IADF Podcast 038: Neil McDonald, Creative Director, Factual, BBC Scotland – Storytelling Advice
There are dozens of film directors working out of the Factual TV department at BBC in Glasgow, and Neil McDonald has the job of managing their stories, personalities and creativity. That’s in today’s IADF podcast.
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Considering his role guiding the story development of so many directors’ productions, Neil McDonald is amazingly friendly, calm and informative.
Neil’s interview is about storytelling, but touches on the role and responsibilities of the director, too. I wanted to find out how a story is guided through its life – from concept to post-production.
The story itself is the most important entity of any creative endeavour, but there are many ways it can be produced and so Neil touches on a number of factors the filmmaker should consider during the life of his project.
Heavyweight Interviews
He’s been doing this for years, and has a long history in broadcasting and TV…that’s why he gets the IADF Heavyweight stamp (that means he’s influential, has a high profile, has many years of experience in his field and has clout, NOT that he weighs a lot. This is going to get me into hot water at some point in the future, I just know it!).
Pitching Ideas to Commissioners
Don’t forget, Neil’s not the commissioner. He’s the man who takes the ideas from his development team to the commissioners for the various BBC TV channels. He has to persuade them that the ideas he presents are of interest to an audience, are relevant, powerful, compelling etc.
Tips for Strengthening a Story
Some of the ways Neil mentions to ensure a story has the greatest chance of seeing the light of day (on our TV screens) are mentioned in the list below. It’s an off-the-cuff list, but contains real insight from someone who knows the game of getting stories made.
- Ask yourself: Why are you telling the story and why now?
- The filmmaker must have a sense of who the viewer will empathise with in the story
- He must think: What’s going to surprise the viewer
- Observational docs have to do more than portraying a well-crafted slice of life
- You must make it a rewarding experience for the viewer
- Your story should have a clear proposition
TV Director’s Podcast
One of Neil’s team, Andy Twaddle, is a TV director based in Aberdeen, Scotland. He gave IADF an hour-long interview about making TV features recently and that’ll be published on the site soon. He talks about the relationship between the director and his exec (in this case, Neil). It’s fascinating stuff.
BBC Scotland HQ in Glasgow
Neil is based at the BBC’s biggest production base in Scotland – that’s at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. See the pic below. The building’s huge, and since about 2006 has replaced the old buildings at Queen Margaret Drive in the West End of the city.
Links for today’s IADF podcast
BBC Scotland TV
BBC Scotland – Wikipedia
BBC TV documentaries – on iPlayer
BBC College of Journalism: Trust and TV Documentary
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About the author
My name is Sam Thom. I run the IADF website. I'm a video journalist based in London, UK. Find out more at the About page.
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