Riga Diary…tv and Artistic Docs 2
I (Tue) wrote from Riga about the theme in the headline after a pitch at the Baltic Sea Forum. I made Iikka Vehkalahti comment on it and now there is a contribution from Marje Jurtshenko at Estonian Television, who was present and argued against the use of the expression “too artistic”:
I see that I have raised a hot topic! I really got pissed of talking about “too artistic for tv” – especially when I didn’t see anything that artistic in the trailer. Anyway, here is a short comment to Iikka:
I agree with many things what Iikka says about television and the way filmmakers sometimes try to hide weak stories behind the shaping but I also think that film is the combination of good story AND the visual, so if the content asks for the creative visual thinking I think we should encourage that. Tv has changed, of course, now it is mainly a fast food place but to be honest I know that there are also lot of people out there, who would like to have some gourmet dishes once in awhile. Even if those are more difficult to digest, even if it takes more money and time to prepare it.
I think that lot of the commissioning editors (not only) underestimate their audience as well. Of course if your slot has to make rating then you have to go for fast food but if people have chance to show creative docs, I think they should make effort also to support this kind of filmmaking (or thinking in general). Because if those people say that films are too creative and nobody will need those, of course soon this kind of filmmaking will disappear. And then I will better turn on the radio. Marje Jurtshenko.
