alexx Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 Being series producer is kind of a thankless task (unless they get the majority of things right..H&A 1988-2004 for example )... the production changes were great and much needed, but for all we know, he could have just 'approved' the changes that were envisioned/ driven by someone else. But I guess he could have said no. However, I find it hard to point the finger at anyone else for the truckload of damages over the past 4 years, because at the end of the day, he was the one with the most power to do something about it (other than the network)... yet he didn't. But why disregard the well-respected 2008 season which occurred under his control? The YLM could equally have been conceived by someone other than Cameron, who probably told him it would be good. Jason Daniel was an excellent choice for Script Producer in 2011 and if he had remained in this position throughout 2011, then I believe that season and the reaction to the Braxtons in general would be far more favourable. At least once throughout his tenure Cameron realised 'hey this sh*t just got bananas', and that the guns and hostage situation drama of 2009 needed to cool down somewhat. Lucy has yet to show any self-awareness. I would bet Cameron was instructed by Network 7 that they needed to step up the drama again for 2011, and now it's just blown completely out of control. That's the problem. I think Cameron did try to turn the show around in 2010, but unfortunately he made a bad choice regarding the relentless focus on the 'Bay of Love' instead of just doing character lead storylines throughout the year - think 1995, with a natural disaster thrown in alongside the 'super natural' threads (which they did do with Mr Oddly and Rabbit and I appreciated that). I think Bevan Lee did a fantastic job plotting the first few months of the year 2008 and I do think overall it was probably the most enjoyable season over the last 5 years - Cameron's second half of the year included. But towards the end of the year, that '2007/2009' style started to creep back, despite interviews in which Cam said the show was focusing on 'character lead drama' and would do into 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingo x Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 We've been flooded with reader questions regarding the Home and Away opening titles, as it seems that viewers are missing them! Would you ever bring back a full-length title sequence? Or even produce one just for the UK/overseas market even if one isn't needed for Network Seven? "Yes, we have been asked the same in Australia, but I want to ensure we deliver as much drama to the viewers as possible - every extra minute counts!" This really did annoy me, it sounds like a lot of viewers want them back and to me it seems like she doesn't even care about what us viewers want, surely it wouldn't hurt to go a minute or two over the time H&A is meant to finish, Shortland Street does it all the time, the show always starts a 7.00pm and finishes at 7.33pm TV2 always manages to catch back up with the schedule, on the very rare occasion Shorty will finish at 7.30pm, so if Shorty/TV2 can do it I don't see how it could be different for other stations and if they can't do it I would personally rather have that minute or two on opening titles rather than on the actual episode, they have been doing it for about 20 years and it didn't seem to bother anyone, and what's up with the new opening tune?? H&A really has changed to much for my liking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 There should at least be a sequence made for the International market. Don't forget that nearly all of the show's production costs are infact covered by... Channel 5! The UK deal effectively bankrolls the programme - infact I think it was Coral who said the show would have struggled financially had the UK deal remained with ITV. (C5 committed a lifetime deal, ITV's was only for a few years or so.) Other International deals, such as with TVNZ and RTE, cover the rest pretty much. What I've always wondered - Dan F might be able to answer this - is this... do Channel 5 have any sort of creative input into the programme? I'm not saying they have the ultimate say or anything, but do they get some sort of "say" into what goes on. If the content coming out of Seven's end causes a major ratings drop in the UK, are they allowed to flag it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beau_t Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 There should at least be a sequence made for the International market. Don't forget that nearly all of the show's production costs are infact covered by... Channel 5! The UK deal effectively bankrolls the programme - infact I think it was Coral who said the show would have struggled financially had the UK deal remained with ITV. (C5 committed a lifetime deal, ITV's was only for a few years or so.) Other International deals, such as with TVNZ and RTE, cover the rest pretty much. What I've always wondered - Dan F might be able to answer this - is this... do Channel 5 have any sort of creative input into the programme? I'm not saying they have the ultimate say or anything, but do they get some sort of "say" into what goes on. If the content coming out of Seven's end causes a major ratings drop in the UK, are they allowed to flag it up? I once read an interview that Channel 5 did about the show...I think it was to celebrate 10 years of H&A on Channel 5 or something... I just googled it and can't find it anywhere now. They asked that very question and the answer was pretty much "We trust Channel 7 and are happy to let them make all the decisions". So I think considering the amount of money Channel 5 pay into the show, I'm sure they could have a say, but probably don't want the bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 Ah right. I believe because Channel 5 fund so much of the show, it's also technically viewed as a Channel 5 production in Ofcom's eyes and counts towards a certain original programming quota. