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Interview: Karl Warner
19 Feb 08
THE IDEA
Where do ideas for shows for young people come from?
Ideas aren’t specifically targeted at a youth audience, after all a good idea is a good idea. At BBC THREE we package the ideas and focus the tone on the younger audience. There are certain subjects though that young people tend to be more interested in such as body image and consumerism so we do include those in the ideas.
What shows would you have wished you had commissioned?
There’s loads! Fone Jacker, MTV’s Super Sweet 16, Deal or no Deal and Dragon’s Den to name a few.
For BBC THREE do you use focus groups?
Yes we’ve got a sample group of 16 – 24-year-olds who we meet with twice a month. We can take shows to them, pitch ideas to them and that’s ongoing, so we’re constantly getting feedback from them. I think also we should trust our instincts, as programme makers you will know what a good idea is.
THE PITCH
What makes a good pitch?
Make it clear, simple and funny.
Can you tell us about any particularly bad pitches you’ve seen?
The worst pitches are the ones that are muddled - where the idea hasn’t been thought through properly. Also when the people aren’t passionate it comes across. Years ago someone pitched a complex quiz show to me. It was a really flawed concept and was also slightly ludicrous. The idea must be able to connect with the audience or it won’t work.
TONE
What are the stereotypical preconceptions of teenagers and how can we challenge these?
Graffitti, ASBOs, teenage pregnancy, underage drinking are all the stereotypes of teenagers. We need to challenge these by showing teenagers doing good things. I thought Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack did a good job of this as it showed passionate young people with skills and aspirations. Society and the media will always see teenagers as a social nuisance – so we aim to represent them more fairly for example we have a teen talk show coming up, which addresses issues younger people genuinely care about rather than the headlines.
So is tone really important to you?
I think tone is one of the most important things for me. People get obsessed with ‘Youth ideas’, yet for me it is always about tone and language and the subtly of the programme. It’s often hard to explain what is right or wrong in terms of tone but you just instinctively know – that comes from some experience and talking to the audience. Avoiding clichés is all about tone.
What is the ‘tone’ of BBC THREE?
We want to be more celebratory and warm the channel up. We want to be smart and funny and opinionated. Our new presenter Lily Allen is that, she embodies a lot of the BBC THREE values. She’s also quite cool and young so those are the things that we really care about.
CASTING
How do you cast the teenagers that feature in factual shows such as Baby Borrowers?
We chose teenagers who genuinely were considering having children in the near future and fast forwarding into their adult life. Those are the ones who would make good TV.
How do you ensure that shows featuring young people don’t feel exploitative?
We always we treat people fairly and honestly and are upfront about how people will be portrayed from the beginning. On shows such as the Baby Borrowers we offer a huge amount of aftercare such as counselling.
How hard is it to motivate young people to get them involved?
Website and interactivity are ways such as with Skins. But Skins is an excellent drama anyway and doesn’t rely on these things to make it good, its just an added extra.
THE SHOWS
Are ratings important to you?
It’s difficult as so many people watch shows on YouTube and the iPlayer – so we’re trying to find new ways of quantifying that. But it does matter of course. You get people talking about the quality of the programme, but for me because I want people to watch our shows.
The most popular shows for young people are mainly reality, entertainment and drama programmes. Do you think factual shows work for a young audience?
I know on BBC THREE the documentaries we’ve showed have done very well with nearly a million viewers, which is very big for us. Lots of research has been done into this audience and one of the things that often comes back is that young people really respect experience and those key figures who have been through lots of in their lives are popular for example Russell Brand. People understand he’s been through a lot with his drug addiction and they respect that triumph over adversity – that’s often reflected in those factual programmes. So I think there is definitely an appetite for it.
ABOUT YOU
How did you start your career?
I was at university doing a Politics degree and during the summer holidays I organised some work experience at Ideal World Productions. Here I met a producer from Endemol who gave me a job as a runner after I graduated. My first job was really brilliant – I worked on a show called Bar Wars, which involved staying in Corfu for six weeks. I then moved around a lot gaining experience in different areas. Phil Edgar-Jones was one of the first people to give me a job, he really cared about young people.
What advice would you give young people starting out in TV?
The key is to always take opportunities that come your way – you might feel a bit embarrassed pushing yourself sometimes. But it’s worth it – so just go for it.
