Tony Wood, creative director of Lime Pictures in Liverpool (formerly Mersey TV), has been tasked by the company’s owners, ALL3MEDIA, with building Lime into the UK’s largest and most prestigious drama production company.
 Wood
After graduating with a drama degree from Manchester University, he eventually became a script assistant at Brookside before joining David Liddiment at Granada’s entertainment department in the early 1990s: a team, time and company he recalls as outstanding.
“My job” he said “was to grow drama projects out of the teams working on Coronation Street, Children’s’ TV and the afternoon show Families. It mushroomed and it was an exciting and interesting time to be in Quay Street.”
McGovern, Davies and Abbott Writers at GTV at that time included Paul Abbott, Jimmy McGovern, Russell T Davies, Kay Mellor and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Their combined output produced a number of television classics including Band of Gold, Children’s Ward and Cracker. Cottrell Boyce would also subsequently write 24 Hour Party People and Hilary and Jackie.
“It struck me then that you couldn’t get that sort of focus in London because there are so many different outlets in the capital. It is rare to get so many quality writers together in one single operation.”
At Lime today, he now wants to “grow the company off Hollyoaks and Grange Hill and start developing a full range of drama products. Basically we want more single pieces, period pieces and another high volume production (10 parter plus).
But can that particularly and peculiarly purple patch in the region’s TV production history, the two periods defined by Plowright and Liddiment, be recreated again? “One can dream” he replied. “I personally think we can match those years but whether today’s output will ever be seen in those terms remains to be seen.”
There is however a genuine sense of excitement building again in the North West he maintains. “Go to Liverpool and experience the city’s fine literary heritage.
“We’re doing a new project with the Everyman and Playhouse involving 15 writers from across the North, although it has to be said most are from Liverpool.”
A new happy hunting ground He sees great potential in Hollyoaks proving a happy hunting ground for emerging writers. “It needs some TLC and so we need to work on that but I am convinced that the show will in due course bring through outstanding new writing talent. It’s already significantly better than it was a year ago.”
There are currently 26 writers on Hollyoaks, half a dozen of whom are completely new to TV writing. “Something we’re really pleased about.” And he believes Grange Hill can contribute more too to his ambitious writers’ pool plans. It’s 30 years old this year and Lime is contracted to produce 20 programmes for the BBC.
Just down the M62, his former colleague Paul Abbott, in addition to all his other activities, is busily creating another new writing pool in leafy Hale, a world apart from gritty reality. Wood smiles at the connection “apart from everything else, we’ve got 10 acres here!”
The good news for Lime is that new work is now increasingly coming through.
It needs to. Lime is a big producer in the independent sector and has a substantial cost base. It is by far A3M’s largest producer, primarily because it is the only production base in the A3M stable which has a year round drama to produce.
340 staff The company employs 340 staff and depending on what’s in production, a further 30 to 50 freelances a day will be working at the Liverpool studios in Childwall. New commissions have been won from ITV and Channel 4 and there’s further development work underway for the BBC and some overseas companies. Wood is confident of securing a BBC1 show in the near future and a project from MTV and another US network.
The company is also in discussion with US and other broadcasters to export format development of Bonkers, a UK series Lime produced for ITV last year. The transatlantic opportunities are huge and growing. Lime is no stranger to exporting its output. Hollyoaks is already sold to nine countries and The Outsiders and Hollyoaks In The City are also sold overseas.“I think industry wide there is an increasing awareness of and emphasis on exporting our TV work. It’s good business for the UK.”
Which would prove good business for Wood. He has a track record of success to maintain.
After leaving GTV the first time, he was head of continuing drama for the ITV network and helped to devise and produce the Lock Stock series with Guy Ritchie for Channel 4. In 2003 he became producer on Coronation Street and during his three years there, the programme collected almost 100 awards and saw the introduction of more ‘diverse’ characters including Status Quo and Sir Ian McKellen.
In January 2006, seven months after A3M’s acquisition of Mersey TV, he joined Lime to work alongside chief executive Carolyn Reynolds with overall responsibility for all programme output.
He is enthused by the imminent relocation of five BBC departments to Salford. “It can only be a good thing. It’ll spice up competition for us and others. But only though if it’s a real initiative and there’s a profound presence in an otherwise increasingly polarised and metropolitan industry.”
www.limepictures.com Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
Sponsored links:
|
