Rupert Murdoch stepped into his father’s shoes when he took aim at global power and profit. Rupert’s father Keith was the Australian kingmaker who taught the young Rupert how to blend media ownership and political influence. The son’s values differ from the father: Rupert promotes racial and class resentment saturated with bigotry. His objectives: Build …
Director Erik Nelson describes Apocalypse ’45 as the “first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan meets Apollo 11.” He shares his original concept; how his almost casual pitch to Discovery‘s Howard Swartz led to a full commission; the archive research and transfer process; his veteran interviews; the pre-edit planning, editing and final delivery. Our informative …
Discovery Channel and distributor Abramorama teamed for a virtual theatrical and broadcast rollout of Apocalypse ‘45. This powerful documentary from Oscar-nominee Erik Nelson recounts the harrowing end of WW2, using unseen archive and the eyewitness accounts of 24 veterans who lived through the Pacific campaign. My Apocalypse ‘45 Case Study and podcasts capture the development, …
Here are the Top 25-rated British Wildlife and Pets/Lifestyle programs in 1H 2020. The nostalgic “Land & Country” theme that I described in my Top 100 UK Factual and Top 25 History posts is less prominent in the Natural History category. Viewers who love Wildlife enjoy being transported to remote locations that are mostly beyond …
Nancy Daniels oversees Discovery Channel, Science, and Animal Planet, including day-to-day operations and creative production development. She shared her thoughts on Discovery’s strategy in a recent podcast interview with CTAM‘s Vicki Lins. LISTEN CTAM’s Vicki Lins interviews Nancy Daniels, Chief Brand Officer, Discovery & Factual (27 minutes, July 13, 2020) NOTES What are your days …
For my Sunny Side of the Doc Meet the Executive interview, the BBC‘s Commissioning Editor for History Simon Young, shared his vision, priorities and three notable examples. Pipeline BBC History: 70-80 hours. Specialist Factual: 400 hours. History’s broad remit: Ancient to Early 21st century. The BBC’s Documentary unit also commissions recent History programs. Simon Young …
In a series of posts, I’ll share the UK’s highest-rated documentary and unscripted programs for the half-year in which Covid struck. My ratings snapshot for 1H 2020 is comprised of: The Top 50 in the combined Documentary and Lifestyle / Hobbies category. My Takeaways. Then #51-100. Going deeper In future posts, I’ll share the Top 25 History and Wildlife …
