New LGBT television programme The Outlook will endeavor to get as many and diverse a range of our voices on screen as possible over the course of the ten-part series, says a TVNZ decision-maker. Jude Callen, TVNZ's Senior Commissioner of Documentaries and Special Interest programmes, was part of the group of representatives from TVNZ and NZ On Air who selected The Outlook for commission. "It was not a decision made lightly nor without due respect for our gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender audiences," says Callen. Last May, broadcasting funder NZ on Air commissioned a research project to help them identify the most appropriate means to cater for the viewing interests of the GLBT community, understand how current and past programmes have been received, explore and identify opportunities for coverage of issues relating to the GLBT community, gain insights into the community itself and understand how television programming could be made more ideal for them, and identify the optimum long-term strategy relating to meeting the needs of the GLBT community, Callen explains. "NZ on Air presented the research to TVNZ and together we identified a television programme model which we both felt was an innovative way to provide a television programme which would address much of the wants and needs of the GLBT community as came to light via the research." A range of proposals was sent to NZ On Air and TVNZ, who collectively selected a proposal which uses Express newspaper's daily operations as a 'gateway' to explore GLBT lives in New Zealand. "I can assure you neither the Express magazine staff nor owner have any editorial control of the content of the series, nor are they being paid nor paying the production company to appear in the show," Callen makes clear. "[Express] seeks to engage with a broad cross section of our GLBT communities with an entertaining and informative mix of issues and events relevant to the community throughout New Zealand." The 'observational documentary' programme model was set as a way to provide a fresh, new approach to story-telling, moving beyond the magazine-style programmes of the past, continues Callen. "The intent was to give visibility, information and entertainment to the GLBT community." Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 14th March 2007 - 12:00pm