MGEITF

Book your FREE advice session with an industry expert now

Get free specialist advice on anything from expanding your client base, digital marketing and PR, technology and web management, life coaching and much more...

The Clinic is open on Friday 28 August from 11:00 until 15:00. To pre-book one or all of our experts email liz@mgeitf.co.uk

Areas covered -

Business, Personal and Career Coaching or CV Review:

Alec McPhedran, Managing Director, Skills Channel TV

Personal and business Accountancy:

Allan McKelvie, Partner, McKelvie & Co

Ideas for building and running a small business:

Clare Thompson and Pamela Hamilton, Ignite

Digital marketing, networking and web build:

Russell Stopford and Mayur Upadhyaya, Glow Labs Ltd

Distribution, Co-Production, Rights and Royalty Management Management:

Patrick Palmer, Director, Palmer Business Media

Corporate strategy and finance:

Mark Henshaw and Terry A Back, Partners, Media Entertainment Group, Grant Thornton 

Commercial contracts, business set-up and IP (English & Scottish law):

Alex Innes, Partner of Semple Fraser LLP

Is Alan Yentob the next George Sampson? Will Andrew Newman rival Paul Potts?  Presented by Ant and Dec and judged by Amanda Holden, Jimmy Carr and Louis Walsh, this year's Festival kicks off with a live search for TV's top ‘talent' across the entire industry.  Whether they be singers, dancers, jugglers, or Ferrero Rocher eaters - Runners, Researchers, Producers and Exec Producers will be competing to win your vote and decide once and for all if TV's Got Talent.

Sponsored by

When he took over the reins just over a year ago Hamish Mykura promised MORE4 would "punch harder with more polemics and current affairs programming".   But with Come Dine with Me repeats and Grand Designs marathons pulling in the channels highest viewing figures, has MORE4 just become the TV equivalent of a guilty pleasure?  E4 is on a roll, as its strategy to concentrate on fewer, bigger and better resourced commissions has really started to pay off. Skins and The Inbetweeners continue to pull in awards and high ratings and Charlie Brooker's zombie gore-fest, Dead Set, trumpeted their commitment to genre-busting risk-taking TV. Can E4 keep up the momentum or will financial considerations temper its ambitions?

Sponsored by

It's the burning issue of the moment - to pay or not to pay.  Salaries are under the spotlight like never before.  As programme budgets are slashed, services cut and thousands of people handed their P45s, what's the right price for talent?  From Jonathan Ross's millions to the salaries of TV's top executives, we've been talking telephone numbers.  Suddenly it all seems like fair game for scrutiny.  Is this just another sign of the recession biting?  Or is the pay gap between the top and bottom now wider than ever?  Could this mark a turning point in talent pay and where will it all end?    

In the year that Sky News celebrates 20 years on air, ITV News collects a BAFTA, Channel 4 News continues to break exclusives, and Natasha Kaplinsky returns to Five News - all may seem rosy to viewers, but pressures on commercial broadcasters mean that exclusive BBC News could be here sooner than we think.  This session looks at what would happen if the BBC was the UK's only TV news provider. Can funding commercial TV news simply be fixed by top-slicing or would that actually kill commercial news? What impact would a news monopoly have on democracy? How can a BBC-exclusive future be delayed or avoided? The panel will look at editorial distinction, potential funding models, current resources and regional news provision.

Sponsored by:

With just under a year in the job as controller of BBC Two, we'll look at how Janice Hadlow has made her mark on the channel. As some of the channel's most successful shows migrate to BBC One, the need for returnable channel defining brands is at the top of BBC Two's agenda. Is this migration a disadvantage to the channel? Or does this actually offer greater opportunities to producers and commissioners to serve a broader BBC Two audience?

