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Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy (UK)
Producer/Director
-
April 2004
(1
x 50mins)
NBC & Via Digital Networks for Living TV
The
definitive UK edition of Queer Eye, based on the hit USA series, in
which five style savants bestow make-overs on hapless men. The twist
is that the Fab Five are gay, as well as knowing all there is to know
about their chosen fields of food and drink, grooming, culture,
interior design and fashion. The format, devised by New York
producers David Metzler and David Collins, has been successfully
exported to Britain, Australia and Sweden to date.
The
concept behind Queer Eye struck me as very appealing, because it
successfully combined a variety of make-over genres in one format. I
find most TV shows devoted to those individual genres a real
turn-off. Who wants to watch a whole hour of TV about a house being
decorated, or a presenter lecturing a viewer about clothes for thirty
minutes? Queer Eye crammed them all into a fast-paced and
entertaining structure. It was impossible not to be inspired by it.
The
UK Fab Five of Tristan Eves (grooming); Peyton (food & drink);
Jason Gardiner (culture); Dane Bailey (interior design) and Julian
Bennett (style) were backed up by an exceptionally strong and
friendly research team, who worked the longest of hours on a
no-frills budget to make it all happen. Nevertheless, it was one of
the highest budgets ever issued by Living in the channel's ten year
history, despite being a third of the size of that of the US series.
I
directed UK series 1/episode 7 (Dean Stewart) in the allotted three
days, with a combination of PSC and multi-camera, as well as
directing and filming secondary shoots for episodes 6 & 8 on
PD170s. I count myself very fortunate to have had Danny Harvey
editing my episode. Not only is he one of the best editors I know, it
was also a pleasure to work with him again, two years on from our
stint on LNN's Premiere Bond. |
