Transition - Choosing a Presenter and Getting contributors and Locations

Over the weekend Cailan and I made the decision on which presenter we wanted for our transition unit. It was a really tough decision as we had some very strong candidates that may have all worked in one way.

However, saying this we decided to go with Louis as we liked his enthusiasm for the project as well as his past experience in theatre and on television. Since we made the decision we have liaised with Louis management and decided to shoot on the 1st and 3rd of May. These will be in the confirmed location on Tunbridge Wells. One may be in a nearby restaurant which Cailan is currently sorting out.

As Cailan also sorted out the script I asked him to send Louis the script so he can have a good look at what we have planned so far! Louis is currently looking through the script and we hope to have some feedback to make some adjustments in the next few days.

Over the last few days, I have been trying to sort out a contributor for our unit who will be talking about how having a social media following affects how they protect their data.

I have sent out emails that read as follows:

Hey, hope all is well!
I am a university student based in Kent and we are currently in the middle of planning our next unit on our Television Production course, which is a project based on data protection. The general premise of the project is testing the awareness of the public of the issue.
We already have a presenter and our locations set, however, we wanted to get a great contributor involved with our project - So that is why I am emailing you!
What we would like to talk to you about is how having a mass of followers across your platforms has changed the way you protect your data. Maybe we could talk about how as you have found more success you have become more conscious of what you post publicly as well as securing personal accounts like Facebook!
Anyway, I wanted to say a massive thank you for at least reading the email! If you are not interested that is completely fine, but if you would be interested in doing a short “interview” to camera for our university project that would be fantastic!
If you would like any more details, I can let you know right away! Our filming week is 30th April to the 4th May and we would only need maybe 30 minutes of your time! We can come to you or you could come to us (we can cover travel expenses) and we would film in a local cafe if that is the case!
Thank you once again!Alex Baldwin

I have yet to receive any responses from these emails. I sent out around 40 emails to people I thought may be interested in this project and Cailan sent out about 10 emails as well. We hope to get a contributor secured in the next few days so we can nail down all planned shooting days. I think we have put a huge amount of effort into this unit considering we had the hand in for the previous unit at the same time.

With myself securing the filming application and the actor as well as emailing contributors, I asked Cailan to help me out with the cafe and restaurant location as he had all but finished the script. Cailan emailed out to a couple of local places and got some instant responses which is fantastic. Cailan email these companies:

1. The Knoxbridge Inn Pub 
2. The Knoxbridge Café 
3. Rustic Café 
4. Manna Café
5. Javabean Café 
6. Waterloo House Tearooms & Antiques

Of these six he got a response from The Knoxbridge Inn, Rustic cafe and Manna Cafe. Cailan has said once the hand in is complete for the as live unit he will properly follow up these locations and see which is best. It is unlikely we will be able to scout the location before the shoot day but if that is a possibility then I will. It will be hard for Cailan as it is a long commute but I will attend a location scout if possible. Cailan will call all of the locations that have expressed an interest soon and relay the information back to me. Like with the choosing of the actor, that will be a group decision, but Cailan has done a great job with securing a possible sit down loaction for our main PTC!

Over the next few days the transition unit will continue to grow, but with the main focus on the as live hand in, there may not be many updates until the end of the week! I am really excited to get filming with this unit, it lets us explore our roles, and with a high-pressure deadline, it also makes it more a realistic scenario as if it were real TV!