Creative Excellence During Covid - Pooch Perfect

Creating and producing an ambitious show with an extensive cast of household name talent, judges, competitors, not to mention 4-legged friends, was a big challenge. And then along came a global pandemic. 

Pooch Perfect was commissioned in February last year after Kate Phillips, Controller of Entertainment at the BBC, got behind the fun format in which professional dog groomers attempt to transform some of Britain’s scruffiest dogs into pristine pooches.

However, as pre-production began so too did lockdown as the full force of Covid-19 struck the nation. The format had to be changed, the set redesigned and the show had to be cast without meeting anyone face to face (or nose to nose in the case of the dogs!) and all at breakneck speed. The Beyond Productions team will talk through how they adapted the creative brief under pressure and still created a show with great ratings and a long life after Covid.  

Speakers

Damon Pattison is Creative Director of Beyond Productions. Prior to this, he was Head of Entertainment, North at BBC Studios and also sat on the board of directors. He has successfully ran his own production company ‘Lucky Day Productions’ and specialises in creating and producing formatted series across all genres.

Susanne Rock was co-Executive Producer on Pooch Perfect.  She was the long running Exec of The Great British Sewing Bee having been Series Editor on the first series for Love Productions and was Showrunner/Exec on Junior Bake Off.  More recently she was Multistory's Exec on The Big Flower Fight for Netflix.

Melanie Rainbow is a freelance Production Manager based up in the North East. Often choosing to work on brand new shows and many genres, previous credits being First Dates, Snog Marry Avoid, Sunderland 'til I die for Netflix and of course the very fun and fluffy Pooch Perfect.

The session will be chaired by Katherine Parsons, executive producer/media consultant/board trustee.

This event is supported by the ScreenSkills Television Skills Fund which invests in training for the freelance television workforce thanks to contributions from the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5.  

It is part of a ScreenSkills programme to support freelancers to upskill and stay connected, helping keep the industry resilient in these difficult times. 

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘get ticket’ to reserve your place: you must login or register before you are able to get a ticket for this event. A booking confirmation with a joining link to the session will be sent to you via email.