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Locked Up Abroad
It seems strange that I haven’t mentioned what has been pre-occupying a huge amount of my time for the last year and a half. I’m right in the middle of producing another series of ‘Locked Up Abroad’ for the National Geographic Channel, (it’s called ‘Banged Up Abroad’ in the UK). You can watch the trailer here.
Last season I produced thirteen shows from around the world and this year I’m doing the same. They are action-packed drama/documentaries that recreate the true life testimonies of people who have found themselves imprisoned in far-off places. In some cases the contributor has made a stupid attempt to get rich quick, while in others they’ve have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But either way, most of the films attest to people’s inner strength and resilience in extreme situations. The shows are a bit like ‘Midnight Express‘ on speed except as a rule we make more of the dilemmas and decisions that lead to the subject’s capture and less of their incarceration.
The series gets great reviews and a really good audience (“One of the most compelling and riveting series TV has ever provided” – New York Post). This season we’ve found a new range of incredible stories in Iraq, Cuba, Sierra Leone and as many other far flung locations we dig up to test our tight schedules and preposterous ambitions.
Producing this series with all the possible permutations for problems is a rock n roll journey but it’s one I make behind a desk in the East End of London. My home is a five minute cycle ride from Raw Television who makes the series, and the edit suites at Envy (where they are being cut) are a fifteen minute cycle ride from Raw. I love my job and living in London, but having been the director sent off to the far-flung place many times before, I do get a touch of adventure-envy when I hear the experiences of my teams when they return from filming.
The new series is broadacsting just now in the US on Wednesday evenings at 10pm EST, but its also available on Video on demand from NGC’s site (and the last series is on Hulu – watchable only in the US).
Number 1 Terrorist
It was fantastic to watch the inauguration this week, hearing the leavened President Obama being so publicly scathing about George Bush and his legacy. I know everybody talks about how impossible the task ahead for Obama is, and how he can’t live up to expectations, but it would be hard to imagine that he won’t make a vast improvement on the mess that Bush has left behind.
This image is from the Stop the War march in London in 2006, protesting against the bombing of southern Lebanon.
On a related topic, I’ve just heard the news that the BBC has refused to broadcast the Disaster Emergency Committee’s appeal for Gaza, on the grounds that it will jeopardise their impartiality. What has got into them? They’ve broadcast previous appeals for peoples around the world that have been devastated by military action. Why is this different?
Donate to the DEC Gaza appeal.
Washington DC, 2002
In the week of the historic inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama, I can’t help but feel a little nervous. It is such an enormous responsibility to take on the mess left by the dreadful Bush; he carries so much weight on his shoulders. I thought this picture was somewhat apt.
James Dean statue, Griffith Park Observatory, Los Angeles
This is a small bust for a big star in Griffith Park Observatory, LA.
Photograph taken in April 2002.
