Film 101 with.....Richard Syrett

What makes a good show? How did it get from the drawing board and onto your screen, How can I get involved in Film, TV or Radio?
Over the coming weeks I hope to answer these questions and more. By interviewing personalities from all aspects of media; writers, directors, producers, independant film makers, cameramen, set designers, in fact everyone who is anyone in TV land. By the end of this series, perhaps you will be inspired to take up a pen, a camera or a microphone and start down the journey of media stardom yourself.

Part 1; Barak Obama and the Conspiracy of Silencing.

Richard Syrett describes himself as a broadcaster, first and
foremost. His writing, story-telling, and interviewing skills,
infectious enthusiasm and the ability to stare down chaos and
confusion with a smile made him an instant hit, even gathering a cult
following. He has been producing fresh, compelling and provocative
talk radio in Toronto, North America’s fourth largest market, for
nearly 20 years.
"I've been talking about conspiracies, cover-ups, political
subterfuge, the paranormal for about 10 years on radio. Previous to
that I was producing talk radio. It was the usual grinding work-a-day
reality stuff you hear everywhere: Scandal at the local school board,
municipal transit strike, should the Federal Fisheries Minister
resign, blah, blah, blah. Crushingly dull stuff, really, and I
couldn't take it anymore. So when I took my turn behind the mic, I
desperately wanted to do something different. I've always been
fascinated by life's big questions: Who are we? How did we get here?
What happens after we die? Who's really running the show? Is the
Queen a shape-shifting alien? I had this friend who was a student and
colleague of Marshall McLuhan who was very much into what he called
the 'top down conspiracy. One night he presented me with a copy of
Tragedy and Hope; A History of the World in Our Time. That really set
me on my path. So I made a decision this was going to be what the
show was about. It was a hit on Sunday nights. Number one show in the
Toronto market. Ten years later I'm still fascinated by those Big
Questions and I couldn't imagine myself talking about anything else on
the radio."
All was going well until a series of reports on Barak Obama that
Richard believes may have had something to do with his show being axed
in January of this year. A lucky break from a previous guest led
Richard Syrett in a new direction
Richard Gage, A San Francisco engineer who founded "Architects and
Engineers for 9/11 Truth" a non-profit organisation set up in 2006 to
demand an independant investigation into the collapse of the twins
towers, appeared on Richard's radio show arguing that the collapse ot the World Trade Centre may have been a controlled demolition.
"A few weeks after I was gassed, I get a call from Ron Craig, the demolitions expert who debated against Richard Gage on the show, asking if I'd have lunch to discuss a project. He proposed a web-based tv show about the very things I talked about on my radio show. He further proposed we shoot it at the film college. From there it evolved rather quickly. He brought writer/producer/director Phillip Jackson on board to consult. Phillip quickly determined that the concept had huge potential and we should not limit ourselves to the internet. He was confident the concept could easily be sold as a television series."
" At the same time, Ron, who is now Executive Producer, and his partner at the film college, Tony Luan had forged a relationship with a state-of-the-art, HD television studio in Scarborough, Canada, WOW TV Studios. WOW CEO Chuck Yeung and exec producer Joe Tay loved the concept and agreed to let us shoot the series there. Ron and Tony did an amazing job bringing all the key people together and in no time we had done the impossible. We completed a pilot of "The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett" and detailed proposal all in time for MIPCOM at the beginning of October."
The Conspiracy show will be a one hour TV studio discussion show combined with a 3 hour long "live" internet TV event. Viewers will be able to get involved and there will be acive forums on the website.
"As always, time is never our friend. We had an impossible time line to deal with. But Ron is ex military so he relishes a challenge. We had to secure a deal with WOW TV in order to have a place to shoot. We had to get a website up and running, a business plan and a proper proposal had to be pulled together. We had to incorporate, create a logo, book the show and pull a production team together in a matter of weeks. But we did it. I hate to jinx it, but this project has felt charmed from the beginning. In any undertaking the biggest obstacles are people not getting behind you or believing in you, or people with no vision, passion and imagination. We had none of that. As Ron likes to say, 'everytime I step up to the plate, I do so with the intention of hitting a home run.' Hell, at this point in my career, I'd settle for a ground rule double..."
Part 2; Bigfoots Baby and the Bildenberg Meeting.
Richard Syrett believes that he was always going to be in the media. "I was the youngest of five kids, so tv was a babysitter. I've never feigned an aversion to it or referred to it as the 'boob tube'. I love tv and always have. Same with radio. One of my earliest Christmas presents was a crystal radio set. It seems I've always been listening to the radio or watching tv. I couldn't imagine not being involved in one or the other. I'm not smart enough to hold down a regular job. Originally I thought I'd get into tv documentaries but I've never been one to plan things out, I let them happen, so somehow I ended up producing talk radio. But it's all story telling, it doesn't matter the form. But I bore easily and I got fed up producing shows about whether city council should ban plastic bags. I always wanted to be on the air but I never had the nerve to let anyone know it. Thankfully, the program director at the time took a chance and gave me a show. I was bloody awful. I tried to do comedy which is the hardest thing of all.. Then I cottoned on to the alternative views thing and here I am."
"I'm not a journalist so I'm not bound by any oath to remain objective. I can't avoid my preconceived notions but I try my best to suspend disbelief and provide a safe platform for my guests to tell their story. And short of promoting hate, I'm willing to listen to just about anything. In other words, it doesn't really matter if I believe the waitress on the phone from Olympia Washington had bigfoot's baby, as long as she tells it well.. "
"I'm in the story telling business, so the topic has to have all the essential elements of a good drama, or a good comedy as the case may be. There has to be tension, you need great characters. The guests have to be knowledgeable, passionate. And I need to be interested in it. I'm just not that talented where I can fake it. Are there any topics too hot for TV? We're about to find out, aren't we. We're not going to shy away from controversy.. We're going to rattle some cages, no doubt. But I won't allow the show to be used as a platform to promote hate. But nor will I allow people to stifle healthy debate by tossing certain terms around irresponsibly, like anti-semite, or racist. People will have to trust me on this and in time I know they will."
In the short term, Richard's plans are simple. "I'd like to become very wealthy and extremely influential, then maybe I'll get an invite to the next Bilderberg meeting. That's it, I'm being quite sincere...Oh, alright. I want to get this tv show on the air in as many homes as possible and shake things up. Get people thinking and talking and get beyond this idea that just because it appears on the front page of the New York Times doesn't make it so."
This is the first in a series of Blogs about different peoples routes into Tv and film. The final question I asked Richrd was if he could advise budding radio and TV presenters of how to get their foot in the door.
"Don't do it the way I did...which is to slip into the river, point your feet downstream and see where the current takes you. Decide early on that's what you want to do and go after it. Visualize it, Pray on it. Having something to say would also be helpful. Most importantly surround yourself with positive, supportive people and fire all the rest."
The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett is still shooting but you can catch a teaser trailer on youtube at;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVEJFATKoXI
Their website is:
http://www.TheConspiracyShow.com
Richard Syrett brings accessibility and encourages smart debate, with passionate guests about such subjects as: 9/11, shadow governments, forbidden archaeology and assassinations.