Paul Woodmansey

KWINKIDINK RECORDING! Were you unable to make it to the live stream? Fear not. We now have a recording that we can share! Simply use the link below to donate £10, send us a screenshot of your payment confirmation and we will send you the recording! If you bought tickets to our live stream but would still like a recording, the cost is only £5! All profits going to Mind 💚 https://lnkd.in/ef6Ta__5

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If you want to know what’s happening with careers in the film and high-end TV space right now, this is well worth a look. Some great insight into how the industry works and is funded, pathways in and challenges to be faced. #careers #screenindustries #screencareers

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A second PR coup by Manchester's AO Arena in a day, with Take That also shifting their tour to the 30-year old venue following the ongoing crisis at the city's new Co-op Live arena. If the PR and marketing team aren't flooding channels with 'AO Arena - We're entertaining you/Open for business' messaging or similar, then they should get on it. Yes, the actions of bands moving to them says a lot, but as people questioned the city's ability to have two arenas, I'd definitely turn the screws and make sure people in the region - and the music industry - perceive the established city centre as reliable and *the* place for big music. And what of the Co-op Live's handling of the communications around the ongoing crisis? What do others think?

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BBC criticised for cross-promoting its own shows - why?? "BBC bosses could be banned from 'advertising' hit shows such as Strictly Come Dancing under controversial plans being considered by Culture Secretary John Whittingdale. He is looking at sweeping new restrictions on the BBC's ability to 'cross-promote' its output across its huge array of TV channels and radio stations – giving it an 'unfair' competitive advantage over ITV." BBC always has to be careful when any hint of appearance of unfair advantage comes out, but this is a classic case of comparing apples and oranges. BBC is advertising it's own shows!! It's not gaining a commercial advantage, its not making money from advertising. It's not even advertising in any traditional sense, its more a cross promotion. I know that other public broadcasters in the UK engage in promoting their own shows, as they should and should be allowed to. Singling out the BBC for this is a symptom of a political motivation to undermine the BBC, bashing it at any opportunity. "The BBC last night defended the practice of cross-promotion, saying: 'The BBC is committed to all audiences and has a duty to ensure licence fee payers are aware of all our programmes and services.'" I think BBC is being very shrewd in doing this, because it needs to build consensus on its service, on its value to the public. I watched the BBC last night, and found it so impressive the list of shows its made over the years. When the role of #publicservicebroadcasting is under the microscope, and with the BBC in particular, the future of the licence fee up-in-the-air, it's vital they draw attention to their stellar work and content, so more people are aware of it and understand its value. They should probably not just highlight TV shows, but also the various websites they have, podcasts, radio shows etc. Some members of the public think that BBC is just television, and may dismiss it because they don't watch public #lineartv. However, they may well watch BBC shows on Amazon or Netflix, listen to the radio or use the website. BBC shouldn't listen to the naysayers, and should continue to draw attention to their incredible body of work. After the UK election, hopefully there will be more sense in terms of the value the BBC offers and merely allowing it to remind its viewers of that doesn't give it any unfair advantage! #tvindustry #bbc #broadcasting #broadcastmedia #television #psm #mediaindustry #uk #ukelection #advertising #media

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On #WorldSuicidePreventionDay (10 Sept), I’m very pleased to announce that Inside Job Productions has been awarded a two year grant by NHS England to establish the Suicide Prevention Film Unit, based out of Wandsworth Prison in London. As the World Health Organisation (WHO) declares today, suicide is a major public health challenge with over 700,000 deaths each year globally. Each suicide has far-reaching social, economic, and emotional consequences, deeply affecting individuals and communities worldwide. Nowhere more so than in prisons, where health and social challenges are greatly amplified. This will be the first film production unit of its kind, recognising the importance of sharing relevant information and supporting informed conversations around the reasons why people choose to take their own lives or self-harm in our prisons today and how we can better support them during times of crisis. By putting prison staff and prisoners at the heart of the production process, we will ensure that the film and digital media content produced is authentic and therefore accessible to all. We’re proud to be picking up on one of the WHO themes of #WorldSuicidePreventionDay 2024: #StartingTheConversation. The primary purpose of producing the film content is to support and encourage conversations between individuals who may be considering suicide or self-harm and those who are there to support them. These conversations may explore coping mechanisms when you are struggling with life inside prison, or they may be about flagging up existing services or suggesting new ones. As well as using the conventional routes for disseminating film content in prisons, including in-cell TV, we will also be facilitating a series of screening events inside the prisons which will provide a safe space for prison staff and prisoners to view the films and discuss the content in some detail, motivated and aided by experts in the subject matters. We are currently assembling a strong coalition of volunteers who will provide the project with this invaluable support. We would be delighted to welcome more of you to this eminent group of suicide prevention champions. We look forward to taking this important new project forward with your support. https://lnkd.in/ecm_ZUyF #WorldSuicidePreventionDay #StartTheConversation

