Pitching to TV: What Producers Look for from Comms Pros
Matthew Drake explores what TV producers want PR and comms pros to know about the industry.
Matthew Drake has spent the past nine years as a senior producer at ITV, earning two BAFTA nominations along the way.
His credits span executive producing Chesapeake Shores for Hallmark Channel and Sweet Magnolias for Netflix. Before moving into television, he was a foreign correspondent and chief reporter in newspapers, giving him perspective on print and broadcast storytelling.
Today, he’s in the Off the Record hot seat, sharing what comms and PR professionals really need to understand about pitching to TV, audience trust and why your story has to look big on screen.
Matthew, how does life as a producer compare to being a reporter on a newspaper? What's the most important thing you'd want a comms or PR person to know about the similarities/differences? You are convincing people to do completely different things. On a newspaper you can grab a couple quotes from somebody on a doorstep and write a reasonable piece. For TV you need a full commitment from the person you are interviewing. Often they are concerned about factors such as how they look or come across, so it can be difficult. There is also the added fear with live TV that they may clam up or say something libelous. Detail and nuance does not always stand out in TV interviews as it does in a newspaper article. The other aspect to consider is credit. You get it in print with a byline. You don't get that when you are wheeling away behind the camera.
You’ve executive produced for Hallmark Channel on Chesapeake Shores and for Netflix on Sweet Magnolias. What are the biggest differences in storytelling and brand expectations between traditional broadcasters and global streamers? Traditional broadcasting is very much a moment in time. You film something, it airs and then like a soap bubble it pops and it is gone. With breakfast TV something you show in one morning can have completely passed its sell-by date come the evening bulletins. The streamers are looking to create legacy and vaults of content so the consumer keeps returning. If you look at the appetite for crime documentaries it shows how people are keen to recycle old stories.
What do television networks understand about audience trust that corporate brands often miss? The good ones understand their viewers. They have a clear idea of what works, in which format and hosted by faces the audience either trust, love or loathe. When they strike the winning formula they tend to stick with it. Change can be a bad thing and once a viewer has changed channels or has started using that time to do something else you have little or no chance of getting them back.
What’s the biggest mistake organisations make when trying to tell their story? By far the biggest mistake is chasing an audience that does not exist. Each generation has different viewing habits. If you are trying to bend your programming to a young audience when core is made up of older people you are guaranteed to fail. Loyalty is key.
What's the best way for comms people to get to know producers? Speak to them. Don't just try to sell. Get to know what works and how it would work on TV. Regulators are tough in TV, so it is not a case of easily being able to plug something.
Quick fire:
Most important things comms pros should know about producers? We tend not to waste time on things that are unlikely to get on air. Speak to us about what you have and then listen to what is said about making it work.
Something comms pros won’t expect about producing? It needs to look big on TV. The bigger the better. Big ideas, big locations and big content.
Best place for people to contact you? MatthewDrake.Media@gmail.com
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