The debate on "Television and Independent Production" featured Augusto Gôngorra (Nueva Imagen, Chile), Jean-Marie Duhard (Canal Plus, France), Jean-Paul Tréfois (RTBF, Belgium), Roger Karman (MTV/TV Abril, Brazil) and Rod Stoneman (Channel Four, England). The debate was mediated by Renato Barbieri (independent producer, Brazil).
Critical text Jean-Marie Duhard, 1990
The relationships between Television and independet production in France are quite simple, and could be resumed in a few lines that I can outline very pragmatically by describing the system, or the path to follow, starting with a creative projetc conceived by an artist.
Act 1:
Scene 1: An artist draws up a Project that he wishes to make for television. He must then submit the Project to a producer.
Scene 2: Should the Project please the producer, the producer will assemble a dossier containing: “synopsis, author’s intentions, segmentation, budger forecast, financing plan, author’s resume, etc...”
Scene 3: The producer, in turn, sets out in search of a form of media to present the production, that is, a television network.
Scene 4: Should the means of communication/TV network like the Project and wish to include it in its programming, it may intervene in various ways.
Scene5: A straightforward pre-purchase. A pre-purchse and a co-production. Its intention is accompanied by a letter of intentions in which its forms of interference in the Project are clearly stated.
Scene 6: The TV network then negotiates, at the best possible price, either parts of the co-production, or the post-production, with the service rendering, studios (sound and image), at discount that can vary form 20 to 50% of the manufacturing cost.
Epilogue:
In the drawing up of a creative project, an independent producer invests: his logistics, his know-how, his competence, his network of knowledge, his reputation, but rarely his money, since this is a very scarce commodity among independent producers. Therefore, he depends on all the paramenters mentioned above to be able to carry out his production. In other words, the independent production plays the role “interface” between the artist/his work, and the mens of communication/TV network. He raises all the funds and carries out execution of the product up to the final delivery, ready for release.
The ideal situation, for an independent producer and for the confortable development of a Project is: straght forward financing by a television network (which rarely occurs in the field of creative videos). If the presence of the independente producers gives the impression of a certain dependence as far as their partners and the stsyem to be followed are concerned, their “interface” role is fundamental, necessary, and must be encouraged, so as to avoid slips and so that the position of those who present the Project does not become hegemonic in the audiovisual area.
This example I gave is the most common in our country. There are others that could be the object of a short one-act plays, or of five-act slapstick comedies or, even worse, of ancient tragedies. Could the “interface” be a scene to be produced? The bidding is open to amateurs, producers, showers!
Silence... Camera... Action!
8th Fotoptica Internacional Video Festival. 09 a 15 de Novembro de 1990. p. 77. e p. 78.