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Promises, promises: Election 2025 (?) has started and it will colour everything https://lnkd.in/eypfVjHQ

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I was really happy to discover that 'Bangers: Mad for Cars' a Channel 4 TV car show that I series directed for Channel 4 at Plum Pictures won another award to go alongside it’s Broadcast Digital Award. This time, it was a Mediaweek Award for Best Advertiser-funded programme which isn’t a conventional broadcasting award which is kind of refreshing because these aren’t conventional times! https://lnkd.in/enxiUTST https://lnkd.in/esxRYaXt From a strictly marketing perspective ‘Bangers’ was a branded entertainment campaign created by EssenceMediacom for eBay Parts and Accessories, designed to promote eBay as a destination for car parts and accessories by tapping into modern car culture and the intersection of cars with other UK culture. For the team I worked with at Plum Pictures, ‘Bangers’ was a high end car show. A 4 x 60 minute series presented by Tinie and Naomi Schiff who would both be competing to find the best cars from the 80s, 90s and 00s. It was all about finding ingenious ways of breathing new life in to old cars with a few celebrity guests like; Ian Wright, Guz Khan, Tom Kerridge and Patrice Evra thrown in to the mix. When it came to measuring the success of the series, eBay and Channel 4 coordinated a large on-air marketing campaign spanning VOD, third party platforms with over 180 press articles. The first episode launched straight after the England vs. Italy Football on 17th October and was up +43% on volume and +46% on share for ABC1Ads (50% of profile) and +133% on volume and +142% on share for Men (65% of profile). Which is marketing speak for it did good! https://lnkd.in/eDNhv4bh Our success as a production team came first and foremost from executing our creative visions within a positive and inclusive environment. Working with amazing contributors, in beautiful locations and driving kick ass cars. Then of course monitoring feedback from our peers and critics when it aired. Now motoring purists weren’t necessarily the biggest fans of the series! But we won the slot for our target audience and peaked at 812K so it went down well otherwise. So regardless of the different approaches and priorities from all parties involved, we combined to create some entertaining content that ticked a lot of boxes. Beyond all that getting recognition at awards ceremonies is really the icing on the cake.   Bangers: Mad for Cars - Series 1: Episode 4 | Channel 4 EssenceMediacom UK eBay Channel 4 Plum Pictures

