Is it a scam

OceanSprint

OceanSprint

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Ive been sent a flyer from a tv production company saying they are looking for sailors to join a "maritime survival" tv show for channel 4 recreating an historical naval event. A scam or real?
 
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This subject came up before about a TV co looking to do something around a sailing club. Almost all the replys were negative on the grounds that they would have an agenda and anyone involved would end up looking an idiot. The 'marine survival' bit is the clue....

To add: Most of the stuff on Ch 4 is half decent.
 
I got the same and certainly the firm exists but the assistant director is not listed on the "people" bit.

It seems the same film company have produced quite a bit but if you are concerned and want to join in then why not google the company and email them direct on a known address?

I find I am quite capable of finding my own marine survival problems (from running aground to running out of scotch) without joining in anyone else's.
 
I wouldn't assume it's a scam, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to get involved :)

Might be fun to watch if well done. Any more info?

Pete
 
A cynic like me might regard them all as scams. no clue about this one.
had a slight connection to one of these "reality" shows. a while back. a bit of part time work on a "stand by support boat" for the crew.
Dump a bunch of people wanting their 15 minutes. In the woods and film them.
First night freak outs. couple of contestants pulled out. Supposed to be a bear in the woods. Might have been a bear, Might have been a squirrel, hard to tell at night in the woods.
Did a few stints as an extra on a couple of B movies and cable shows. "got cut" still got paid ok and the food was good. long boring days though. shots lasted seconds and I never appeared.
 
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Joker said:
Most television programmes have some sort of agenda before they begin.

They are also extremely good at quoting out of context.
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+1!! I've been lucky; I've never been misquoted on the air so as to change what I meant. Then again, I've only been broadcast once or twice! But I have listened to colleagues, and the worst I remember was when a colleague from another institution was commenting on some issue of the day, and his recorded quotation was cut short just before he said something that seriously modified what he meant! I happened to listen to it, and immediately thought "He'd never have said that", and he confirmed that they'd cut him off without broadcasting an important caveat. And another colleague, on listening to what went out after he'd given an interview, said that he didn't think he'd ever said one actual that was broadcast - that they must have used an editing suite to put together the phrase that went out. In that case, it was something he might have said, so he wasn't too bothered.

The general advice is to make sure you say what you mean to say in a short sentence up front. Then elaborate on that - but make sure that the essential message is in the first sentence. The politicians on the Today programme are a good example (or sometimes not so good!) of how to do it. Get the message you want to get out in the first sentence.
 
Dougal Tolan said:
If you are concerned about the edit misrepresenting you, you might ask/demand to view the final cut with an option to veto the material.
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It would save a lot of time just to decline in the first place. The likelyhood of the company granting such revision rights is zero.
Edit: Put more succinctly by Pete, I see.
 
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prv said:
And they'll tell you where you can stick that idea.

Pete
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Yep, they certainly would. Panorama were making some City programme a few years back. My company somehow agreed to talk to them, the Beeb arrived and the rather pushy lady journalist quickly wanted to move the interview from the boardroom to the more "relaxed" atmosphere of a local champagne bar. Yeh yeh I thought: so I asked for editorial rights, she said stuff it, I asked for pre-agreed questions, she said stuff it, at which point we left it!

Don't go near such a wheeze would be my advice - they'll make you look like whatever they think is most likely to entertain their viewers.
 
dom said:
Yep, they certainly would. Panorama were making some City programme a few years back. My company somehow agreed to talk to them, the Beeb arrived and the rather pushy lady journalist quickly wanted to move the interview from the boardroom to the more "relaxed" atmosphere of a local champagne bar. Yeh yeh I thought: so I asked for editorial rights, she said stuff it, I asked for pre-agreed questions, she said stuff it, at which point we left it!

Don't go near such a wheeze would be my advice - they'll make you look like whatever they think is most likely to entertain their viewers.
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Which these days is like a complete, brainless plonker. viz "Royal Navy School"
 
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