Soaps: Getting scripted back In business with John Whiston

Soaps play a significant role in the lives of millions of British viewers. In normal times, they consistently attract the highest ratings. During the pandemic, this has been even more pronounced, with episodes of Coronation Street attracting well over 6 million viewers.

Covid halted production of Emmerdale and Coronation Street in late March but after an interruption of eleven weeks, they have returned to filming. John Whiston discusses the intricate and ingenious protocols that have allowed his teams to restart production. The session will also look at what other genres such as HETV can glean from continuing drama.

This session is part of our Producing TV during Covid strand.

Speaker

John Whiston is ITV’s Managing Director of Continuing Drama, and Head of ITV in the North, overseeing Coronation Street and Emmerdale. He was previously in charge of the network's entire in-house production operation, including I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Chair: Michaela Fereday, executive producer, Red Productions.

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 and Channel 5.

It is part of a ScreenSkills programme managed by the Indie Training Fund 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.

If you are no longer able to use your ticket, we ask you to please contact support@screenskills.com  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.