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𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐕: 𝐈𝐓𝐕 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 I was pleased to see ITV's new drama, Red Eye, launching simultaneously on ITV1 and ITVX. This seems sensible: I'm not a fan of streaming exclusives. Yes, audiences are moving to streaming, but I'm not convinced by a strategy of purposely inconveniencing the others. The neutral position is to launch big new shows on broadcast and streaming at the same time. Those who prefer streaming watch the streamer, those happy in the old paradigm watch the broadcast channel. Why launch a show exclusively on streaming and withhold it from your most loyal and remunerative viewers? The logic seems to be that you are trying to push them from somewhere they are comfortable to somewhere else. But why? One answer is that you merely have an eye on your next results release and want to announce high and growing streaming numbers. But that is not a good reason to make life difficult for your most loyal customers. Ironically, we are also digesting the news that Netflix will cease reporting streaming numbers or ARPU. I sympathise. As the Sky business became more complex, it was increasingly tedious to be judged on a single satellite number when profit, the real focus, reflected ad revenue, commercial revenue, broadband, distribution on other platforms, etc. There is much speculation about Netflix's motivations – do they expect a subscriber slowdown, is ARPU set to fall? I'm more curious where this leaves the other streamers, still hooked on the quarterly drug of trying to please the markets with eye-catching subscriber number regardless of progress towards profitability. I think they will look increasingly foolish. Exhibit A: Peacock this week celebrating 54% subs growth yoy, but still losing $639m in the quarter. Finally, more this week on whether the streamers will come for sports. Apple has set out its unique stall, saying it is only interested when it can acquire global rights, and is said to be in line for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. Apple is apparently paying $1 billion for global rights for this newly formatted, four-week summer tournament, featuring 32 teams from the across the globe. That’s an extraordinary sum for a tournament few will care about. It’s a one-off, in the summer, when players would prefer to rest, for a title with no serious heritage. And the wrong teams will be there: e.g., Chelsea and Auckland are in, Liverpool and Arsenal are not (and I speak as a Chelsea fan from New Zealand). Perhaps it will work in the US, the host nation, relevant because the US is due to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But this hints at the problem with Apple’s policy. They think they are buying global rights, but it’s a delusion. Just as for the MLS, if 90% of the interest is in the US, you are really just buying US rights, and ignoring all other territories. And you are left “winning” the rights that no one else wants.

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Some years ago, the first Looking Glass Survey revealed (unsurprisingly to many) a mental health crisis in the Film and TV Industry. That crisis is still very much still here - with signifiant problems in the culture and conditions within the industry, and research last year showed that only 11% of people felt the industry was a mentally healthy place to work. Things needs to change, and they are - slowly. But in order to know what needs to change specifically, and how we change it (and who needs to make those changes), we need to collect meaningful pan-industry data. And this is where all of you come in ... Completing the survey gives the Film and TV Charity a chance to gauge how longstanding issues like bullying and harassment, working conditions and culture are affecting our workforce, and whether there’s been positive progress since they launched the first survey in 2019. As such, spreading the word and ensuring we secure a wide cross-section of industry workers is vital. Survey filling can often feel a pain - especially when we all have busy schedules, but if you are either a permanent or freelance workers from any corner of the industry - so not just those working on production - but anyone in any role that supports the creation and distribution of screen entertainment., then please, please can you fill in the survey - as it will genuinely help us all make a difference. I have a love-hate relationship with this industry. I can see its amazing merits, and I can see how it can also hurt others, and their families too! But 25 years on I'm still plodding away, and trying to do my little bit to make it a better place to work... all of us have some meaningful things to say about our experiences, and this survey is the perfect opportunity to get those thoughts down... You can find the survey here https://bit.ly/45z88hf

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How do you make the news when you're not actually that important? Ask Ed Davey. The Lib Dems could have easily been lost in this election campaign. No poll suggests that the party has a real shot of being anywhere near Government, Brexit has receded as an issue, and there are plenty of "small party fireworks" going on with Reform and the Greens. But they haven't been lost at all - and have actually gained some vote share. Here's how the strategy has worked. 🥉 Situational awareness. Lib Dem strategists know this is not an election like 2010 where they could decide the Government. They know that the media could easily squeeze them out of stories as a consequence. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer will always get some airtime simply by being the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition - the leader of the fourth largest party simply doesn't have that same right to coverage. 🏄‍♂️ Be good TV. The best way to counter getting squeezed out is to create media moments so intrinsically visually interesting that any editor won't be able to resist including them in a story - whether as a photo or as a clip. See Ed Davey bungee jumping today, or kayaking, or doing an interview on a fairground ride. Most politics imagery is fairly boring - men in suits talking - so the media are always on the lookout for something fresh, and Davey has delivered it. 🧡 Don't lose your heart. There is a risk to overdoing step two - becoming a clown, someone who will nakedly do anything for attention. Some may argue Davey has crossed that line, but I think he's stayed just shy of it. Part of that has been integrating messaging within the stunts: Today he asked voters to 'try something they haven't tried before' and vote Lib Dem before bungee jumping. More important has been a less flashy video the party released of Davey caring for his disabled son and talking about how this drives him. The big stunts hook viewers in; the personal narrative gives them something real to connect with. It might not win you an election, but it will certainly keep you from irrelevance.

