Beginning to think about what to pack for the Edinburgh TV Festival? What meetings to set up, who you might bump into and what sessions to attend?
Yes, the countdown has begun to the last TV Festival in the Scottish capital as the TV Foundationâs historic event moves to Manchester next year.
So this week weâre looking back to the future, with some learnings you can take forward from the highlights and recollections about the festival that took root with the inaugural James MacTaggart lecture in 1976.
That was simply a retrospective given by radical playwright John McGrath at the Edinburgh Film Festival about the work of the recently deceased TV producer MacTaggart.
But it sparked a debate about television that led to the establishment of the TV Festival the following year by then producer of Granadaâs World in Action Gus (now Lord) MacDonald and the heads of Scottish Television and BBC Scotland.
MacDonald described it as a âwee gabfestâ for a âwee handfulâ of programme-makers, where they âwould be allowed to speak freely because their bosses wouldnât be thereâ. But over the years the executives began attending because, as MacDonald said at the time, people were asking âhuge questions, but there is no one here to answer themâ. So it became an event during which âany researcher can just walk in and pick a fight with the director generalâ.
Former PACT chief executive John McVay recalls that did indeed happen one year: âI remember being in an audience and some freelancer asked [former BBC director general] John Birt this fantastic question and John Birt didnât like it, and I was like, âThatâs amazing. This is the boss of the BBC being taken to task by some sound engineer or whatever and I thought, âThis is really interestingâ.â
Over the last five decades Edinburgh has been the backdrop to key points in the history of indies: from lobbying for better terms of trade to the announcement that opened up huge parts of the BBC schedule to competition, and from programme ideas pitched in loos to the creation of production companies following boozy nights in The George Hotelâs bar; Edinburgh has seen it all.
So what can the festivalâs past teach us about the future of the industry? And what have been the highs and the lows? To find out weâve spoken to former Edinburgh TV Festival board directors Alan Clements and John Willis, ex-Festival CEO and director Lisa Campbell, Wall to Wall co-founder Alex Graham, Avalon co-founder Jon Thoday and ex-PACT chief executive John McVay.
Read on to learn:
How to use Edinburgh TV Festival to your advantage
Ways the festival has been a crucible for the creation of indies and ideas
How Edinburgh can act as a barometer and catalyst
What to learn from the best and worst MacTaggart speeches
Edinburghâs funniest moments and highlights
Using Edinburgh TV Festival to your advantage
There are many TV conferences nowadays but the word festival in Edinburghâs title has been key, with the industry using it as a time to come together, celebrate and, crucially, debate the topics of the day.
Former festival board member and ex-Mentorn and Tinopolis boss John Willis explains that âitâs been a great institution because what itâs done has been a meeting point for all independent producers and at the same time the broadcasters and commissioners have also attended.
âSo itâs one of the places - even if it was 2am in The George Hotel bar - where there was a direct contact, which is not easy through all the layers that sit between independent producers and the decision-makers inside broadcasters or streamers.
âItâs been a really important place for meeting and also lots of issues about the future of broadcasting have been aired. Itâs a place to take the temperature really of where things are. Our industry has continuously evolved, changed and shifted, and Edinburgh is a good place to actually [discuss] âThis is what might happen nextâ andâŠprovide a more direct relationship between commissioners and producers.â
Itâs also been an event where âactual business things have happenedâ, says former festival board director and Two Rivers managing director Alan Clements. He and his wife Kirsty Wark hold a dinner each year and âfor me itâs the most important thing we do as a company; it brings people together [as] what is always incredible to me is how many people in the industry donât know other people in the industryâŠSo [we] have somebody from Disney meeting somebody from Amazon meeting somebody from Channel 5.â
He points out that things have shifted away from The George bar since the hotel was refurbished and the industry has become more corporate with some streamer bosses now keeping more to themselves, but it still has a âdemocratic spiritâ that provides you with a chance to âmeet people that youâve never metâ in a way âthat doesnât happenâ at some conferences.
Former PACT chief executive John McVay recalls a key draw for indies over the years was, the controllers and commissioners, âdidnât run away and hide with private dinners. It was much more egalitarian and much more accessible and porous and exciting because of that.â
But there still remains, âthe serendipity; you never know who youâre going to bump into in a queueâ and he has seen, âpeople pitching shows in toiletsâŠI donât know how welcome it is or if it actually works, but Iâve seen people do it at Edinburgh many times. And why not? Seize the moment.â
The festival can also provide a reality check. Who Do You Think You Are? creator Alex Graham points to a session by Troubleshooter presenter and businessman Sir John Harvey-Jones, in which he analysed three production companies and their finances and then, âfamously excoriated indies for being âa lifestyle, not a businessâ, a phrase that entered the TV vocabulary and never left. I sat in the audience quietly congratulating myself for having dodged that particular bullet.â
Takeaways: look at the delegate list to decide who you want to target in session queues; seize the moment to introduce yourself to commissioners you donât know; what can you learn as a business from the talks on offer
A crucible for the creation of indies and ideas
Many a collaboration and programme has been dreamt up at the festival. Clements recalls: âI watched Catchphrase being reborn over a whisky.â
He was at STV at the time with Liam Hamilton and they were having a drink with Jeremy Fox from DRG, who had the rights to Catchphrase.