Sponsored by

Creator of The Wire, David Simon won widespread critical acclaim for his uncompromising portrayals of inner city America.  Discussing his early career as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, Simon will reveal how his first hand experiences have shaped his subsequent work including Homicide: Life on the Street, Emmy-winning mini-series The Corner and more recently Generation Kill in which he adapted the experiences of another journalist.  Talking about upcoming projects, he will also discuss the role of the media, the breakdown of urban society and his relationship with the viewers.

They're the brash entrepreneurs who claim to have the internet cracked. They're connecting to their audience in new ways, changing the way we consume content and interact, but how are they actually making money, and what can TV companies learn from them? Four leading entrepreneurs who have built huge audiences - and in some cases huge fortunes - through the internet advise TV on how it needs to change to meet the future and create a successful online business.

New controller. New commissioning team.   New vision and strategy.   Amid talks of a merger with Channel 4 and deep crunch-induced cutbacks at HQ, Richard Woolfe has moved swiftly to appoint a head of factual, a head of production - and after a 5 year gap - a head of entertainment.  Trisha's gone, CSI's still their biggest ratings success and comedy drama remake Minder  - which delivered Five's best ever figures for an original drama - has been axed. So what is the Five story, and who do they want to help tell it?

Sposored by 

Advertiser funded programming has come of age whilst the product placement debate rages on. Technological advances and the economic climate have forced broadcasters and advertisers to re-think their relationship commercially and creatively. What are the exciting new opportunities for programme makers, channels and brands and is government policy standing in the way of much needed cash injection?

How did Top Gear go from being a show for car nerds to a mainstream entertainment show loved by both men and women? Consistently BBC Two's highest-rating programme, with a bevy of awards under its belt, other producers would kill for its viewing figures - so what's their secret? Is the format set in stone, or is there room for it to develop? How do they come up with the challenges and how do they get round BBC Health and Safety? Who really is The Stig?  This masterclass will reveal all you need to know about Top Gear, and more.

What does it take to make a hit drama? Is it luck, alchemy or design? The creatives behind such popular shows as Being Human, Primeval, Law and Order: UK, Hotel Babylon and Survivors discuss the challenges, thrills and spills of launching a new series. What are the elements of a hit show and how do you sustain the audience after the launch episode?  Does the recession mean fewer risks are being taken, how do you make content for less money and is the US model a better one?   This session will debate all these issues, and more. 

Sponsored by

Is it the best of times or the worst of times?  With a bulging awards cabinet and a diminishing budget, how will Channel 4 continue to deliver big hitting commercial successes in the wake of a 12% cut in programme spending? Will the need for high ratings lead to a dependence on returning formats or can the channel still afford to take creative risks?   How will Channel 4 juggle this with its public service remit and what does it really want from indies now?

Sponsored by

As Wossy wecently wealised, it has never been easier for Joe Public to complain.  At the click of a mouse, a complaint can be pinged off to the Director General and, if enough complaints come in, major editorial decisions are influenced.  Unsurprisingly, comedy is fielding unfriendly fire for taste and decency.  With these battle lines drawn up, we introduce our own Ofcom committee of comedians.  Looking back at some familiar and less familiar comedic complaints we wonder how things would have turned out if only they had been there to sprinkle a bit of sanity.

James Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive, Europe and Asia, News Corporation, and Chairman of BSkyB, will deliver the 2009 MacTaggart Lecture. James has a unique perspective on the media industry, having run television, publishing and digital businesses worldwide. Despite the tough economic climate BSkyB has, under his leadership, accelerated its rate of growth and increased its commitment to investing in programming. In this year's lecture he will explore the way forward at this crucial moment for the industry - for producers, regulators and, most importantly, consumers.

The first day of the Festival doesn't end with the MacTaggart Lecture. Join us at Our Dynamic Earth for the Friday Night Reception. Grab a drink, catch up with friends and discuss the poignant issues of the day, as well as your favourite act from TV's Got Talent!

Coaches and pedicabs will be waiting outside the McEwan Hall after the MacTaggart Lecture to transport you to the party, or if you fancy the exercise, follow the map on page 15 of your programme for a 20 minute walk.

Sponsored by