8 | Broadcast Hot Shots | August 2019 broadcastnow.co.uk
Nominated by: Julie Beanland,
executive producer, True North
“Ruth Bader is an ideas machine,”
says True North’s Julie Beanland.
“She rises to every challenge, is
quick thinking and if she is
part of your team, you can be
confi dent that she will be across
the tiniest details.”
Ruth fi rst worked with True
North as a researcher when the
indie landed Channel 5 pilot Shop
Smart, Save Money in 2018.
Through the three series that have
followed, she has been “instru-
mental” in coming up with ideas
and strands that have given the
show its unique identity.
Her incredible eye for detail
make her an invaluable part of the
RUTH BADER 27
ASSISTANT PRODUCER, FREELANCE
production team on Shop Smart,
according to Beanland. She has
carved out a reputation for pains-
takingly scrutinising scripts – for
both VT and studio – and is always
present on comms during the
as-live records.
“She is never afraid to speak up
if something is not correct,” says
Beanland. “She is just as confi dent
making her point to talent as she is
to her peers.”
The AP is also passionate about
making an impact on the industry
and nurturing talent in the regions- setting up a peer networking
event for mid-level freelancers in
Yorkshire with ambitions to grow
this into something that helps
keep regional talent in the north.
Nominated by: Nicole Kleeman,
managing director, Firecrest Films
In just three years since joining
Glasgow-based Firecrest as a
researcher, Michelle Owen has
risen to a role where she is effec-
tively series producing a six-part
primetime BBC1 Scotland show,
while producing the second
series of ob-doc Fish Town.
This year, Michelle was assistant
producer on the indie’s new 10-part
blue-light series Paramedics On
Scene but quickly became the pro-
ducer across the series, working
directly with the exec producer.
Her other credits at Firecrest
include assistant producer roles
on The Cancer Hospital for BBC
Scotland and C4 docs Princess
Diana’s ‘Wicked’ Stepmother,
Dispatches: Secrets Of CocaCola,
Supershoppers and Britain’s
Favourite Foods.
Among the standout qualities
that have contributed to her
success at Firecrest are her “fi rst-
class journalistic skills”, according
to Nicole Kleeman.
“Michelle has a superb instinct
for a story that will have wide
popular appeal as well as bags of
revelation,” she adds. “Her dogged
investigative work on Secrets Of
CocaCola stood up to the highest
scrutiny from the country’s most
expensive libel lawyers and made
for an explosive fi lm that generated
headlines and lots of pick-up.”
She adds that Michelle “excels at
sensitive documentary access” and
her people skills are “extraordinary”.
“She is trustworthy, meticulous
and tenacious with a down-to-earth
approach that earns her a huge
amount of trust from contributors
and colleagues,” Kleeman concludes.MICHELLE OWEN 30
PRODUCER, FIRECREST FILMS
Nominated by: Tom Watt-Smith,
exec producer, and Liesel Evans,
UK creative director, Raw TV
Whether he’s collecting walrus poo
for evidence of microplastics or
perched atop a 90ft tree setting up a
shoot, Ben McGeorge-Henderson
has become a vital member of the
Raw production team.
The former physicist from
Northumberland made the tran-
sition into specialist factual three
years ago, winning a place on the
Grierson Trust Doc Lab scheme
for people with little experience
of the TV industry.
The scheme took him through a
range of skills, from directing to
pitching, which he was able to
apply on joining Raw, where he
became a vital team member on
three complex BBC1 shows:
Drowning In Plastic, The Doctor
Who Gave Up Drugs and Meat, The
Planet And Me (working title) – the
latter providing his fi rst AP role.
Raw TV’s Tom Watt-Smith
recalls spending a week with
Ben on a small boat in the Arctic
collecting animal faeces samples:
“Through freezing temperatures,
Ben ran the shoot with military
precision – helping sea-sick
presenters, coaching anxious
academics and stopping
expensive microscopes from
breaking in bad weather.
“He managed to wear both a TV
producer’s hat and a scientist’s
white coat to deliver us a sequence
that was both enthralling to watch
and academically watertight.”
Watt-Smith also praises his
phenomenal work ethic: “Ben is
a scientifi c super-brain with the
work rate of a Trojan. We are very
lucky to have him.”