| 17 April 2007 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 3:30 pm |
PRODUCER: Sonya Pemberton
CHAIR: Graham Phillips
SPEAKERS: Peter Rees, Catherine Marciniak, Nalaka Gunawardene, Sonya Pemberton
SESSION REPORT: Lights, Camera, Explosion!
By Daniela Abusqueda
“Are TV science shows really science journalism?” asked Graham Phillips, chair of this session.
Peter Rees, the creator of the famous TV show “Mythbusters”, said the show’s success lies in the fact that it never mentions the word “science”, although it contains a lot of it. He said the BBC considers the show a science program and added that every experiment in the show is based on peer-reviewed articles.
Catherine Marciniak, producer of “Life at 1”, explains how her show chose 11 children and their families who agreed to let the cameras enter in their houses for seven years “to put their life under the microscope.” She defined the program as an observational documentary that mixes interviews and experiments, and includes stories where science comes before talent.
Sonya Pemberton, executive producer of a new show called “Crude” that will be on air on May 24th, presented parts of the new program. The documentary includes digital reconstruction of ancient environments, extinct species and images of the modern world while a voice tells the story of oil and the carbon circle.
She said that the show’s main character is the carbon molecule and it targets people who want to understand global warming and the green house effect.
Finally, Nalaka Gunawardene, producer of TVE Asia Pacific from Sri Lanka, explained how the broadcasting model is different in developing countries. Now the challenge is to pack science, not in a lineal format — like the traditional documentary style — but in a way that can attract people under 30 — the digital natives — he called them.
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