Appendix a the Television Fund and Company Grants
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APPENDIX A THE TELEVISION FUND AND COMPANY GRANTS From the earliest days of Independent Television the companies made grants to deserving causes. In 1958 a Committee for the Review of Grants to the Arts and Sciences (CRGAS) was established as a consultative and co-ordinating body under the chairmanship of the Director General to ensure the best use of the money available and avoidance of duplication. Ten years later that system, which had by then disbursed a total of some £1.25 million, was replaced by contractual obliga tions in the form of fixed annual quotas and by a two-tier committee structure for lTV's 'support and development of the arts, sciences and training on which television depends'. National grants, 'few in number but significant in amount', were administered by a Television Fund Committee composed of five representatives of the Authority (including the Chairman, with a casting vote) and five company representatives. For the administration of local grants by individual companies the CRGAS was converted into the Companies' Grants Committee, which consisted of a representa tive from each of the fifteen companies with the Director General in the chair. The total contribution from the companies was set at £500,000 a year, of which £300,000 was to be spent nationally and £200,000 regionally.) Those assessments were made at a time of financial buoyancy and had to be drastically reduced in May 1969 when the rates of the Exchequer levy were raised. The total for 1~9 reached no higher than £218,000 and in the following financial year it fell to £139,000. Thereafter it recovered, and by 1979-80 annual expenditure had reached £679,000, making a grand total of more than £3.5 million donated since 1968. Of this sum, contrary to the original intention, three-quarters had been distributed locally. Not included in these figures were donations to charities and the costs of in-house training. 2 Nationally the beneficiaries were the National Film Archive (for the storage and preservation of selected lTV programmes), the National Film School, the Royal Television Society, the Regional Theatre Trainee Director Scheme, drama training schools such as RADA, the Central School and LAMDA, the Royal College of Arts' film and television school, Manchester University's drama department, the National Council for the Training of Journalists and similar organisations. Individually the companies spread smaller sums over a wider range in their regions so that a large number of local arts bodies and events, like the Bristol Arts Centre, the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, the Aldeburgh Festival and the rebuild ing of Manchester's Palace Theatre were supported. The drama department at Manchester University had been founded by an endowment from Granada in 1961. 362 THE TELEVISION FUND AND COMPANY GRANTS 363 In 1962 Scottish Television had responded with a cheque for £1000 to a request for help in starting an opera company in Glasgow, thus bringing into being the company which was to win international acclaim as Scottish Opera and which it continued to support. The annual Young Playwright of the Year competition run by Tyne Tees was only one of a number of enterprises of a similar kind. 3 Artistic patronage on such a handsome scale was an enlightened form of self interest, but not without its problems. In 1977 the companies raised objections to the machinery of the two-tier system, drawing attention in particular to the Tele vision Fund Committee's failure to identify any large measure of need which fell within its terms of reference. The desirability of joint patronage through collective grants was never at issue, but the method and apportionment of grant-giving became one of those areas in which centralised action and network co-operation had to be balanced against company independence and the satisfaction of regional needs and interests.4 APPENDIX B REGIONAL NEWS Regional television news was one of lTV's most appreciated services to the public. This account of a typical day in the life of a regional company's news team was written in 1974 by Arthur Clifford, Director of Programmes at Tyne Tees Television.! 9.30 a.m. in the Tyne Tees newsroom, the editorial conference in full swing. A thirty-minute news magazine is taking shape for 6 p.m. transmission. Journalists, film editors, production staff gather round the head of news, who is also producer. The news editor outlines the day: American-owned factory may close as orders fall; angry village fights planners on minerals exploration; local policeman's gallantry award for tackling armed man; gypsies evicted from forest site; school fire; computerised meals at new hospital; beer shortage threatened as draymen strike; lorry driver trapped in crash ... This news is for immediate coverage. Some camera men have been on location since dawn. Also available on video tape: parents and schoolmasters debate English teaching