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ABC Head of Fiction still unannounced

ABC's Head of Drama leaves at the end of the month, but the broadcaster is yet to announce its new Head of Fiction.

Stuart Menzies takes charge of ABC2 later this month and Brendan Dahill assumes control of ABC1 in August, but the ABC is yet to announce its Head of Fiction.

The Australian today says the broadcaster is having trouble finding a suitable candidate.

Miranda Dear, Head of ABC TV Drama, leaves at the end of the month, and applicants to replace her have either been deemed unsuitable or have rejected the position.

The new content head role supercedes the genre role and combines both Drama and Comedy (Children’s remains separate).

This month acting ABC comedy chief Debbie Lee was formally appointed head of comedy, who will be answerable to the Head of Fiction along with 3 Commissioning Editors, an Acquisition Manager, Acquisition Coordinator, 4 Development Managers, 1 Drama coordinator and 2 Assistants.

The ABC now has an additional $70 million to commission content for up to 90 hours of local drama a year.

But there is some speculation that greenlit projects may have already soaked up a significant chunk of the funding. Some comedy producers have been told that ABC TV has already allocated its comedy budget for 2010-11.

The Head of Fiction, along with the new Channel Controllers, are part of a major resturcture of ABC TV.

An ABC spokesperson tells TV Tonight of the restructure:

“In the last few years ABC TV has moved from delivering a single linear channel to delivering content across multiple channels and multiple platforms to multiple devices. ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC for Kids on 2, a News channel imminent and an extensive online offering – www, VOD, iView, mobile.

“However, the organisational arrangements by which we make our key strategic decisions around commissioning, acquisitions and programming and the logistics of delivering to our various outputs have essentially remained unchanged.

“With these additional channels and platforms ABC TV now needs to put in place arrangements which increase its capacity to focus on its core business of aggregating content and delivering it to audiences within a multichannel and multiplatform environment.”

Source: The Australian

7 Responses

  1. How can a third series of 12 episodes of one of the most maligned dramas ever made be commissioned before the second series had even been to air? The audience response to this series is nothing short of hostile. That’s why the ABC needs a new Head of Fiction – to take the lead and restore some faith in the process.

  2. Whoever gets the job..I really hope they stop commissioning more Bed of roses….how the hell did this boring drab that noone watches get a seond, let alone third season?? How about commissioning some edgy different kind of shows?

  3. The way the very bureaucratic system at the ABC operates, necessitates that the production plan for a financial year ahead needs to be forward planned, and series are already budgeted and commissioned ahead of time. They may leave some funds in store, should a somewhat spontaneous program need be made – like Chaser election or Gruen special. If the departments do not spend the money allocated to them, they risk losing part of it, the following year – so even when a new head starts working, they are lumped for the better part of a year with the decisions of their predecessor, and the head of television – who makes most of the decisions anyway – or did under Courtney Gibson, and Sandra Levy before her. Finance, scripts and pre -production have to be anticipated, especially in the narrative forms of production like Librarians and Bed of Roses.

  4. It’s really important to get the right person for this job, and for that person to be a new broom – new staff and new commissions to breathe new life into a department that has been drifting sideways for years. The ABC probably needs to increase the salary to attract the right person and that will take more time. However I urge the ABC to get it right this time, even if it takes a little longer. Don’t be spooked into making a bad appointment by this flurry of media attention.

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