|
Access
Hollywood
Series
Producer, UK -
October 2003 to August 2004
(40
x 60 mins) NBC & Via Digital Networks for Living TV
Across
the USA, NBC's nightly entertainment news show Access Hollywood
consistently tops the ratings. The series has been running for ten
years, and is so well-known that its hosts have made guest
appearances on The Simpsons.
The
UK digital satellite channel Living TV bought the rights to bring
the series to viewers in Britain. For forty weeks from November 4th
2003, our part of the bargain was to generate these new UK editions
of the show.
We
added a fresh spin for British viewers, who got to see an hour of
top showbiz stories every Tuesday night. On offer were candid, sexy
and humorous interviews with the likes of Tom Cruise, Halle Berry,
Ben Affleck, Julia Roberts, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Aniston,
Matthew Perry and J-Lo.
The
UK hosts were Tim Vincent and Kate Garraway, based in London to link
and re-voice the best segments from the US show, as well as filming
new, topical stories in London and Europe. For example Usher at
Wembley Arena or Matt Damon in Berlin. It was terrific to work so
closely with Tim and Kate on developing a strong identity for the
British edition, true to the style of the one-and-only LA original
but with distinctive local spirit and humour
It
was also very exciting to be involved with NBC. We grew to embrace
working alongside the 250-strong Access production team in Burbank,
famed for their warmth, high spirits and dogged refusal to go
half-measures on a great story. Such a pity that Living refused to
take on a further series, but at least Tim was able to capitalise on
our experience to gain a top gig at Access in New
York. |
