Sky Italia
Steve Clarke talks to Andrea Scrosati, the COO of Fremantle, as he outlines the shape of the post-lockdown world for producers
Andrea Scrosati
Our new normal
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s one of the world’s production behemoths, Fremantle – whose shows range from Pop Idol via Neighbours to My Brilliant Friend – is determined to think laterally as it adapts to life in the age of Covid-19. In several countries, Fremantle continued making content throughout lockdown. “We’re a truly global company, so we never actually stopped producing,” says Andrea Scrosati, the firm’s COO. He is normally based in London but has been based in his native Tuscany for the past two months or so. In Australia, shooting for Neighbours suffered a two-week hiatus. The internationally famous soap is now back in
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business, albeit in what its producers hope is a Covid-compliant way of working. In Germany – where Fremantle’s drama serial Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten (Good Times, Bad Times) is long established as an RTL staple – Scandinavia and Italy, production continued throughout the various lockdowns. “All our daily dramas, with one exception, are back on air,” he says. “They are filmed in contained locations, have local casts and the scripts can be adapted so they are compliant with social distancing.” In Italy, a weekly late-night talk show, made by Fremantle for Sky Italia, quickly reinvented itself. The guests on EPCC Live are interviewed remotely but there is a live band in the
audience-less studio. It even features a running gag related to the two-metre social distancing rule. Not that making TV shows in the new normal is a laughing matter. “We’re focusing on the best way to produce in a Covid-compliant way,” insists Scrosati. “It’s not about just getting back into production, but doing it the right way. All companies need to behave responsibly. “In future, people will remember how companies behaved during the pandemic. Decisions made by individuals make all the difference. Our culture and values are important to us as a business.” High-end drama is more problematic than soaps, involving, as it does,
