Imagine replacing those first-world daily stresses of traffic jams and running out of your favourite coffee blend with the more life-threatening risk of avalanches and polar bears while on your milk run to the single shop on Svalbard, the world’s northernmost settlement with a permanent civilian population, where milk can be more expensive than whisky.
That’s the real life featured in the 10-part series Ice Town: Life on the Edge, where carrying a gun is mandatory yet birth, death and being broke are illegal. Yes, really. Inhabitants featured on the show include a priest, taxi driver, a handful of chefs and a tour guide. Click here for a preview of this place of extremes.
BBC Worldwide’s commissioning executive Kirsty Hanson is executive producer for Ice People. Her favourite scenes include taxi driver Wiggo’s wife’s obsession with Santa Clause (Wiggo himself is a doppelgänger to St Nick), as well as Christine and Grace's trips out on the sledge and their dreams of going completely native and off the grid. Here, Hanson lets us in on this innovative show concept as well as what it’s like to work closely with BBC Worldwide’s international channels network to develop and commission this type of original and factual entertainment content…
Hanson: My job is to find the best ideas from producers that fit the channels’ remit. I need to take the position of our viewer. I then work closely with them to further develop the idea that’s initially pitched. I then usually go on to commission a taster tape, or in Ice Town’s case, a casting reel plus proof of concept. This involves them going and filming with each of the characters and following some sequences that represent their daily lives, work and character. We then work together on the pre-production, hiring the right people, working out the schedule, shooting scripts, potential storylines and subjects that are likely to evolve.
During production I have weekly calls and routines talking through each show and the elements of each story or character that is developing. I normally visit location at least once to understand the set up and challenges that the team are navigating around too – in this case, sub-zero conditions. During the edit, I go to viewings and give notes on structure, storytelling, tone, music, voice-over and specific sequences.
So all in all it’s a very collaborative process and as a commissioner I work hand in glove with the production company, so that relationship and communication with them is exceptionally important.
Hanson: In all of our original commissions we look to inform our audiences and, through the lives of the contributors, we hope to be able to look at and tackle more serious issues. So, for instance, Chris Borstad is a glaciologist and measuring every year how much the sea ice is receding and the glaciers are melting and, through his story we hope to raise awareness of climate change.
"Our time with the #icepeople has come to an end." @KSegedin #EarthOnLocation in Svalbard pic.twitter.com/9BQslyu8af
— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) April 24, 2016
Hanson: South Africa was the first market in the world to host BBC Worldwide’s full channel portfolio. Eleven months on from launching BBC Brit, BBC First and BBC Earth, they have each increased in share since launch. BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and World News also continue to be firm favourites. The range and quality of our content is what makes us stand out – and our portfolio is packed with world-class, award-winning programming, loved by audiences and advertisers alike. Our channels are also available to a wider audience than ever before, with BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle on DStv’s compact tier, while BBC First, BBC Earth and CBeebies sit on DStv’s premium tier. We've always had a great fan base in South Africa and our viewers understand that we offer them world-class content.
You can find out more about this innovative, fascinating place from The Ice People, a weekly newspaper created for the people of Svalbard, or tune into the show on BBC Earth, Channel 184 on Sundays.