method; new uniforms for nurses (both video-recorded in studio the previous day) ... Producer, magazine editor, scriptwriters and sub-editors discuss story treat ments. Reporters throw in ideas. Studio director and production assistant rough out a camera script, the master document from which everyone will work. A police tip-off interrupts the planning: £50,000 snatched from big store in morning raid. Reporter and camera crew are despatched. The day looks newsy, though a little heavy. In just over eight hours the right 'mix' must be provided to catch and hold viewer interest. Some lighter items are considered: a retired general running his own railway in his attic; an exhibition of electronic art which is baffling some citizens; a schoolboy organist making tapes for British troops abroad. The conference breaks up. More news teams are briefed. Camera cars move away through the traffic. In the newsroom, telephones jangle: copy piles up from local correspondents; the Press Association teleprinter chatters out early stories. An urgent call from the crew on factory closure: murky weather means poor light for filming workers' open-air meeting. Newsdesk contacts head of film; confirms that coverage is essential. Cameraman is assured that, if he shoots at widest possible aperture, the processing plant will be adjusted to handle his footage. At midday magazine editor checks on early newsfilm; approves film lead-ins; passes sub editors' copy to newscaster. At 12.15 p.m. mixed news from the gypsy site: the cameraman has stumbled on rough ground, breaking camera lens mount. But main sound sequences are already filmed, so a replacement camera not needed. Final eviction scenes will be covered by mute camera, plus portable tape recorder. Another crew rings in: store-snatch film coming back by despatch rider. One good eye-witness and after-the-robbery pictures. The crew go on to cover police award. 364 REGIONAL NEWS 365 One p.m., over a sandwich lunch, producer confers with editor, director and presenter amid the clicking typewriters. The director re-jigs his camera script, seeking the most effective way of linking that night's film, studio, slide and VTR components. Bit by bit, a shape is emerging. In the film-editing rooms, the celluloid is being cut and spliced into shape. On a busy day, a regional station will process and edit up to 2000 feet of sound and silent film stock for its news programmes ... The producer moves about the noisy, untidy newsroom; check ing, making suggestions, criticising when he must. Now, with the editor, he ponders the lead - the all-important opening item. Store snatch or, if the film is transmissible, factory closure? But newsdesk reports the factory interviews very low-key: union still hoping to avert total shutdown. The producer understands: he is part ofthe region too. Local jobs are more important than news stories. But he still wants a lead. Perhaps a strong human interest ~tory? Angry village fights planners might provide that - but not today. It's a complex affair; crews still filming; legal advice may be necessary. With luck, a major report for a later programme. At 4.30 p.m. the final 'running order' conference. Store snatch is put at number one (brief but effective film), followed by police award (film still awaited) and factory closure (open-air film acceptable through careful pro cessing). Common Market speech and parent-teacher debate make solid mid magazine offerings; gypsies evicted ensures a lively second half. Shorter films and into-camera news briefs break up the longer items, with nurses' uniforms providing an agreeable endpiece. The action moves to studio control room and rehearsals. The director, facing a bank of flickering monitor screens, activates his picture sources: studio cameras, film-projecting telecine machines and VTR. On the floor, booms and cameras are positioned; presenter, newscaster and interviewers finalise their scripts. Freshly edited films are run through and timed by the director's P A. The minutes slip by, and now, just beneath the well-ordered professional routine, can be felt the tension inseparable from daily deadlines and the pressures of a 'live' production. It is 5.40 p.m. Final camera moves and links are rehearsed. Film content is complete. The producer, sitting behind the director, remains faintly unhappy with the top end of the running order. It will get by, but something is lacking ... Minutes later he takes the call which is to transform the day. The reporter on police award persuades him to follow the medal presentation film with a studio livespot featuring the whole family. As a camera car brings them through rush hour traffic, the producer takes a second bolder decision - to lead on the story and run store snatch as number two. From control room comes a series of brisk instructions: a camera is shifted; studio chairs re-arranged; a new programme 'intro' written; less urgent newsfilm earmarked for cuts to avoid a programme overrun; the police award film run up to the telecine starting gate ..