Production Diaries Intro: That’s Life

When RealScreen debuted its coproduction diaries feature in 1997, international collaborations were a new phenomenon that presented both producers and broadcasters with unpredictable and complex issues. Today, the industry is still grappling with multi-party contracts, but experience has worked out many of the more frustrating wrinkles. In the meantime, new dilemmas associated with the explosion of lifestyle and factual entertainment shows have cropped up to challenge the industry. To address these, RealScreen deviates from its traditional coproduction diary formula to examine two productions that turn the audience at home - and in one case, the audience's homes - into the subjects of series. Forget the controlled environment of the studio. Say goodbye to the confines of a perfectly edited script. Real people are unpredictable, unreliable and occasionally mad. How will producers survive? The two stories that follow show how pros can convert even chaos into creative.