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Local council protests against The Shire

It's the kind of publicity you can't buy, as Sutherland Shire council accuses producers of "deceiving" them.

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It’s the kind of publicity you can’t buy.

Carol Provan , the mayor of the Sutherland Shire, has hit out at TEN’s plan to set a “Dramality” show in her local municipality.

Having the locals up in arms is exactly the kind of publicity that a (presumably) controversial series like The Shire will thrive upon. Viewers will be wanting to see the show that has the locals enraged.

According to News Ltd., Provan says producers Shine Australia  had deceived her about the content and claimed the show was supposed to be about boosting local tourism.

“They came to us with an incredible story about how they were going to promote The Shire and talk about the opportunities for tourism,” she told 2UE radio yesterday.

“And of course we have seen the leaked promo and it’s an absolute joke.

“(The producers) said they had the opportunity to come here and expose what The Shire was all about … how beautiful it is – the beaches and the parks. Something that would be wonderful for us.

“(But) it’s just tacky and I have had so many emails today from residents who have been emailing me and ringing me saying; ‘Carol I can’t believe that this is going ahead’.

“We are going to fight this.”

The leaked video for The Shire, which was part of a sales reel, forced TEN to announce the show before it was ready. It included young singles giving banal quotes to camera:

“I wanna become a porn star,” said one young woman.

“Someone fell down the stairs, but I refused to say that I pushed her,” added another.

One bloke chimed in with “I think fake boobs are amazing.”

TEN has reacted to the criticism by carefully reiterating the local furore, almost as if to reinforce the controversy surrounding it. In a statement it revealed local councillors put forward a council motion on Monday stating they did “not approve the filming of The Shire and [would] not co-operate in any way with the production.”

Chief Programming Officer David Mott said, “It is disappointing the councillors have made assumptions about The Shire before discussing it fully with us.

“Their concerns appear to be based on footage that was leaked online, footage that has triggered some inaccurate, misleading and – in some cases – mischievous reporting.”

TEN claims the leaked footage was no longer a true representation of The Shire and it wouldn’t be a clone of Jersey Shore -the very show the reel referenced (“Jersey Shore ain’t got nothin’ on this place”).

“The Shire will follow the lives of a group of young people who live in the Sutherland Shire. It will provide a very real glimpse into the private lives of a distinctive group of young Australians.

“We are surprised by the media storm The Shire has generated even before production has started,” Mott said.

“We already knew The Shire would be one of the most anticipated new series of 2012 and a bold, confident addition to our line-up. The attention it is attracting now has reinforced that belief and sure to put The Shire on the global map.”

TEN says executives from Shine have held regular discussions with Sutherland Shire Council in recent months.

‘”Despite all the noise, filming will start March 28.”

8 Responses

  4. I wonder if Premier Barry O’Farrell would be against this s**t or is he in favour for this s**t just to boost tourism dollars for NSW and give NSW a bad name.

    It would again give TEN a bad name if this show gets the go ahead and if this show fails like every other TEN shows that achieves less than 1m or 800k, well David Mott should be fired if the show Bombs and flops.

  5. Doesn’t the council realize this will only increase interest in the show..

    I can’t wait.. I’m already hanging for the the next seasons .. you know when the cast go to Thailand ect

  6. Ten sent an email to clients yesterday with an audio attachment from a Kyle & Jaquie O interview with 10’s David Mott & the Sutherland Shire mayor about this stoush.

    The email said in part “we have commissioned The Shire as a bold and edgy program. The noise has been huge and it hasn’t even started filming yet…’

    Milking it for all it’s worth.

  8. I live in The Shire. I am surprised filming has not already started because those hot balmy nights with drunken 18 years olds in the parks of Cronulla would be perfect fodder for this trash.

    Whereas once the weather gets cold, Cronulla is like a cold wind swept ghost town.

    Lazy, trashy television but may end up compulsive viewing if they do as the producers say. I don’t think it really matters what the Council says about it or whether they support it – it will go ahead regardless (except that the Mayor’s publicity is exactly the type of publicity TEN could only have dreamt of)

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