Immersive documentaries are fronted by presenters who get involved in the story. This provides a relatable character for the audience to follow and a less intimidating investigator more likely to gain extraordinary access to the contributors’ lives and activities. But what skills do you need to pull this off and how personal should you get for your audience?
Joining Simon Smith in this discussion are Louis Theroux, Lee Phillips and Nelufar Hedayat.
Louis Theroux is a BAFTA award winning and Emmy nominated documentary film maker, famous for his ability to penetrate intriguing worlds that you never knew existed. He has created several documentary series for the BBC including Weird Weekends, When Louis Met and Extreme Love. And his When Louis Met: Jimmy Savile was voted one of the top fifty documentaries of all time by Channel 4 viewers.
“Start quote
End Quote Louis TherouxIf you put someone geeky in spectacles in a scary situation, you've immediately got a 'grabby' narrative
Lee Phillips is a BAFTA award winning series producer and director of documentaries lead by Dawn Porter and Danny Wallace, such as My Breasts Could Kill Me and How to Start Your Own Country.
Nel Hedayat is a rising immersive documentary star. She started her career at BBC Asian Network. Her BBC Three documentaries, Women, Weddings, War and Me, The Truth about Child Brides and Riots and Revolutions, have been captivating viewers. She also writes a blog for BBC Three.
