Transition - Interviews with Possible Presenters & Securing Filming location

On the week commencing the 16th April Cailan and I completed five interviews of possible presenters. As I was completing the casting I had narrowed down the actors to a list of five but wanted Cailan to have some input in the decision of who we should have as a presenter. The task to narrow down the presenter was not easy but looking at their previous work as well as emailing them about other commitments I feel that I had chosen a solid group of five to have a proper conversation with. We would ask each presenter these seven questions.












Interview 1: Duncan
Based in London, Duncan talked about his previous experience, which was mostly based in the theatre. We loved his energy and opinions on the subject and we believe that he genuinely was interested in the subject rather than saying he did to get the part. He also stated he has worked with children in his past work which shows his adaptability that will be needed for this project. We will need someone to ask the public questions so this adaptability in talking and engaging with people will be important.
Duncan seems like someone who will be very viable in terms of being cast as our presenter. He ticked all of the right boxes, but we did not want to get carried away as we had four interviews to conduct after this. Duncan stated he would be free for at least two days for filming which would be ideal.

Our next interview was a few days later with Tharek A. Duncan was the youngest person we interviewed and we thought this may be good for our main target audience which was 18-25. Tharek was nervous at the start, but we went into every interview knowing the same thing, that people may be nervous for the interview but may be fine when actually presenting. In all cases, we wanted to know the facts over judging someone on character. Tharek was interested in the idea, if a little less knowledgeable about it in comparison to Duncan. Tharek also talked about his issues with data protection and how he had his Facebook hacked, which made his much more wary of his passwords and who he connected with online. Tharek also stated two days he could be free within our shoot week which was important to know. He seems like someone who could be cast, but maybe having less experience in front of the camera may be the issue here.

Our next interview was with Louis R. What impressed me and Cailan was Louis interest in this project as well his wide range of experience, both shooting video, but mostly on theatre. He had worked with Cartoon Network on Ben 10 and had also appeared on ITV's Endeavour. These are both extremely impressive shows to have on his CV as well as him being knowledgeable about the subject. Something that was very interesting to learn in this interview was how Louis had actually been a victim of companies profiling him through his Instagram page as well as other social networks. This shows the employers people are willing to go to, to try and get the most successful stars. He also stated how having a large social media following actually helps people get roles. He talked about how he was slightly frustrated that companies would only pick someone because of how much internet success they see to have. Louis was knowledgeable and interested in the subject as well as having an impressive CV. he stated he has not done as much presenting as he would have liked but feels comfortable in that area.

Our next interview was with Jasmine N-S. Jasmine did seem somewhat interested in the subject, but maybe not quite as much as portrayed in the emails. We feel Jasmine is extremely talented and would work well in many roles, but the lacks experience in front of the camera aswell. She did seem to have less of an interest in the subject as well as not knowing much about it. This is completely fine, this is the reason we do interviews. We appreciated the interview with Jasmine but we feel she did not really suit the role. We did not say "no"  right away in case we had second thoughts, but I see it as unlikely that we will cast Jasmine for this piece.  We know we need someone energetic and engaging in front of the camera and we needed someone with more of a passion for the subject. She saw herself more of an actress than a presenter, but none the less we will have a hard think before we make a final decision.


Our final video interview was with Niv.P. From the outset, Niv seemed like an engaging personality. He was not as exuberant as Louis or Duncan forsay, but he would have still suited the style of presenting for this show. Niv was the most engaged about this subject and as you can see from this interview we chatted for nearly half an hour. It was a great discussion about the subject and how Niv has actually been personally affected by the positives of data protection. As an Isreal native, he stated his life was probably saved by people spying on peoples data, trying to catch the bad guys trying to cause harm. His passion for the subject matter was probably the greatest out of all of the interviews we had. He also talked about he actually covers his webcam, like many do nowadays, because of the chance people are spying on it. This is one of the everyday techniques many people are using to help combat data protection issues. Niv also stated he would love to further his knowledge on the subject and learn more before the shoot day. This was great to hear from us as casters, that someone would be so dedicated to the role. Niv had certainly given a fantastic interview and it was going to be hard to decide who to go with. Niv had not done much English presenting as most of his work has been done in his homeland, he wanted to be a part of this project to get more for his showreel.

We will take some time to reflect on these interviews over the coming days and decide on our presenter in due course. For me personally, it is between Niv and Louis. Both showed a lot of enthusiasm for this project and would be both incredibly viable for this project. Saying this both definitely would present the show in different ways. Niv would be much more serious and also include reference to his experiences with data privacy. As he talked about how the spying of data in his homeland of Isreal could have saved his life, I think it would be interesting to bring that in if we chose him. On the other side, I think Louis would be fantastic with his energy and that may contribute that something extra to our piece. He talked about how companies stereotype him just through looking at his social media and also always bring up follower counts. This can be seen as intrusive and we may ask Louis to include this information if he does present our piece. Upon further reflection, we may decide to go a different route, but for now, these are the two presenters I think would work best with our project.

I know Cailan was a biggest fan of Niv and he was pushing him to be our presenter because of his willingness to research and be involved in the project. I was a fan of Louis because of his breadth of experience as well as his energy on camera. Everyone who we had cast had not had as much presenting experience as we would have ideally liked, but we think they are all viable in their own right to present on our show. I will be talking with Cailan over the next 24 hours and we will decide who should be our presenter. I am personally thinking we should cast Louis because of his experience as well as his personality which will really help when going up to people and asking to help get vox-pops. I think while Niv has a great interest in the subject he may not be as engaging as Louis in front of the camera, as well as lacking the experience. Niv has such a great story, but I feel we need to look at the evidence of what they have done when casting for this subject. As of right now, Cailan seems to want Niv and I seem to want Louis. We will talk about the pro's and con's and come to a conclusion soon.

This week I also completed the stages of obtaining filming permission with Kent Film office for filming in Tunbridge Wells. It was a simple process this time and I had worried about them getting back to me as it took a few days. However, this was by far the simplest it has been to obtain permission from them. I had suggested multiple locations and they said all were fine but that I should choose one for now. I went with Tunbridge Wells as I live 10 minutes from the town centre and feel it would be best as I have local knowledge of it. (unlike Maidstone which was another example and I have only ever been to the town centre around 5 times). We have filming access in Tunbridge Wells from 30th April to 4th of May but we will only be filming on two of those days - The two days chosen are down to the presenter as we are both free all week.

We will not need a specific location for our vox pops but will need a good sit-down location for the inside shots. I am currently in contact with many cafe's and pubs and some restaurants in Tunbridge Wells to hopefully secure a good spot in the early parts of next week before our meeting with Simon. The Kent Film office did not directly suggest any locations only selected areas. I will work with what I have and also possibly follow up some contacts I had from my directions unit as I filmed in a Cafe in that unit successfully. We have a lot of pressure with another handin at the same time as this unit but I am really happy with how things are moving a long.