But it was with Ross I formed a long working relationship which lasted 8 years. We’ve made 50 programmes together highlighting issues around the world in Ross Kemp on Gangs to Extreme World, plus three series in Afghanistan, embedded with and documenting the lives of the British soldiers who had to carry out politicians’ wishes. It gave me the utmost respect for the uK military - highly professional, extremely well trained, very humane while doing a really tough, dangerous job. So how did you get stranded on a desert island? It was all about diversifying my CV so as not to get pigeon-holed professionally, plus paying off an unexpected and hefty tax bill! A friend of mine was making a new series called The Island with Bear Grylls. It was a social experiment for C4 looking at how a bunch of 21st century men would cope when cast away on a remote island in the Pacific. He was looking for a shooting director and suggested I interview to be one of 13 castaways. It was a groundbreaking piece of constructed reality TV. Together with a great fella called Danny Etheridge, plus three cameras for the cast to use, we filmed our new community surviving and thriving with no help from the outside world. It was truly unique and a dream job. I lost two stone in weight and the BAFTA we won was nice too… What was it like to be part of the experiment but also documenting it at the same time? It was a very liberating experience as I could turn the camera onto myself and talk about my own experiences. I was able to share what it was like to starve and eat winkle soup every day! Was there anything that didn’t make the final cut? Loads of stuff! I remember early on Danny
on patrol, Musa Qalah, Afghanistan 2008.
8
“I was able to share what it was like to starve and eat winkle soup every day!”
Matt and Danny Etheridge on The Island
and I decided we should make some alcohol using coconut juice, with lime peel to aid fermentation. We brewed it in washed up plastic bottles found on the beach - the amount of flotsam and jetsam is truly shocking in the Pacific. After four weeks, we’d succeeded in making weak, fizzy coconut wine – Island prosecco! Tell me about Hunted… The uK is the world’s third most surveilled state, after Russia and China, which inspired Shine Productions’ Tim Whitwell to make a series examining the surveillance state. Together we created hunted for Channel 4. Part factual-thriller, part constructed reality, participants are hunted down by professional investigators using replicated surveillance systems in common use. We don’t give any of the nation’s secrets away; all techniques are in the public domain and we have an independent adjudicator who lets us know if we are overstepping the mark. It’s a brilliant
Shepherd, Afghanistan
hybrid of genres - reality TV mixed with documentary, and seems to have really caught the zeitgeist as it is being made in seven countries, including uSA, and ironically, Russia and China. You’re Hunted’s executive producer. What exactly does that entail? For the past six years I’ve taken overall responsibility for projects I work on – metaphorically turning the lights on and switching them off at the end. This means liaising closely with the channel, discussing ideas, progress, budgets etc. and overseeing the production team, which in the case of hunted is 200 people. An ‘exec’ is also responsible for the editorial tone and direction of the programme. It’s a fun job – occasionally stressful, often with very long hours – but with amazing rewards. You’ve certainly done a real spread of programmes in your time! I’ve always worked in the independent sector. I love making the first series of something - creatively putting the show together, shaping the format, inventing the grammar. And I still pick up the camera whenever I can - it’s really important to keep your hand in. I’ve been incredibly lucky travelled all over the world and met so many different people and been able to witness and document aspects of their lives. Every single experience has enriched my life and I never take it for granted.