In-house, we produced Countdown to Calvary, an ambitious re-examination of the last days of Jesus, presented by Hugh Bonneville, and funded through an international co-production partnership. There’s no reason why independents can’t propose projects of similar quality and scale on subjects of mainstream public interest, inside and outside Ireland.
The challenge is always to make history seem contemporary, relevant and accessible, without dumbing down. Answer the silent questions in the viewer's mind: "What's in it for me?" And make sure your treatment considers “the how” as well as “the what” of your storytelling.
As well as classic documentaries, we welcome other creative and original approaches to historic subjects: perhaps archive-based and/or constructed reality formats (cf. Back in Time For Tea, 1900 House, Who Do You Think You Are?) which allow audiences to experience, connect with or learn from the past, and to understand what has changed and why.
Please look out for significant events and anniversaries – personal and social. What useful pegs should we not miss? Whatever the subject, the approach must be both authoritative and entertaining.
Seismography
As two recent referenda have shown, vast tectonic plates are shifting in Irish society. Finding compelling, story- or format-based ways of charting those shifts in contemporary Irish beliefs, values and identity could be very appealing. An obvious approach is through authored docs, such as Mary McAleese’s Modern Family or Gay Byrne’s Last Orders. But what other approaches might work? Also, don’t assume docs about serious subjects need to be handled seriously. Guess Who’s Dead (Ardal O’Hanlon on Irish traditions surrounding death) and Baz, The Lost Muslim (Baz Ashmawy on what Islam is… and isn’t) were pitch perfect in delivering intelligent content in entertaining ways that resonated with mainstream Irish audiences.
Ripping Yarns
There has to be room, still, for cracking stories to elbow their way into the mainstream schedule. Finding Banni (Colm Flynn’s search for his lost “brother” in a Belarussian orphanage) and Guns & Rosaries (Martin Sheen’s revelatory telling of the story of the Irish “Rosary Priest”, who became an unlikely media mogul and even more improbable CIA agent, before being considered for sainthood) are two recent examples. We’d like to hear more.
Hidden Worlds
One-off docs and short series that shed new light on familiar stories or reveal previously hidden stories and situations have worked well for us. In-house, School of Love offered a unique insight into the life of an enclosed convent in rural Waterford over a whole year, while A Parting Gift made full and compelling use of its unique access to Trinity College Dublin's body donation programme, to reveal the symbiosis between body donors, students, teachers and the bereaved. Access is always key, together with a realistic funding model to embed and sustain high quality observation and storytelling over the necessary period of observation.
Again, don’t assume that Religion demands a solemn approach – certainly not a worthy or earnest one. Skin Deep (Sinead Kennedy on the significance of tattoos) and The Only Gay in the Village were deliberately aimed at younger audiences, post-watershed on RTÉ 2 and found their mark entertainingly, without dumbing down. What these had in common was an unexpected fearlessness, strong contemporary filmmaking, wit, energy, humanity and heart.
The Four Ts
The four Ts - Treatment, Tone, Talent and Title - should all be geared to engage mainstream, not niche, audience interest in our subjects and stories. Religion is a turn-off to many people, so how will you turn them on? Certainly not by being po-faced.
Sometimes, audiences have been surprised to learn that our content comes from Religious Programmes, because it wears that religious label so lightly and with a small “r”. That’s not a bad thing. We should always treat our subjects respectfully, but not reverently, with clear-eyed, intelligent storytelling and top quality production values. Be clear what you're trying to say and why, and then find creative, original and compelling ways to say it.
Some of our most successful commissions have made the most of co-production finance or third party funding from the BAI, NI Screen and other bodies – e.g. One Million Dubliners (Glasnevin cemetery), A Parting Gift (medical body donors), Guess Who’s Dead (Irish traditions surrounding death), Lifers (missionaries) and Strange Occurrences in a Small Irish Village (Knock). Guns & Rosaries is another current example. Occasionally, we will also fully fund projects, such as The John Pauls, which used the microcosm of a generation of now nearly middle-aged men and women, named in honour of the last papal visit, to show how Ireland has changed.
Diversity
Think RICE: we need programmes which Reflect, Interrogate, Celebrate and Explain the beliefs, practices and identities of Ireland's minority faith communities through strong stories and characters that engage a mainstream audience. As a guideline, please don't treat minority issues as minority interest issues – RTÉ is a broadcaster, not a narrowcaster - and don’t treat those minority subjects with any more deference or any less rigour than you would approach more familiar communities and themes. Don't patronise; don't wear kid gloves; do respect; do ask hard questions; and then think of ways of bringing the answers entertainingly to light. Again, Baz, The Lost Muslim is a very strong example.
Look for ways in which various religious outlooks offer a different perspective on familiar subjects (education, health, births, marriages, deaths, good and evil).
Ethics and values
When different moral and religious outlooks rub shoulders in a diverse and changing society, there can be conflict, creativity or confusion. Who's right? Who's wrong? And how do we know?
On subjects as diverse as faith schooling, adoption, abortion, fertility treatment, euthanasia, genetics, marriage, sex and sexuality, the environment, climate change, human migration and wealth disparity, there are important ethical and religious debates currently taking place. How best can we bring these to television, radio and online in ways that inform, challenge and entertain mainstream audiences? And what about the ethical challenges we will face in the future? What are they and how will we tackle them?
We will particularly welcome ideas that make creative use of formats to engage younger audiences and the "I'm not religious, but I am spiritual" generation in energetic and informed ethical debate.
Bear in mind that Religious Content is a multi-platform Genre. Using TV, Radio and Online media in a complementary way to amplify a story or subject is particularly attractive.
