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FunTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, I am Armie Tinoco, one of the editors at Deadline.
00:04Thank you so much for joining us for Deadline TV Contenders, Documentary, and Unscripted.
00:09I'm joined today by The Traders executive producer, Rosie Franks,
00:13director, Ben Archer, and directors of photography, Siggy Rosen-Rawlings, and Matt Wright.
00:20So what happens when you put a group of faithful celebrities in a Scottish castle
00:24and sprinkle among them a group of traders with the task of murdering them off the game?
00:29You get the most treacherous competition series on Peacock.
00:33But before we get started, here's a clip from The Traders.
00:37The game is nigh. Followers, be gone!
00:44Ooh.
00:46What about the one?
00:47The one.
00:52Uh-oh.
00:54Why, there's one facing forward.
00:55Oh no.
00:59Do we recognize that build?
01:01It's like a guy's body.
01:05How intriguing.
01:08What, who that?
01:12Oh, Marco.
01:14Oh my.
01:15Oh God.
01:16Look at this.
01:17Oh.
01:17This game is all about tough decisions,
01:25and this is the first of many.
01:29Wow, that was exciting.
01:30One of the best introductions of a player in the show's history.
01:35Tell us, how did that come to be?
01:38Why did you guys decide to do this type of introduction for a character like Boston Rom?
01:44Well, I think, obviously, coming off the back of season two, which was like such a huge success.
01:51We really, we didn't want to rest on our laurels.
01:53And we were thinking, how can we make this, you know, more exciting?
01:57How can we push the editorial in the framework of this format?
02:00Which is obviously like, it's the same game, right?
02:02So that's quite difficult.
02:04So what we really wanted to do was confront the players with the decision right from the start,
02:10you know, just to show them that the game is never the same, that, you know, they don't know what to expect.
02:15We thought that the way that they navigated this decision would be a really great way to introduce people,
02:21because immediately you're like, immediately you saw that Carolyn is quite impulsive.
02:25She's quite kooky.
02:26So that was great for that character.
02:28You set up the relationship dynamics.
02:31So like Danielle and Brittany, we didn't know if one of them might step forward.
02:35So straight away, it gave us a really good way to introduce our cast.
02:40And obviously, it just got the game going like straight away.
02:43And we genuinely didn't know what the players would do with that.
02:46And were you surprised when they banished him away or that they didn't accept him?
02:51I think it could have gone either way, to be honest.
02:54We didn't know and we were prepared for any of them.
02:57I think that's the thing about this show is, you know, there's such intricate planning that goes into all of this.
03:02And we've thought through every different scenario that could spread throughout it.
03:07And what we really loved about it was this idea of cause and effect.
03:10And the idea that immediately any decision that any of the players made could affect the game.
03:16And it did, because obviously they banished him, which then made him a traitor.
03:19Now, that could have been someone else.
03:21But it so happened that it was Rob.
03:22And they sort of, in that way, sealed their own fate in that.
03:26Yeah, that's very interesting that you say that.
03:29That you guys have to think about all the possibilities that can happen while the game is in play.
03:34You know, like there's so many things that could, you know, have happened at that moment.
03:39Right. So if they would have kept them, he wouldn't have gone up in those, you know, the cages on the next challenge.
03:46And, you know, what could have happened then?
03:48Can you guys tease us to what other contention plans you had in case that happened?
03:54Well, obviously, you know, whoever the idea was that they would swap him out.
03:58Right. So whoever they swapped him out with would have ended up in those cages and would have been our traitor.
04:02So it would have completely changed the game because obviously Boston Rob being a traitor was the thing that then catapulted the whole turret into this kind of chaotic betrayal that they ended up in.
04:13So it would have been a completely different season.
04:14And I think that's what's so exciting for us is because once we've done all of that intricate planning and we've set the framework of the game,
04:21we've gone, right, this is these are the tent poles of the game and the players will then play within those tent poles.
04:28And we have to stand back and let it happen and be prepared for anything, basically.
04:32There's a really big saying, isn't there?
04:34We always say, Neil, it's trust in the format.
04:36And I think that's never true in the opening from last season.
04:40Yeah, anything could have happened.
04:41But what did happen was amazing.
04:43It was brilliant.
04:44And that filtered through the whole series.
04:46So trusting in the format is something we stand by.
04:49And thus far, it hasn't done us rocked back at this.
04:52Also, one of the most memorable challenges from last season was the singing dolls.
04:59And, you know, like, why do you think that particular challenge became so popular on both sides of the world?
05:07I think, you know, so Matt's our DOP for the challenges.
05:11So I'll let Matt speak on this.
05:12But from my point of view, that's another example.