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted September 1, 2012 Report Share Posted September 1, 2012 Yup you're right James, they do provide more than 50% of the production costs and so are indeed able to class it as a homegrown production. I did read in the industry paper that Channel 5 do have the option for creative influence, and I asked both Bevan and Coral about it years back - whilst Coral believed it to be a myth as she'd never heard anything from them, Bevan pretty much confirmed it's as Beau said: "Five is obviously there as a partner, but the partnership is one of mutual respect and the two way flow of ideas regarding the show has never led to difficulties. Five understand we have to make it as we see fit for our market and often make changes they deem necessary through their own editing on the finished product to fit the UK requirements." It would pay for Seven to actually remember that 'mutual respect' and how much Channel 5 do pay into the show though....especially when it comes to the availability of publicity material, which is most likely part of the reason it gets so little press in the UK magazines nowadays - my own TV mag don't even bother with H&A stories at all now, I mean why bother when most of the time you have to resort to screencaps to go with storylines that have purposely had most details removed before being sent out.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublinfan Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 Yup you're right James, they do provide more than 50% of the production costs and so are indeed able to class it as a homegrown production. I did read in the industry paper that Channel 5 do have the option for creative influence, and I asked both Bevan and Coral about it years back - whilst Coral believed it to be a myth as she'd never heard anything from them, Bevan pretty much confirmed it's as Beau said: "Five is obviously there as a partner, but the partnership is one of mutual respect and the two way flow of ideas regarding the show has never led to difficulties. Five understand we have to make it as we see fit for our market and often make changes they deem necessary through their own editing on the finished product to fit the UK requirements." It would pay for Seven to actually remember that 'mutual respect' and how much Channel 5 do pay into the show though....especially when it comes to the availability of publicity material, which is most likely part of the reason it gets so little press in the UK magazines nowadays - my own TV mag don't even bother with H&A stories at all now, I mean why bother when most of the time you have to resort to screencaps to go with storylines that have purposely had most details removed before being sent out.... Dan I know you used to do interviews with past eps, would you ever try get an interview with Lucy or other members of the Home and Away crew or has this put you off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Martin Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 I don't quite follow you Dan; are you saying that Seven aren't releasing enough raw publicity material (photographs, press releases, "clean" versions of episodes with the underscoring removed so they can be easily repackaged in local promos, etc.) to the UK media? It would be nice if Channel 5 threw a few suggestions down-under. I don't know how the show rates in Australia (although it doesn't have much competition now with Neighbours on Eleven I guess) but it should be doing better than the 797k for the 6pm last night. A few years ago the 6pm was getting 1.5m plus. One thing I have noticed since the show came back though is that it's available on Demand Five shortly after the lunchtime airing. What could well be happening is that a lot of the teenage audience, especially those with Virgin, are watching it on-demand as soon as they get in from school, rather than waiting for 6pm - and instead it's getting an "unofficial" 4:30pm-ish showing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexx Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 I don't quite follow you Dan; are you saying that Seven aren't releasing enough raw publicity material (photographs, press releases, "clean" versions of episodes with the underscoring removed so they can be easily repackaged in local promos, etc.) to the UK media? It would be nice if Channel 5 threw a few suggestions down-under. I don't know how the show rates in Australia (although it doesn't have much competition now with Neighbours on Eleven I guess) but it should be doing better than the 797k for the 6pm last night. Neighbours wasn't competition when it was on TEN either, they are on a different times and viewed as quite different formats. H&A has a lot more respect in Australia than Neighbours has - people/the media seem more sentimental about it. Home and Away still regularly makes the Top 10 shows of the day. But it certainly isn't as big as shows like Packed To The Rafters/Winners and Losers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Lynd~ Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Home and Away still regularly makes the Top 10 shows of the day. But it certainly isn't as big as shows like Packed To The Rafters/Winners and Losers. That alone should tell the writers something.What do both of those shows have in common that HAA hasn't for a very long time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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