Only one more day of INPUT
2012. Yesterday it seemed the intensity ramped up and passionate conversations
were taking place in every corner of the event site.
I began the day with the
session called "Easy Ways to Deliver Environmental Issues" and
watched a KBS (Korean pub TV) special on toilets. Funny how nobody seems to
want to talk about something we all use but KBS plunged in (woops - bad choice
of words!). If only every country paid more attention to the amount of water
wasted by the flush toilet and the environmental havoc wreaked by sewage
overflow we'd all be in much better shape. KBS dealt with the subject with
humor and a solid approach to the science - we need this kind of show in the
U.S.!
Then, like a guest at a buffet,
I loaded my plate with another helping and went to "On Your Doorstep:
New Ways of Telling History" in time to see “Hitler’s Children,” a
co-production of German and Israeli TV.
This story of the Third Reich is told by the descendants of Hitler’s
most powerful commanders, a fresh approach to a narrative that’s been covered many
times. Everyone was in tears by the end and Claudia Schreiner of ARD, one of
the producers, spoke eloquently about the burden of history on the German
people. I was stuck by the thought that, while this monstrous thing happened in
Germany, no country can consider itself immune to committing grave acts of
horror and injustice toward its citizens. After all, look at what America did
to its native people.
My afternoon was taken up
with a long but stimulating session called “Is the Web the Future of
Documentaries?” Most impressive was the work ARTE, the French/German channel,
is doing, but there wasn’t anything in the session that didn’t spark ideas. I
think the field of online documentaries is evolving quickly – I remember going
to an INPUT session on the topic several years ago and thinking that the form
was clunky, but the work presented here was really good and interesting. One
question does arise, though, and that’s the problem of access. Is it just us
privileged few who have enormous amounts of bandwidth who can enjoy these
productions? How does public media reach out to those without this kind of
access? Don’t we need to be thinking about making these products available to
our entire audience?
In the evening I finally got
my first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House – quite a sight any time of day but maybe best at night.
To my surprise the exterior
is covered with ceramic tiles, as you can see in the close up.
Betsy and I have been trying to hit different sessions at INPUT. I attended part of the Fresh Fiction - Join-In Dramas, Soap Noirs and Other Buzz Creators. I was not surprised to see the Aussie mini-series "The Slap" having seen it on television in the U.S. Based on a best-selling novel in Australia, the Executive Producer said that it became water-cooler worthy after the first episode.(http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theslap/)
ReplyDelete"Who's In Who's Out" is what we might describe as a mix of American Idol meets Fame where viewers can vote off one of two primarly talented characters each week. "Xtrems" was the most unique program in that the drama series followed stories of addiction based on real people. Most scenes flashed to a brief clip of the actor talking to the actual person (covered by a witness protection filter) about the real story. The director who recently lost his brother to alcoholism, wrote a letter to INPUT delegates about his own personal story. A very interesting day.
The CPB INPUT Producer Fellows were equally pleased with Thursday's line-up. We have a great group this year!!!