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This really has been the year that the access to AI for a significant proportion of people really did start to change the world. I'm a huge fan of media organisations who bring together the digital and human experience in incredible ways.... As we wrap up 2024 I'm planning to share a few of the examples that have inspired me through this year, given the last 24 hours I have to start with #Sora ! Simply mindblowing! https://lnkd.in/eDVBr4R4

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ITV launches new show to rival The Traitors on BBC https://ift.tt/i5l6vWK GONE are the chilly climes of the Scottish Highlands and Claudia Winkleman in her signature black cloak as ITV launch a fresh series to rival The Traitors. The broadcaster has got on board with the reality show hype after the nation became engrossed with The Traitors – and winner Harry Clark’s deception – earlier this year. 6 The Fortune Hotel on ITV will rival BBC show The TraitorsCredit: ITV 6 Claudia Winkleman’s Scottish castle is switched for a tropical resortCredit: BBC 6 Contestants are given silver briefcases – one of which contains the cash prizeCredit: ITV 6 Pointless star Stephen Mangan will host as hotel managerCredit: ITV Now ITV has revealed a sun-soaked alternative, dubbed The Fortune Hotel. A brand new trailer captures host Stephen Mangan at the helm of the series, filmed in Grenada, which sees competitors forced to lie to each other to bag a £250K prize. A total of 10 couples with compete – with only one being armed with a briefcase containing the whopper cash prize. Eight suitcases will be empty, with one containing the dreaded early checkout card, leading to elimination.  Then begins the challenge in order to find which case the cash is in. Meanwhile, the owners of the cash case – who are fully aware theirs is the prestigious lot – can lie and bluff in order to keep it hidden. Viewers will be in the know throughout, witnessing their plans and strategies playing out on screen.  The show’s climax is the nerve-shredding case swap in the Lady Luck bar, where each pair must decide whether to keep or swap their case. Bosses of The Traitors have booked the Scottish stately home where the hit show is filmed until the end of this decade We previously reported how Pointless star Stephen would be fronting the game show and switching up from his BBC role to play the hotel manager. Talking of the show content, he said: “The game is pretty simple but endlessly fascinating so a combination of that alongside the backdrop in which it was set was just pretty irresistible. “People are endlessly fascinating to me as an actor and the reason you become an actor is because people and how they get on with each other, especially in moments of high stress is deeply fascinating. “Human beings are complex and interesting so The Fortune Hotel felt like the perfect mix of entertainment and drama. It’s a way of putting people together under pressure set amongst a stunning location. “The whole package was just incredibly intriguing to me so I had to be a part of it.” The Fortune Hotel will air across eight, 60-minute episodes. Opening up Host Stephen has opened up on filming the sun-soaked role. He told the Telegraph: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say a month in the Caribbean wasn’t part of the appeal. “We hired the whole ­resort on Grenada – complete with a 100 m swimming pool – for the whole shoot. And I’ve never done so much filming on yachts and beach...

Congratulations to all the nominees at this year's British Podcast Awards. There are undoubtedly some interesting shows in the mix, and I hope that they use the nomination as a big professional springboard. But... By my - back of a fag packet, admittedly - calculations, 30% of this year’s nominees at the British Podcast Awards were produced or distributed by the BBC (48 of 162 show nominations). A single publisher representing almost a third of nominations is monolithic, and this is without most of its radio shows which are repackaged as podcasts. That's a massive bloc for most creators to compete with, and that's before even thinking about what Global, Sony, Amazon etc are doing in the marketplace (spoiler alert: taking up a lot of the remaining 114 nominations). The awards are under no obligation to recognise creative diversity. I wouldn't want them to patronise smaller podcasters or networks. And it's hard to know whether the homogeneity of the list is a product of jurors lack of omnivorous consumption, or the fact that independent publishers are not submitting to the awards (possibly a function of the very steep increase in the costs). There are some omissions from this list that are so glaring that I have to assume that the shows/companies didn't submit for consideration. Maybe I'm being too jaded. Full disclosure: Podot only submitted one show this year, and it wasn't nominated (we submitted into the Wellbeing category, which is a bad fit anyway). But inevitably the British Podcast Awards will come to represent a Best in Class list of UK podcasting, especially for those outside the narrow industry walls. I have to say, I look at some of those categories and I struggle – as a critic and consumer, rather than creator – to believe that these shows really represent the best of the business.

