The reality behind ITV's dramatic new campaign

With the launch today of G&T, the second film in ITV Hub's Drama vs Reality campaign, we get the lowdown on the origins of the concept and the making of the initial spot, Poison.

From why BAFTA-winning actor Jason Watkins, and reality TV star Kem Cetinay were the right people for the roles, to how they balanced drama with humour, Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper [The King's Speech, Les Miserables] and Uncommon London's ECD Sam Walker, explain how a bold project, whose "ambition outweighed it's budget", was brought to slick and stylish life.

What was the brief from ITV for this campaign?

SW: The brief was to promote the wealth of content available on the ITV Hub and make people reappraise the brand. The Uncommon team hit upon the truth that drama and reality live side-by-side in a surprising alliance, and there’s a real energy there.

What if drama and reality aren’t just fighting for your attention but actually trying to kill each other?

The eventual 'Drama vs Reality' approach feels like it could have gone in a lot of directions; why did this avenue feel like the best one?

SW: The ITV Hub has an incredible contrast of badass, cutting-edge drama and super-populist reality, so this friction seemed like a perfect place to play. Nils [Leonard, Uncommon Co-Founder and CCO] and I felt rather than shy away and treat it is a problem, we should run towards it, create more friction rather than less. All great stories are built around tension and with the ITV Hub that tension is built in. What if drama and reality aren’t just fighting for your attention but actually trying to kill each other? A secret world where whenever the crew’s back is turned these talented actors and reality stars literally try and take each other out. 

Above: ITV Hub's Poison, starring Jason Watkins and Kem Cetinay.

Can you tell me a bit about the casting; how wide-ranging was that and why were Jason and Kem the eventual best choices? 

SW: Jason is a BAFTA-winning actor and Kem is one of the best loved reality stars in the UK, so they were both great figures to represent their genres. Jason was the perfect actor to wax lyrical about the superiority of the craft of drama, and Kem has a kind of innocence about him. You really feel like he’s a lamb to the slaughter in Jason’s trailer, but then you realise, maybe he’s not as innocent as he looks.

Jason was always going to deliver with his performance but Kem exceeded everyone’s expectations too, and he played his part perfectly.

Was the script already fully formed before the casting or was it written or tweaked once you knew who the stars were and the sort of roles they would be playing?

SW: We had a simpler version of the script with the same construct, but once we had Jason and Kem onboard we wrote a fuller version, expanding Jason’s pretentious meanderings and allowing Kem’s “You got any nuts?” line to be an even bigger popping of the balloon. Jason’s dramatic opening - “I’ve come all the way from Marrakech!” - developed as we worked together, and Kem’s reprise felt like the ideal victory dance at the end. