Production - Back to the future of studios.

Most people watching television probably believe that the programmes they see are coming from a studio - it's just something ingrained into everyone who grew up with the medium. There are the obvious exceptions of location dramas but in the main, phrases such as "And now back to the studio" and "You join us at our studio in..." have convinced us that everything else we see - the gameshows and the sitcoms - is coming from a big studio with loads of cameras whizzing around, overseen by the producer and director sitting in a special control area full of buttons, faders, switches and screens.Of course, this is not always the way television programmes are produced.New types of programming have brought about changes in production methods.The obvious example is reality television, which requires a very specific, controlled space for the contestants to be in and specialised equipment with which to observe them. As a reality show can last anything from a week to three months, traditional TV studios are not an option as the owners would not necessarily want to commit a studio for so long, which, from the producer's point of view, would exceed the budget for the show anyway. The solution has been to build a specific space in either a four-wall studio, as with Big Brother, 24-Hour Quiz and Back to Reality, or specially adapt a building for the purpose, which was the route taken by Fame Academy and The Salon. In both situations the "gallery" was created from either a flyaway package elsewhere in the building or by bringing in an outside broadcast truck.All this would appear to be very reasonable and nothing that should be troubling the operators of traditional TV studios. It sounds like a different market for a different kind of programming, which is neatly differentiated by Julian Kossick, managing director of Fountain Studios: "Reality TV is a weekday thing and the big light entertainment shows that we do are at the weekends."The big traditional studios, which are concentrated in Greater London, may look upon the big LE shows as a relatively safe market but changes are being seen in how gameshows and sitcoms are being produced, particularly as British producers follow the American model both in terms of standing sets, on which a substantial amount of rehearsal and rewriting is done, and in the increased number of episodes that now make up a series.One of Endemol's latest productions is 24-Hour Quiz, a gameshow-reality hybrid that is currently running on ITV1 and ITV2. A house has been constructed within a four-wall studio at Three Mills Studio in east London, with technical facilities provided by an OB truck. In the same vein, Back to Reality has been taking place in a studio at Black Island Studios with a lighting rig built in but again a truck alongside as the gallery. Richard Thomson, head of production at Endemol, says that such working situations are led by economics but that the amount of square footage involved is also a key issue.As reality shows involve contestants living on site, the infrastructure associated with a house has to be built in, which would be a major undertaking for a traditional studio. Thomson says that a show like Shattered has requirements that put it in "a different league" and that while Endemol could not afford to do such a show at, for example, The London Studios, there isn't the space to fit in a production like that anyway. "It's more economic for studios like that to get in LE shows," he says.It is not just the big productions and reality shows that are calling for a different approach. Five's lunchtime interactive quiz Brainteaser is not produced in a traditional studio but in a purpose-built space at the studios of Six TV, the local television station in Oxford, although a gallery is being used for technical presentation. A freelance production manager says it's "like the good old days", with the producers able to hire in the crew they want and use preferred methods of payment.A reality show demands a fair amount of non-broadcast equipment, such as surveillance-style cameras and domestic lighting. As for using an OB truck or a flyaway rather than a gallery, Mike Severyn, a partner and director at technical agency Broadcast Management Services (BMS), says producers have become used to the flexibility of OBs, rather than sticking to a "prescribed" way of working.Phil Wade, managing director of the Picture Canning Company, agrees, saying that using a four-wall studio with a truck based on fibre technology can produce good results. Picture Canning has been using its own four-waller and OB truck in this way on Britain's Hardest for Sky and has shot a four-camera production for the BBC. At the end of last year, Wade was confident that this was a new niche for the company and saw it as being attractive to producers, as using a fully functioned studio is expensive.Since then he has seen traditional studios begin to lower prices in a bid to compete, which could show that there is concern over the new methods.Whatever the reason, the market is open again. "It's tough," Wade comments.Other genres have also been taking advantage of the so-called new methods.Over the past eight months, Pinewood TV Studios has worked on All About Me, My Family and Weakest Link, all of which have long runs and rely on a standing set. All About Me and My Family are sitcoms that run on the American model, with rehearsals on set and the writing team on site most of the time.This way of working is not as new as might be thought. Richard Philipps, head of BBC Studios, points to such sitcoms as Hi-de-Hi and 'Allo 'Allo, which became standing sets as their runs were increased to satisfy American sales. These shows were based at the BBC's studios in Elstree, which is now home to another long-term standing set, that for EastEnders. This follows the path taken by Coronation Street, which was also followed by Thames for The Bill with a purpose-built studio in Merton, south London for Sun Hill nick and the interiors, close to Croydon where many of the exteriors are shot.Julian Kossick at Fountain Studios acknowledges the current importance of reality shows and soaps to broadcasters but is confident there is still a place for studios in the mould of Fountain, Teddington, BBC Television Centre and London. "Over the past 12 months we've seen things go off in different directions," he says, "and that's not unhealthy, but in the near future reality TV might shrink to a more natural size and, let's face it, soaps can't become more popular. But there's always room for a new big live show."Kossick's point is that a show like Pop Idol needs such features as backed-up power, a fully equipped gallery, air conditioning and a proper studio floor for the cameras to run on. He adds that there are probably only four such big studios within the Greater London area. Proximity to London was once a serious issue but it appears that changes in programme-making and in the commercial TV industry as a whole could swing things in favour of the more out of town facilities.Diana Crystal Honey, sales and marketing director for Pinewood-Shepperton Television, says that more sitcoms are being made at the Buckinghamshire site and that getting audiences to travel for them is now not a problem.Like Pinewood, Hillside Studios at Bushey is one of those that forms the arc of TV and film studios that once dominated thee area to the west of London. In recent years, Hillside has been concentrating on children's programmes, including Story Makers and, most recently, The Softies for Hands Up Puppets. Managing director Nick Stuart, previously a producer with Roger Bolton Productions and the Flame group, says that with the expected sweep of studio closures from Norwich to Nottingham, independent producers are looking for somewhere to make programmes in between Birmingham and London.Hillside has brought in Mike Severyn and BMS to help market the studios, although Stuart already sees being flexible to needs of clients, particularly in offering set-building facilities, as being a key element. Severyn observes that the problem for smaller studios such as Hillside is whether to aim for the "jobbing" end of the market (a day or half a day here and there) or pitch for a 12-part series that takes over the studio for several weeks."The danger is tying up the studio with bits and pieces and then a three-week contract comes along," he says. On the issue of being out of London, Severyn says being on the "wrong" side of the M25 could be an advantage, particularly if international stars fly into the UK for the day and do not want to get tied up travelling into central London. He adds that the market might realign itself with studios for news and current affairs inside London and drama and LE studios on the outskirts.There is still the doubt that audiences will travel too far out of London and Jeremy Pelzer, studio director at Ealing Studios, says that the sound stages at Ealing, Elstree, Three Mills and Pinewood are not designed for audience shows.At Three Mills, studio co-ordinator Candice McDonald reports a number of dramas in addition to 24-Hour Quiz, including NY-LON for Channel 4, The Boosh for Baby Cow and its regular Bad Girls and Dream Team.A once staid market, studios have had a torrid time over the past 18 months and, whether or not the "new" production methods for reality and gameshows remain, there are undoubtedly more shake-ups to come.