David Longworth - BBC Original Programme Pitch

 David Longworth

BBC Original Programme Idea Pitch

10th January 2022

On Monday 8th November 2021 David Longworth delivered a BBC brief launch virtually via teams to level 3 Creative Media year 2 students at Sunderland College. David Longworth shared a live brief that asked us to come up with an original programme/ content idea for any BBC platform and then pitch the idea to him in the form of a powerpoint. David Longworth is an apprenticeships and training schemes manager at the BBC, a position he has held for over 10 years since April 2011. Previous to this, David worked as head of apprenticeships and widening access at Vision+ Media between September 2007 and April 2011. David studied at University of Birmingham between 1990 and 1993 where he received a Bachelors Honors degree in History.

On Monday 10th January I pitched my BBC original programme idea to David which was to create a documentary series following the lives of firefighters while they are on duty that would air on BBC 1. I gained a lot of knowledge from this project as David explained that we must include in our pitch what makes our idea different. He also explained that we must think about our target audience, the length of the programme and the time slot it will be aired. I applied all this information to my own pitch as I went into detail about how there was a gap in the industry for my show, the audience that it was targeted to and the time slot it would air based on the surrounding tv shows currently scheduled to air. This project definitely made me think about potential careers in this industry and more specifically potential careers within the BBC. David enlightened me to the multiple apprenticeship opportunities that were available at the BBC for College leavers aged 18 and over and information on how and when to apply. I would definitely say that this project has helped me with my current projects as I am now considering things like my target audience in heavier detail and I am also thinking about what my project will provide to its audience compared to current similar projects. I really enjoyed this project and I felt it challenged me, I would say that I definitely know more about the tv and film industry as well as the opportunities that are available to me within the industry.