05:15You never quite know what's going to happen.
05:17But there were some really iconic moments in that challenge that Matt and his team had planned for in terms of the coverage.
05:24And we very much go into these things.
05:26I mean, we have to be able to cover everything as it happens live.
05:29You know, we don't do retakes.
05:31We don't do second passes.
05:32So we have the scale of drama.
05:34But we're sort of as live as we go.
05:36So we never offer people to do it again.
05:38So Matt and his team brilliantly and meticulously plan to capture those moments.
05:43But there's an element of luck there and some brilliant things happened.
05:45But we were there to catch them at the time.
05:48And Matt, you can maybe talk about that planning and the intricacies and what you did there.
05:52Yeah.
05:53I really enjoyed that because you could kind of lean into, I think there was humour in there.
05:59You could lean into horror.
06:04And it just creates funny situations.
06:07I just thought it was really good and I was really pleased.
06:11And like Ben says, yeah, we're always very proud of how we think through all the iterations and ensure that the cameras are where they need to be to cover whatever story, you know, comes about.
06:26Comedy is so important to us.
06:30So I think that mission really encapsulated that, you know, thematically the show can be very dark.
06:37But obviously it's offset with this camp and comedy.
06:39And a mission like that really, really helps.
06:42How was it listening to Tom Sandoval sing?
06:46Brilliant.
06:47Wonderful.
06:47Another, obviously, missions was at the end, the finale.
06:57How was it?
06:57What was the most challenging thing about capturing, you know, the contestants being, you know, hung from the helicopter?
07:06How was that?
07:08Matt, I'll let you talk on that.
07:10You know, from my point of view, though, the finales are one of the openers and the finales are probably the two most exciting things that you get to be part of as the director.
07:19And when there's helicopters involved, obviously, you know, you've got great scale.
07:23So from a visual point of view, it's so exciting to see those helicopters coming over and there's loads of energy.
07:29But Matt, do you want to talk about the intricacies of how we sort of filmed that and how we captured those moments?
07:34Because, again, we don't get second passers at that.
07:37We do that as lie.
07:39And that comes down to Matt and Ziggy's team, you know, being very, very careful in their planning.
07:44Yeah.
07:44So that was like a big geographical mission started in one place.
07:49And there was traveling cars and then ending in the helicopter.
07:53So we split it.
07:55And Ziggy oversaw the end of it and filming the helicopter coming in.
08:03We mounted cameras on the helicopter, obviously.
08:06We had cameras on the ground.
08:08Just trying to let the live reaction play out and thinking how that can be done.
08:14And often over a massive geographical space as well.
08:18It's always challenging.
08:19But I think we always nail it.
08:21I think we always definitely get it.
08:23And Ziggy might have something to say about the kind of end of that mission.
08:26Yeah, I mean, just sort of kind of going back to what you were saying, Matt, it was a huge area that we were covering.
08:37Obviously, there's a helicopter involvement and flights and what have you.
08:41But also trying to think about the editorial angles, what could and what couldn't happen, what, you know, what the different outcomes might be.
08:49So, yes, we just work together and kind of plan for almost any scenario or outcome and hope that we've got our cameras in the right place.
08:59So, there's loads of planning that goes into it.
09:02And as Ben said, there's a bit of luck.
09:05We get lucky sometimes.
09:07But a lot of it is down to the intricate planning that we do.
09:11There's so much planning goes into the sort of pre-production stages.
09:16And that's because we only get one take.
09:19So, it's all real.
09:20For the players, it's completely immersive.
09:22We don't stop them.
09:24We don't interact with them.
09:25They don't even know that we're there.
09:29So, and that's really important because if we did have to stop, I mean, you can't stop a helicopter anyway.
09:34But if we had to stop a particular scene, it would completely ruin the whole game.
09:39The game might change, you know.
09:41So, it's really important that we do that planning and make sure we're in the right place at the right time and then, like, sort of cross our fingers and hope for the best.
09:52That's so true, though.
09:53That's the most important thing for me.
09:56Across all the series we've ever done, I've always felt as sort of series director that we aspire to this drama-esque visual.
10:03And we're as good as any drama that there is out there on TV.
10:06But we're equally, we're a live production as well because we take one take and that's all we do.
10:11So, to get those two things in line, that's a pretty unique seat for us all to sit in.
10:16We have the aspirations of a drama and making it look as good as drama does.
10:19But we're live, we're almost a live TV show at the same time.
10:23So, you know, that's a thrilling place for us to be.
10:25And the guys do an amazing job of putting that off.
10:27They are the best in the business at doing that.
10:30And it's a very unique role, what they feel.
10:32And they do an incredible job.
