Case Histories - Recces and Feasibility

Case Histories -

Recces and Feasiblity Studies

Everest - Beyond the Limit

In 2005 I was sent by Tigress Productions to

carry out a recce and feasibility study on the

North (Tibetan) side of Mount Everest, for a pitch

to Discovery Channel.

As well as producing and shooting a 15 minute

taster, this involved assesing all aspects of

production - editorial, logistical and safety -

to satisfy Tigress that there was a story to be told,

and that it could be done within budget and safely.

Alongside the taster, I helped to pull together a full shooting script for a six part series, based on events that had happened that season, and that would have formed the basis of a series had we shot it that year.

Based on my findings, the series was comissioned, and I worked as Senior Location Producer overseeing the production crew in 2006.

Monty Halls Great Escapes

For Tigress Productions - in year one, the production was left high and dry when the owner of the property Monty was going to use as his Scottish base pulled out of negotiations ten days before filming started, leaving us less than a week to find a suitable alternative.

We managed to do this by identifying and contacting every Scottish estate with a coastline to ask if they had a run down but convertible building we could use. From a shortlist of three, we were able to make the final choice based on it's relationship to the nearest community, suitability in terms of likely story arcs, and availability of crew accomodation etc.

In subsequent years, I oversaw the search for suitable bases in the Outer Hebrides, and the West Coast of Ireland.

Alone In the Wild

For Tigress Productions - looking for a very specific set of islands on the reefs off Belize on which to film two episodes for Discovery UK's 'Alone in the Wild'.

One needed to be a classic desert island (palm fringed white beach etc) on which a celebrity could be abandonned to fend (and shoot) for him/herself for up to 10 days, the other close enough (and with suitable facilities) to work as a crew base from which to oversee the production - not as easy as it might sound given that most of the islands that fitted either bill were privately owned and developed.

With the help of a local fixer, I identified the right combination, and we were able to base ourselves offshore for three weeks while filming two episodes back to back.

Lost Worlds

In 2013 I was employed by Electric Sky Productions to carry out a recce and feasibility study into a four-part wildlife and extreme climbing series in the Tepui country of Venezuela.

This again involved assesing all aspects of production - editorial, logistical and (along with a colleague from a specialist risk assesment company) safety cover. Electric Sky was already commited to the series, but needed someone to make sure the stories they envisioned were gripping enough, and that ways could be found to film them within the constraints of time and budget.

In the event, a political crisis in Venezuela meant that the filming trip had to be cancelled at short notice. With other demands on the two presenters, this left just five weeks to find another suitable location in which to film at least two episodes to keep the project on track.

Through a fixer contact in neighboring Guyana, I was able to identify at least two possible episodes, carry out a recce, and script/plan two programmes in the limited time available.

I was then kept on as location producer to manage the shoot (to allow the self-shooting 3d PD to concentrate on filming) for that trip, and a subsequent one to Borneo, where the other two episodes were filmed.