Spotlight on Fixers

They are the eyes, ears and hands on the ground and they’re responsible for giving a story its legs. As a Fiixer, arranging, translating and accessing local stories on behalf of a foreign correspondent or media outlet is all part of the job.

As Tom Steinfort from 60 Minutes told TV Tonight, “Fixers often make or break a foreign trip for a journo. I’ve had ones save me from arrest with their craftiness in a tense situation, and other ones that have nearly got me arrested and/or assaulted because of their carelessness in a hostile environment.

“A Fixer’s primary role is always translating – but that is often the easiest part as well. It’s the little things that make a big difference when you’re under deadline pressure on a big story: they’re full of ideas, perhaps they went to university with the local police chief’s press secretary and can get you an interview at short notice, or hopefully they know the best look out spot in town to film a stunning sunset piece to camera, and often most importantly they know the best coffee and falafel / noodle / pasta / gyros / empanada joint in town,” he said.

“I’ve even seen TV networks have bidding wars over Fixers, such is their importance when the stakes are high.”

TV Tonight hears from two Fixers on the intricacies of their job:

JKK: JonKwon Ko, South Korea
CM: Chikayo Morijiri, Japan

1. How did you become a Fixer, and where do you operate?
JKK: After studying Film in the States, I had worked at various departments in Hollywood for three years. Then I came back to Korea and worked in TV and film industry. Meanwhile, one of my friends, a German movie director whom I worked with back in the States, asked me for a help with shooting in Korea for a German TV. Since then, I have been working as a Fixer / local producer.

CM: From a young age, I’ve always been intrigued by film and documentary. I was a producer in Japanese Television for 12 years before becoming a Fixer. Without this job, I wouldn’t learn so much about my own culture! I’m privileged to meet special people through this job, and I never get bored doing this! Also it’s so interesting to know how foreigners see Japan. I get to see and showcase the best parts of my culture. That, to me, is the best part of being a Fixer.

2. What networks / productions have you worked for?
JKK: I’ve worked for Korean TV drama series as an overseas producer for the Big 3 broadcasting stations of Korea: KBS, MBC, and SBS. For American TV or production, I’ve worked with the Conan O’Brien Show, Fox News, CBS, Yahoo, CJ America, and P&G. European broadcasts,  are my main clients. I’ve worked with the Discovery Channel, TV2 and DR from Denmark, SKY TV from U.K., SVT and TV4 from Sweden, ZDF and DW from Germany, Friday from Russia, Arte from France, YLE from Finland, etc. I’ve also worked with Asian broadcasts, such as Channel 9 Australia, Channel News Asia from Singapore and CCTV from China.

CM: I’ve worked for all the major media organisations including BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Discovery Channel and Australian channels including SBS Dateline, ABC  News America and Network 10 as well as publications like the New York Times and TIME Magazine.  Last year, I was the country producer for four MasterChef episodes for their Japan Week shows.

3. Describe what the job involves.
JKK: In case of news programs, there isn’t much time for pre-production or research. I need to react instantly to the needs of reporters on the certain topics or specific locations they want to go for. For the travel shows or entertainment shows, I need to go through preliminary research to find out interesting guest or locations based on the topics that the production wants. I always need to bear shooting schedules and the line of flow in my mind, as well as to not forget setting up “Plan B” to prepare for the unexpected obstacles during the schedule. I also need to understand the interesting topics and shooting based on THEIR point of view and viewers’ perspective, not the topics that I find interesting. Of course, I always need to be alert for the current issues in Korea.

CM: A career as a Fixer is an all-rounded job. I can be in charge of everything from producing, planning and pitching stories. Basically, I’m the local expert on the ground that’s on hand to answer anything and everything about Japan and Japanese culture. Foreign producers will also ring me and ask if their story ideas have potential. For example I had a call the other day where a producer was asking about interesting stories about women in Japan’s prison system.

4. What have been the most demanding assignments?
JKK: I remember working on a program which was about the people illegally crossing the border and their journey toward freedom. I can’t name the exact program or production, but it was really challenging to prepare for and I was mentally stressed out.

CM:  Most assignments as a Fixer are fairly demanding because everything is time and cost sensitive— especially if clients have a tight filming schedule. One assignment I can recall is when a telephone company was filming a commercial and rang me during Japan’s Golden Week asking for a robotic dog to use in a shoot. It was a public holiday so most places were closed. I rang every toy shop in Tokyo, and then all over Japan. We finally located and filmed the robot to find out weeks later that the scene didn’t make the final cut of the commercial!

5. What’s been your most harrowing moment?
JKK: There are several cases of the broadcasting stations or film production try to admit someone who is not the member of the production crew, into Korea in order to be issued a visa. I always try to be careful, but it’s depressing to find out those cases during the process after strenuous preparation on shooting with the embassy.

CM: Five days after the nuclear power plant meltdown in Fukushima, I was out with a news crew producing a story. At the same time, the U.S and Japan had issued a warning that we weren’t allowed within 80km of the plant. I was responsible for the news crew and by chance, we stumbled across a village that housed a facility which measures levels of radioactivity to the body. We used this as our story and were the first news crew to report at the facility.

6. Are you hired to make journalists look good without getting any of the credit?
JKK: Isn’t it my job? It’s my job to brighten journalists, reporters, and hosts. It’s my job to stay behind the camera. I would get my credit from the people whom I worked with spreading the word out. Of course, I sometimes feel like, “What am I doing here?” when I work with journalists or hosts who have a big ego.

CM: Haha, no, I don’t do it for the credit. I pick and choose the jobs and journalists I work with. Good stories and films come down to a team of people and one of the best things you get out of creative collaboration are lots of international friends from work which makes travelling the world way cheaper so I’m happy to make everyone look good!