Interview techniques for unscripted TV

As part of our Step Up strand, we're offering training to help individuals coming back into the industry after a break, moving into a new role or responsibility level, or improving skills in unscripted TV. 

Getting great interviews from contributors - many of whom are unused to the camera, or are being asked to talk about difficult subject matters - is a key skill that's essential to making great factual TV shows. In this session Executive Producer and TV Trainer, Jo Woolf, will go through different methods for eliciting great interviews from contributors for different types of Unscripted TV shows including observational documentaries, formatted factual entertainment shows, and specialist factual series. Jo has interviewed contributors for a wide variety of shows and can talk through what she's identified as the best methods, as well as highlighting some pitfalls. There will also be a practical element to this session, so be prepared to have your cameras and sound on to practise some interview techniques yourself.

Who it's for

This session is for unscripted TV APs wanting to step up, DV directors and new self-shooting PDs, or experienced shooting PDs who want to hear how others perform this role.  

Trainer

Jo Woolf is an Executive Producer and TV Coach and Trainer with many years experience also working as a producer/director on a wide variety of factual and factual entertainment series. Past credits include: Child of Our Time, First Dates and 24 Hours in A and E, as well as many quirky one-offs, gritty ob docs and specialist factual series. For more info see here website here: www.jowoolftv.com 

The majority of the USF online short course offering is for those at early career stage and above. As a result, we generally require applicants to have at least 3 credits (unless working in a traditionally uncredited role). If you strongly feel you would still benefit from the training, please email USF@screenskills.com so we can assess if an exception should be made.

We are committed to ensuring all our courses are accessible to everyone. This course is designed to be as interactive as possible. Please email the above address if you have any access requirements and we will be delighted to help, be that clarifying the form such interaction is likely to take or discussing reasonable adjustments.

How to apply

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘apply for ticket’ and follow the instructions to apply for your place: you must login or register before you are able to complete your application.

Places on these free online courses are limited and applications are often highly competitive. To stand the best chance of securing a place, please be sure to consider the following:

• When asked to list your three most recent credits, please include the programme title and your job role.
• When asked what you hope to gain from the course, please be concise but ensure you cover the specific elements of the topic you would like to gain knowledge of and what gaps in your skillset you believe the course may address. A rewording of the course title or a general comment on career progression does not tell us much about how this course would benefit you.

If you are no longer able to attend, we ask you to please use the “decline ticket” function on the right hand side of the page so that we can release your place. Our sessions are often oversubscribed, so we’d like to give other freelancers the opportunity to fill available spots. Thank you for your consideration.

This session is supported by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from broadcasters, SVoDs and production companies.

This course would normally cost participants to attend, but thanks to this support, we are able to offer it to you for free. If you fail to attend, we reserve the right to request reimbursement of costs, unless your place can be taken by someone else.