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Back in July, I hosted Pompey At The Polls - alongside Dan Lodge and James Birdseye - for Portsmouth's Express FM with eight and a half hours of live overnight UK general election coverage. Of course, this had long been a personal ambition of mine. But, as with any decision you make in radio, this had to be an audience-driven project. National election coverage is an almost overcrowded market and the few who can be arsed to stay up all night couldn’t be more spoiled for choice across TV, radio and other digital streams / blogs - most of which is naturally far better resourced than a community radio station (even one supported by the local newspaper). To make this worth a listen, a clear point of difference had to be king. And that wouldn’t be hard to establish - after all, the whole station’s USP is always putting Portsmouth, as well as the smaller local communities which look to it, first above anywhere or anything else. In addition to the essential legal and compliance matters surrounding due impartiality and right of reply - which would allow us to be opinionated within an overall balanced programme / station - we wanted Pompey At The Polls to be accessible for those who show an interest but may not have extensive political knowledge and / or aren't across every detail. Our colleagues at The News, Portsmouth were across the latest developments over at the Guildhall as counting in both city constituencies took place. There was also a very large national media presence. The exit poll had Penny Mordaunt's Portsmouth North seat down as "too close to call" but with a 25% chance of her holding on and a 70% chance it would go Labour. Mordaunt ran for the Conservative Party leadership following Boris Johnson's resignation in the summer of 2022 and had been widely tipped as a future leader / potential PM ever since. She even took Sunak's place on prime-time BBC and ITV debates during the campaign. Throughout the night, we had endless reports including one that Labour's Amanda Martin had taken it by roughly a thousand votes. There was no recount, much to our surprise, and the result was declared just after 4am. Mordaunt had been defeated by 780 votes. The challenge is, while being so immersed in the national picture, for the local angle not to be an afterthought. Portsmouth was our show's key point of difference and we were speaking directly to people in the city, so this result had a far deeper meaning than it did to the likes of Sky, ITN, LBC and even regional BBC. Presenting my own show meant the political and media geek in me missed out on the traditional election night channel-hopping, but I can at least pay homage to Sky News whose resources - including quality TV coverage we were opting into (via IRN) for live declarations - were on point. https://lnkd.in/epG3uPum

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Content Monetization - CoMO - is very important in the future of streaming television. Lets make it happen

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I try not to be too reactive when it comes to the news, but I do think the situation with Twitter/X is basically irredeemable. It's clear that Mr Musk has a very specific vision for the platform – and that's fair enough, given he spent $44bn to buy it. But the approach now is basically anathema to the imperatives of good journalism. On top of that, it's clear that Musk sees Twitter as competitive with (rather than ancillary to) legacy media. So whatever your thoughts on the content, its role in dis- and mis-information, the curation and privileging of specific points of view...etc, the media needs to wise up to the fact that success, for Twitter, involves cannibalising the media industry. It's also just *dreadful* from a business strategy perspective that the media industry has allowed itself to become so financially indentured to third-party social media platforms. There is nothing to stop Elon Musk from, tomorrow, totally cauterising all external linking on his platform. The impact of that on "traffic" – the sacred metric of digital media – would be catastrophic. That's too much power over your business outsourced to an exogenous body. It's all madness, and the weaning needs to start now.

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The Guardian has joined lots of journalists, especially left leaning ones, in leaving X. The X-odus is gathering pace. A bold decision for a major news outlet to 'leave the room' entirely. We are still using X for journorequests, case studies and general journalist relationship building. But lots of media (and maybe publications too soon) are now migrating across to BlueSky. The X-odus is definitely supercharged since the Trump win. If you're a journalist successfully using BlueSky, drop your handles below. You can read more about the Guardian's reasons for leaving X below too. What are your thoughts?

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