What I do with myself all day
So, I am back at the CBC till at least the end of September, which rocks. I both really enjoy the people here and enjoy my job, so that is pretty excellent. However, as I was talking to Gary about work last night, it occurred to me that it was very likely that no one knows what I actually DO.
So I've decided to post a bit more about work as I am sure as hell not posting much in the way of anything else. Though I might do a column or something on So You Think You Can Dance, as I always have to remind myself it's America's FAVO(u)RITE dancer and not America's BEST dancer. (Guess who I thought should win?)
So what the hell is an interactive producer anyway?
In TV, associate producers and producers are the people who do the content part of putting together a show. On Steven and Chris or The Hour, the Ps and APs look for guests and stories, do research for hosts, prep and work with their guests so they will be entertaining, and basically handle all the content pieces that will be put together by the show's producer and exec. producer. The framework and technical aspects of shows are also within the show producer and exec's purview, though those pieces are contributed by editors, the crew in studio and on remote, the directors and the writers and so on. When you attend a live taping, you likely see a lot of people 'standing around' (I have been accused of this!). They're likely not actually doing nothing - it just takes a lot of people to put on a TV show, and they likely have a job to be doing that you aren't necessarily noticing. Like, when I do stills, there's a lot of the time that I just kinda hang out.
Anyway! I digress. The point of the above is to illustrate both that there's a lot that falls under a 'producer' role, as well as the importance of what you're credited as - the fact that there's 'levels' of producer means that a producer is not an associate producer, though their job might be more or less the same thing. The difference is the level of experience and your success in the past, though in some cases it can involve more responsibility.
The fact that there are digital producers and APs says something about the importance of the internet to television shows today. My exec producer on Steven and Chris told the APs at the beginning of the season that the web was of equal importance to the television aspect, and that it was important to support the digital team - which, aside from being kick ass, indicates that internet presence is integral to a show. This may seem like a no brainer, but in some areas, it's really not. When I started in TV a few years ago, there was a sort of grudging acceptance of digital people on set - like 'oh, well. we'll have to get used to it.' Now, producers will come up with awesome ideas and extras without prompting, and will help brainstorm ideas for expanding presence online - in fact, most of our 'Gym Class' segments on S&C were cast entirely from responses to our Facebook messages to fans of the S&C page (go become a fan, dammit - Steven and Chris are awesome!). It only sucks when there's no time or resources to do something... because more often than not, the ideas are good and would really engage viewers and users both.
Basically, they could call us Content Administrators, or Designers or whatever. But they don't. They use TV titles for digital, which I think not only affords digital a bit more respect - but makes the tv/web integration obvious.
So, that's all well and good, but what do I actually do? I'm an associate producer, interactive (or digital, sometimes), which means that I have some TV experience, a fair amount of online work in my background. It's hard to say what my duties are specifically, because they can change based on the project and the relative strengths of the team. For example, A&E/Factual has a 'coder' on staff. Gary can build websites really well, so he does. Eva and Amanda (producers) are both skilled designers, so they do a lot of that work.
My personal strengths are community and content management, so my time on S&C was often spent writing (usually in 'host' voice), doing social network updating, moderation of comments and forums, shooting stills for the show, handling online video, talking to viewers via e-mail and so forth. In the role I have now, I do more broad-based work on a number of shows. For example, today I put up a blog post for 'Heartland', sorted through 'Tudors' photos for Season 3 - no spoilers!, took a call from Calgary, and updated the Steven and Chris site. I also did everything necessary to ensure that Corrie Street fans will get their online fix on Sunday.
No matter the position I've had on a show or just in the network, there's always been a lot of variety, which is good for me. And as nice as it is t work on a bunch of different shows. I love doing a daily show. I love being on-set, I love the challenge, I love how much fun it is. I love hearing all the interesting stuff I might otherwise miss out on - I know a lot more about fashion and decor now. I love the audience, and I do love the celebs, I gotta admit. And as many of you know, I'd love to be a host. So it's been a real privilege to see some of the best work - and to know those people are equally cool as they are talented is a good thing too.