10:33I think it's from, as DOPs, it's quite a rare treat to be involved in something where you have to be so involved or aware of the editorial things that are going on because they really influence what we do.
10:47And that's not the same in every job.
10:49And it's why this job is such a pleasure, really.
10:52Yeah, I'd 100% echo that.
10:54I mean, it's the whole camera team gets really involved in the story.
10:59We're all hooked on it.
11:01And what's really interesting for me, I don't know if it's the same for you, Matt, because it is an episode a day.
11:08We obviously have to have two DOPs.
11:10We couldn't be in two places at the same time.
11:12So, there are lots of scenes that we're not seeing until it goes out on air.
11:15So, I watch it with my family who love it, my kids and my wife.
11:20And it's fascinating because I've been following the story, but I've really only got my kind of angle on it, really.
11:26I know what's happening, but you don't really see the little intricacies of the storyline and the characters and how kind of catty they're being with each other or whatever.
11:37That's really exciting to watch when it's on TV.
11:40But when we're filming it as well, we're all heavily engaged in the editorial, all of the camera department.
11:45I'm sure all the other departments are as well.
11:47But we're all following those stories as if we're cinematographers, but also documentary camera operators.
11:53So, we're following it from an editorial kind of perspective as well as trying to make it look as cinematic as possible and get it in one take.
12:02Now that you mentioned that you're just as excited about watching it back after it's being filmed, but during the moment, are you guys just as excited to see the outcome of things playing out just like us at home?
12:20Oh my God, yeah.
12:22Absolutely.
12:22I mean, that moment where Boston Rob in episode four decided that he was going to go for Bob the Drag Queen.
12:28I mean, that was proper edge of your seat stuff for all of us, right?
12:32We were just like, he's doing what?
12:34And we just followed it.
12:35And that round table, I mean, it was such a joy to cut in the edit, you know, that we scored it with like a kind of Godfather type track because it really felt like these sort of two titans going at each other.
12:45And we did not know which way it was going to go.
12:47I think the round tables are a really good example of that.
12:49So they can often last two hours for real, right?
12:52And they get edited down to however little they are on the show.
12:55But if you turn the cameras around the gallery and watched our faces and saw how we were interacting, it would be a brilliant show.
13:01There's a show within a show there because we are all glued and our expressions and our faces when we're watching those round tables.
13:08You know, but it's two hours of pure like, this is amazing.
13:11It can often be so gripping.
13:13And it goes super quick, doesn't it?
13:15That two hours.
13:16So I'm in a hide, I'm in like a tiny little hide with another camera operator right next to me.
13:21And we're sort of locked in there.
13:23And there's several of us in there.
13:25I probably can't tell you how many, but there's a lot of us around the room.
13:28And we're locked in and it feels like 10 minutes and it can be like two hours.
13:32It's so, and it's like watching an amazing TV show.
13:36It's a lot of fun.
13:37I love that bit.
13:38It's a lot of fun, yeah.
13:39Have you guys thought of releasing maybe an extended cut of the round tables?
13:48We haven't, no.
13:50I think, I mean, listen, obviously we can't show everything that happens because we're filming for like, you know, 12 hour days and we've got to get it down to an hour-ish.
13:58But I think that it's very fairly represented what does happen.
14:02So I think the cut, and also I do also think that the cut really helps it.
14:07You know, we build that in the edit.
14:08We score it, you know, it's paced.
14:10I think, so no, we haven't.
14:13But I don't know if that is something that would be interesting.
14:15I mean, you know, fans are very invested in those round tables.
14:20We get a lot of people talking and buzzing about the show.
14:25There doesn't seem to be any, sorry to interrupt, there doesn't ever seem to be any dead time in those round table discussions.
14:31That's there.
14:32So maybe, maybe we'll answer something there.
14:34Maybe we should run a competition.
14:36It could be the ultimate competition.
14:37Good to come and stand and watch.
14:40Final question.
14:40The traders, the U.S. version has celebrities in them.
14:46Have you thought of doing, making a spinoff with just civilians?
14:51I mean, who knows?
14:52Maybe one day.
14:53That would be great, wouldn't it?
14:54Who knows?
14:55Get back to the format's roots where, you know, the first season where it was split half and half.
15:01And maybe that would be super exciting for viewers to watch more traders because we can't get enough.
15:06Thank you all so much for talking about the traders.
15:09We can talk about this for hours and hours, but it's so exciting.
15:12We can't wait for the next season.
15:14I'm sure you guys are in the midst of planning it or possibly already filming it.
15:19Yeah, we're about to go.
15:21Yeah, lots, lots of good things lined up for next season.
15:24Thank you all so much.
15:25This was the traders.