âWe were sitting having a late night whisky, and we went, âWe should bring that backâ. [Jeremy said] the family wanted to do a deal with ITV Studios, and I was like, âDonât do that, do it with us!â and that grew out of Edinburgh.â
The festival also provided a portent to one of the most successful companies, Clarksonâs Farm producer Expectation, founded by Tim Hincks and Peter Fincham.
In 2009 the pair (then at Endemol and ITV, respectively) played in a band called the Overnights for a contest at the festival called TVâs Got Talent. Hincks (who was chairing the festivalâs executive committee) was on guitar, with Fincham on keyboards. It was so well-received the following year the pair returned to perform in The George with their new band No Expectation.
Footage from the show may be grainy but I can personally vouch they went down a storm. They subsequently played at Mipcom and Latitude so in 2017 it was no surprise when the pair started up a company together and called it a more optimistic version of their band name, Expectation.
Speaking from Edinburgh where he is watching talent at the main Festival and Fringe Thoday points out how the TV Festival has benefitted from being part of the wider global entertainment industryâs focus on the Scottish capital and thinks it is "a shame" it is moving to Manchester. âThere are television executives from all over the world coming to Edinburgh today to try and find talentâŠand there are independent producers here all the time.
He concludes: âIf the TV Festival hadnât been in Edinburgh, I donât think Taskmaster would have happened because that was how I got the executives to go and see it [when they were in town anyway for the TV festival].â
Takeaways: accept that invitation to drinks; future business relationships can be forged in the festival fire; TV is part of the UK entertainment eco-system
Edinburgh as a barometer and catalyst
You never know whatâs round the corner at the festival, as the then BBC director general Greg Dyke showed in 2000 when Edinburgh was agog with the announcement he was moving the corporationâs 9pm news bulletin to 10pm to fill the slot left empty after ITV axed News at Ten.
Last year Channel 4 hit home against the issue of the rise of the streamers by coining the term âTV touristsâ to describe Netflixâs commissioning of Adolescence.
Sometimes history repeats itself. Over two decades after they were hotly debated at Edinburgh before coming into force through the 2003 Communications Act, broadcastersâ Terms of Trade are a talking point again this year following the industry consolidation that has led to the creation of mega-indies such as Banijay and All3Media. Clements says that another âbig turning pointâ for indies was when the BBC announced in 2014 it was opening all the corporationâs schedules up to competition and, in return, creating BBC Studios.
Director of television Danny Cohen was the focus of that yearâs Edinburgh as he laid out which shows would not be up for grabs - such as Strictly Come Dancing and EastEnders - indicating to producers those on offer.
Clements says: âI remember even PACT members going, âWell, I wouldnât have done that because you ownâŠCasualty or whatever. Why would you put that up for tender? I donât think even PACT were particularly pushing for that.â
Ex-festival CEO, now BAFTA programme director, Campbell points out that Michaela Coelâs historic 2018 MacTaggart lecture âwas a watershed moment in British TVâ. Praising its âraw, deeply personal approach, disclosing for the first time that she had been sexually assaulted during a productionâ, Campbell thinks Coelâs âbold exposure of on-set racial inequalities and exploitative business models that strip young, diverse creators of their IP, acted as an immediate catalyst, triggering structural reforms across major UK broadcasters. Intimacy coordinators became mandatory alongside independent reporting lines for bullying and new duty of care proposals around trauma.â
It also âupturned traditional power structures, prompting broadcasters to abandon total copyright acquisition models - a shift that allowed Coel to retain 100% of the rights to her groundbreaking series I May Destroy You.â
Takeaways: think about what topics are vital for your business as the festival can be a useful lobbying occasion; tap into the trends that emerge from the sessions; fundamental systemic change can be sparked at Edinburgh
Learnings from the best and worst MacTaggarts
The fascination with the Murdoch family and its impact on the industry has loomed large at Edinburgh.
In 1989 Rupert Murdoch lambasted the BBC licence fee and twenty years later his son Jamesâs MacTaggart echoed that as the then News Corporation Europe and Asia chief said, âthe BBC is incapable of distinguishing between what is good for it and what is good for the country...The scope of its activities and ambitions is chillingâ.
He added that âthe only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of independence is profitâ. A line that in 2012, his sister Shine chief Elisabeth Murdoch countered in her MacTaggart with the line: âProfit without purpose is a recipe for disasterâ.
Willis says the Murdochsâ MacTaggarts were significant because, âthey were such major players in Britain. To hear them publicly outline their views and perspectives, because otherwise we were all guessingâŠwas pretty significant.â
Clements remembers thinking during Jamesâs: âSomething has changed here because before that at the festival, there was always criticism of the BBCâŠbut it was like, âYou should do more arts programmes or make more programmes outside of London. But it was done in the spirit of friendly support.