So, that's basically what I do, in a general sense. I'll try to keep posting about what I am doing every once in awhile!
So I've decided to post a bit more about work as I am sure as hell not posting much in the way of anything else. Though I might do a column or something on So You Think You Can Dance, as I always have to remind myself it's America's FAVO(u)RITE dancer and not America's BEST dancer. (Guess who I thought should win?)
So what the hell is an interactive producer anyway?
In TV, associate producers and producers are the people who do the content part of putting together a show. On Steven and Chris or The Hour, the Ps and APs look for guests and stories, do research for hosts, prep and work with their guests so they will be entertaining, and basically handle all the content pieces that will be put together by the show's producer and exec. producer. The framework and technical aspects of shows are also within the show producer and exec's purview, though those pieces are contributed by editors, the crew in studio and on remote, the directors and the writers and so on. When you attend a live taping, you likely see a lot of people 'standing around' (I have been accused of this!). They're likely not actually doing nothing - it just takes a lot of people to put on a TV show, and they likely have a job to be doing that you aren't necessarily noticing. Like, when I do stills, there's a lot of the time that I just kinda hang out.
Anyway! I digress. The point of the above is to illustrate both that there's a lot that falls under a 'producer' role, as well as the importance of what you're credited as - the fact that there's 'levels' of producer means that a producer is not an associate producer, though their job might be more or less the same thing. The difference is the level of experience and your success in the past, though in some cases it can involve more responsibility.
The fact that there are digital producers and APs says something about the importance of the internet to television shows today. My exec producer on Steven and Chris told the APs at the beginning of the season that the web was of equal importance to the television aspect, and that it was important to support the digital team - which, aside from being kick ass, indicates that internet presence is integral to a show. This may seem like a no brainer, but in some areas, it's really not. When I started in TV a few years ago, there was a sort of grudging acceptance of digital people on set - like 'oh, well. we'll have to get used to it.' Now, producers will come up with awesome ideas and extras without prompting, and will help brainstorm ideas for expanding presence online - in fact, most of our 'Gym Class' segments on S&C were cast entirely from responses to our Facebook messages to fans of the S&C page (go become a fan, dammit - Steven and Chris are awesome!). It only sucks when there's no time or resources to do something... because more often than not, the ideas are good and would really engage viewers and users both.
Basically, they could call us Content Administrators, or Designers or whatever. But they don't. They use TV titles for digital, which I think not only affords digital a bit more respect - but makes the tv/web integration obvious.
So, that's all well and good, but what do I actually do? I'm an associate producer, interactive (or digital, sometimes), which means that I have some TV experience, a fair amount of online work in my background. It's hard to say what my duties are specifically, because they can change based on the project and the relative strengths of the team. For example, A&E/Factual has a 'coder' on staff. Gary can build websites really well, so he does. Eva and Amanda (producers) are both skilled designers, so they do a lot of that work.
My personal strengths are community and content management, so my time on S&C was often spent writing (usually in 'host' voice), doing social network updating, moderation of comments and forums, shooting stills for the show, handling online video, talking to viewers via e-mail and so forth. In the role I have now, I do more broad-based work on a number of shows. For example, today I put up a blog post for 'Heartland', sorted through 'Tudors' photos for Season 3 - no spoilers!, took a call from Calgary, and updated the Steven and Chris site. I also did everything necessary to ensure that Corrie Street fans will get their online fix on Sunday.
No matter the position I've had on a show or just in the network, there's always been a lot of variety, which is good for me. And as nice as it is t work on a bunch of different shows. I love doing a daily show. I love being on-set, I love the challenge, I love how much fun it is. I love hearing all the interesting stuff I might otherwise miss out on - I know a lot more about fashion and decor now. I love the audience, and I do love the celebs, I gotta admit. And as many of you know, I'd love to be a host. So it's been a real privilege to see some of the best work - and to know those people are equally cool as they are talented is a good thing too.
So, that's basically what I do, in a general sense. I'll try to keep posting about what I am doing every once in awhile!