This month sees the launch of the FRAPA 5×5 Podcast, in which format luminaries share their tips, tricks and tactics, along with the strategies that have worked for them both professionally and personally.
In each 5×5 podcast — shorthand for five questions in five minutes — a guest speaker will choose five questions from a list of 34, grouped into four categories: personal, career, industry and formats.
The questions range from naming their favourite childhood format through their worst experience in television to tipping the genre they reckon is the ripest for reinvention.
The series, which is produced in partnership with new TV music specialist The Nerve, kicks off with FRAPA co-chair Phil Gurin in the hotseat. Reflecting on the importance of mentorship, Gurin cites the legendary US TV executive Fred Silverman, who not only ran ABC, NBC and CBS — the only person ever to have done so — but gave the world many of the greatest shows of the 1970s and 1980s, including Charlie’s Angels, Mash, Kojak, All in the Family and Love Boat. “This man was a genius and he was my friend, “Gurin says. “He taught me many things, like viewers don’t like to be told who to like — they want to feel they’re figuring it out for themselves — and that clarity of idea is the single most important thing for an original format. I’m blessed that Fred Silverman was in my life.”
Juliette Squair, co-founder of The Nerve, which created the ear-catching theme music for the podcast, points to the importance of sonic branding — the strategic use of audio elements to communicate brand identity — for TV productions. “Everyone is searching for that cut-through sound to amplify their brand in a noisy space,” she says. “The Nerve’s unrivalled access to original new talent meant we were able to provide that standout soundtrack for FRAPA’s 5×5 Podcast series.”
The next 5×5 interviewee is FRAPA co-chair Jan Salling, head of BBC Studios Nordics, who will be followed by other members of the FRAPA board. The series will then expand to include format power players from around the world.
The FRAPA 5×5 is available on the FRAPA website or through your favourite podcast platform such as these:
