Unit 21: M3/D1 Feedback And Client Consideration From Final Pitch

After being questioned about the budget of my series, i suggested that each episode would cost around £200,000 to make. To this, the BBC Executive suggested that the series would be a lot more expensive than this too make due to my desire to build tension with the use of cross cutting between two very different stories This would lead to lots of expenses, stemming from the variety of expensive locations required. He also highlighted how a jail setting was extremely sought after in the TV world due to the viewers’ need for the setting to be believable so they can become more invested in the series. He suggested that even having the film location in a jail like setting instead of a real jail would be highly expensive to fund and too much for the budget. 

Originally I had planned to set the tv drama in London, however, due to the fact that my series over budget for BBC3, Duplicity could be set in a cheaper location such as the city of Leeds, Bradford or Cardiff. As many of the scenes in the drama are set outside in alley ways, cordoning off traffic and the street would be significantly cheaper and more convenient in a smaller city as it would be less disruptive. Similarly, a bar and apartment setting wouldn’t be too expensive to film in so, by limiting the scenes filmed in an expensive jail location or set up, the budget is more likely to be obtained without corrupting the storyline of Duplicity. If however, the BBC were willing to find a partner to contribute funding to the budget due to seeing potential in the crime drama series, the jail setting wouldn’t have to be compromised or limited which would lead to a more believable and realistic series. 

After failing to mention the characters ages in the pitch, I was prompted to open up about this detail and replied that the twins are around 24. In response to this, the BBC Executive suggested that it would be highly unlikely that a 24 year old would be able to have achieved the highly skilled profession of a surgeon by this young age. He went on to depict how if Garret’s character were to be a medical surgeon instead, this would not only be more believable, but also would likely enforce the young target audiences’ (of 15-25) sense of personal identity. Although I had originally wanted the twins to be older than the target audience to act as a role model that viewers may be inspired by, creating surveillance as well as reinforcing their personal identity through highlighting their aspirations, I agreed that this change would be highly effective for the series as it would be more believable. Similarly, this change would create more sympathy for Garret when, when striving for something and working so hard to do good, he is knocked down for something isn’t his fault.

Additionally, I was informed that the styling of the marketing poster for Duplicity was really good but that it would be more effective if it included two men in it to reflect what this series was about. I acted on this feedback and recreated my poster accordingly:

Along with this, the BBC Executive suggested that the word 'twin' needed to come up earlier in my logline to make this differentiation of the series more obvious and stand out. To achieve this i changed my original logline:

'A respectable, law abiding surgeon is wrongfully sentenced to a life behind bars for a murder he didn't commit when his crime ridden brother takes it too far. Will his twin leave him to spiral under the influence of violent criminals in jail or take the moral high ground and unveil the truth?'

To something that made 'twin' characters more obvious and that incorporated Garret as medical student instead of a surgeon:

'Twin brothers. One a respectable, law abiding medical student who is wrongfully sentenced to a life behind bars for a murder he didn't commit when his crime ridden brother takes it too far. Will his twin leave him to spiral under the influence of violent criminals in jail or take the moral high ground and unveil the truth?'


Additionally, it was pointed out that the race of the twins wasn't made clear enough which, in the series, is a contributing factor to the controversy sought after in BBC3 media products so it is important that it is highlighted. This issue, however, was resolved when I remade the Duplicity poster to include two males and had one of them facing forward to make their race clear and highlight the element of the series. 

The final piece of feedback I received was that I hadn't included the trial within the episode summaries which would have been 'very dynamic between twins' and was suggested that this should be the main focus of episode two. 

In doing this, I would likely be able to reduce the expenses of the show as well by refining the overall plot in series one and transitioning some of the action, originally planned for series one, into the potential second series. 


What i would change about my proposed TV series if I were to take it forward:

The first thing i would change about my series would be to modify Garret's character to be a student studying to become a surgeon in order to make him more relatable to the young target audience. Similarly, I would change the course of events in the episodes of the first series, focusing on the process of Garret being arrested, his reaction, and the dynamic between the two twins when this sequence of events, including Cason's transition from rejecting blame to feeling a great sense of guilt. Additionally to this, i would try to reduce the costs of the series as a whole by setting DUPLICITY in a cheaper city than London, such as Leeds in order to meet the guidelines of the BBC3 brief.