once you’ve located the clip, press the checkout button and you’re done. Paramount will electronically deliver the selection in the format and resolution desired. Most scenes are available in multiple languages.

I love when companies use technology to make the process easier.

What kind of technology makes your production work easier?

Surviving in the digital age as a filmmaker requires knowing the latest in lenses, cameras, shooting formats and ways to tell a story.  At 83 film director Roger Corman of Little Shop of Horrors and Pit and the Pendulum fame is most definitely changing with the times.  His latest venture Splatter staring Corey Feldman has been picked up by Fireworks International for global distribution.  His three part webisode was originally featured on Netflix in October 2009 and offers viewers the opportunity to select the direction of the series by presenting a number of alternative story lines as the episodes progress.

In an interview with SciFiPulse, Corman was quoted as saying, “We’ve come a long way from trucking 35mm film prints to the drive-in. Now, through the medium of the internet, filmmakers can reach the audience immediately, and open them up to new experiences in interactive storytelling. Viewers can now decide the outcome of the story for themselves—provided the writer and director can present all the options. The devil is in the details, and it’s a new kind of entertainment for a fast-changing audience.”

Take a look at Splatter and decide if interactive story telling works for you.  A word of caution, this series is not for the faint of heart – the title says it all.

L.A.’s New Film Commission

Film production in California has declined in 10 of the last 12 years. In 2003, 66% of American films were produced in California, most of them in Los Angeles; last year, it was 31%. Six years ago, 81% of the country’s television pilots were made here; in 2009, the figure was 57%. With the decline in production it makes sense to create a commission whose purpose is to bring back production, and in turn will bring back the production jobs.

Shooting in some NYC locations will cost you

Gone are the days of sending a production assistant down to the Mayor’s office the day before a shoot to obtain a free permit.  Not if you want to shoot in certain municipal buildings. There’s a new charge 3,200.00 charge and you’ve got to obtain the permit four days in advance. If you’re shooting in NYC plan ahead.

ESPN in 3-D

I’m not sure if I’m ready to see baseball player’s spit in 3-D but that’s really not the point.  With the launch of ESPN’s new 3-D channel, sports fans will be able to feel as though there right on the field.  ESPN promises 85 sporting events in 3-D this year, including the Summer X Games.

With 3-D production comes 3-D TV sets

You’ll be able to see the latest in 3-D TV sets displayed at this years Consumer Electronics Show on January 7th.  And to think, just a few decades ago we didn’t even have cable.  My entertainment options are growing daily.

Producers with superhero qualities create great shows and they work again, and again and again.  So what’s the trick to unleashing the superhero in you?

Never leave home without your cape
You can either scale a wall one brick at a time like a mere mortal, or you can strap on your cape and leap tall buildings with a single bound.

Let the world know you’re the type of producer that understands that nothing is impossible; in fact you eat challenges for breakfast.  You know what the goal is and nothing will stop you from achieving it.  That means making the tough decisions about schedules, budgets, hiring, firing, re-writes and negotiating with the network.  You’re willing to be the final word and take responsibility for the outcome.

Work with other superheroes
Would Batman work without Robin?

When putting your production crew together get the best.  Hire people you’ve worked with before, or those who have been recommended by someone you respect.  Hire experts who have a collaborative nature and be willing to listen to what they have to say.

Know when the production needs Clark Kent and when the production needs Superman
If everything is running smoothly, keep your glasses on, your tie in place and suit jacket buttoned up.   At the first sign of trouble be ready to jump into the phone booth and come out flying.

Always have three or four options kicking around in the event the schedule has to change, or the edit isn’t working, or the network isn’t happy with what you’re doing.  Don’t wait until the last minute, a good producer knows when it’s not clicking, trust your instincts and be ready to change on a dime.

A Superhero isn’t always a man of steel
Where would Spiderman be without his agility?

You must be able to listen and bend but not break.  Listening to what the network wants, as well as what your writers, director and editor have to say will keep the show on track.  You will deliver more than what the network expected.

Be a Superhero
If you want to be a producing superhero, then be a good producer.
•    Learn your craft.
•    Keep current with new technology.
•    Project the attitude you’d like to see in others.
•    Be kind, but be strong.

At some point America forgave and forgot, because game shows now dot the dials with every click – Jeopardy, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Wheel of Fortune and Deal or no Deal to name a few.  Each show features your average Joe or Jane in a mental balancing act as they try to answer questions that will take them to the next rung of the money ladder. We tune in and we root for these contestants, perhaps because they represent us.  They represent the idea that there is a level playing field where anyone can be declared a winner and take home the riches. I suppose that is what upset Americans during the 50’s scandal.  The notion that anyone could win was taken away, and they could no longer believe what they saw on TV as ‘real’ – they felt betrayed.  No one wants to be duped, no one wants to cheer and rally round anything to find out it was all false or fake – it makes us feel stupid.

Angela Rippon in the show Sun, Sea & Bargain Spotting Photo: REEF TV

So why would the BBC in 2009 present not one but two shows that were rigged?  Sun, Sea and Bargain Spotting on BBC Two is a game show featuring two competitors who bargain hunt in France and then attempt to sell their treasures in a London market for profit.  During one episode, the competitors were offered £25 for an acrylic panel from a purchaser who turned out to be a cameraman for the show.  Were they under a deadline to get the shot and didn’t have any buyers?  I can only imagine what would go through the minds of the producers who are trying finish up an episode with the clock ticking – “Just get a bleedin’ crew member to buy it, the audience will never know.”

If that weren’t enough, Trash for Cash, airing on BBC One had similar incidents of betraying the audience.  The show has regular people clear out their clutter and sell it for charity at a table outside their homes.  Here too, production staffed posed as customers.  Sound coincidental?  Well that’s because both shows are produced by the same production company, Reef Television.

Reef Television was investigated by the BBC and was ordered to pay a fine and give an on-air apology.  Like the producers of Twenty One, who later went on to continue working in television, Reef Television will continue to create programming for the British Public.

It would appear, then, you can’t get fired for lying.  The question is, would you risk it to get the show “in the can”?