âThat was the first time I remember there being an absolute out-and-out assault and because it was done so calmly, but with such suppressed anger about Sky being stopped from monetising its news websites because of the BBCâs creep onto the internet, it was extraordinary and was so out of kilter of [the usual] Edinburgh.â
âIt was never as bitter, angry or as pointed as thatâŠand youâve seen that in the TV business since then that itâs become much more commercial.â
David Abraham (then Channel 4 chief executive) is lauded by some indies for presciently saying in his lecture: â[The UKâs independent production sector is] being snapped up almost wholesale by global media companies at a faster rate than tickets for the public execution of Jeremy Clarksonâ.
But for Campbell two MacTaggarts stand out in particular, Coelâs (mentioned above) and Dorothy Byrneâs in 2019, âwhose speech not only marked the first time a prop was used in a MacTaggart lecture as the former C4 exec held aloft a large - and if you were close enough, stinking herring â whilst simultaneously calling out politicians for their lies.
âByrne also blazed a trail by talking about the last great taboo â the menopause â which saw the introduction of a menopause policy at Channel 4, subsequently adopted more widely.â
Many think Vice CEOâs Shane Smithâs 2016 MacTaggart was something of a nadir. McVay recalls he, âjust rambled in front of a whole lot of people who really didnât want to be thereâ and represented, âall the sort of naysayers or future-gazers that came along and say, âOh, youâre all dinosaursâ - thatâs all happening now with YouTube and with content creators and influencers. Itâs all about that now. And I go, âWell, is it?â. Unless theyâre mega, mega-successful, most of them arenât making any frigging money!â
Takeaways: MacTaggarts can create new strategies as well as headlines; look beyond the headlines for emerging themes
Funniest moments
âYou know what they say, what happens in Edinburgh, stays in Edinburghâ, jokes Campbell whose most enjoyable memories include âEdinburgh doesâŠLipSync Battleâ, with singer Mel B judging some quite questionable lycra-clad performancesâ and âEdinburgh doesâŠBig Brother, where we locked eight execs in the Big Brother house for 24 hoursâ and mimicked the showâs regular brutal tasks by subjecting them to a quiz in which âwe administered an electric shock for every wrong answer. Watching TV bosses clad in forgiving lycra jumpsuits jolting painfully in the air proved a strange delight for all of us!â
Humorous anecdotes from long-term attendees range from Channel 4âs PR team trying to ensure their chief exec Mark Thompsonâs appearance sporting a new beard to deliver his 2002 MacTaggart didnât overshadow his actual speech, to Sir John Birt surprising onlookers by hitting the dance floor at the C4 x Soho House pop-up in 2005.
A highlight is always when execs and producers take part in versions of TV formats such as The Apprentice and talent shows.
âI had to wait nearly twenty years for my big momentâ at Edinburgh says Graham, which was not a MacTaggart but an appearance in the festivalâs âlive re-boot of Stars In Their Eyes, hosted by Vernon Kay. (âTonight, Vernon, I am going to be Joe Cockerâ) Singing With A Little Help From My Friends. Never in my life have I been so terrified. But Iâm pleased to say, with the help of Granada TVâs brilliant Ray Monk I saw off a strong field, including Newsnight editor Peter Barronâs Elvis Costello and Sky One controller Richard Woolfeâs Freddie Mercury. The Guardian was kinder to me than Richard, who, they said, âdressed up as Freddie Mercury but looked more like Catherine Tateâ.â
He also recalls âThe George bar was always an intimidating place for an ambitious young producerâ but his career ânearly ended before it started when my two-year-old daughter, who had come along with her mum, reached out and stuck a chubby hand into John Birtâs gin and tonic, pulling out the slice of lemon and sticking it in her mouth. It was to be her last visit to the Festival.â
Among Clementsâ fondest memories are an executive of German network ProSieben observing to Nicola Sturgeon, âDo you know you look a bit like Nicola Sturgeon?â and So TV chief Graham Stuart bonding with Jerry Springer at the end of a long night singing Scottish folk song Bonnie Dundee.
A favourite recollection of Thodayâs is when he was asked to be on an Edinburgh panel about talent after the corporation said it would not do business with Avalon for five years following client Frank Skinnerâs move from the BBC to ITV.
âI was talking to the [BBC controller of talent] Rob Warr in The George bar the night before. I said, âWeâre on different sides of a panel tomorrow and weâre talking about talentâ. He said, âOh yes, I hope itâs not going to be contentiousâ. I said, âWell, it is going to be contentious.ââ
The following day Thoday arrived, âfor the panel, excited about the fact we could debate this in public and Rob had gone to the organisers and he wasnât prepared to be on the other side to me!â
In the days when most execs stayed at The George Hotel, an incident that stands out in Willisâ mind was âa fire alarm at about 3am and the glitterati of British television in their pyjamas on the pavement outside. And there were quite a lot of people looking around saying, âOh, what are they doing standing on the pavement together?ââ
Takeaways: the most memorable moments are often unexpected; itâs business but enjoy it too
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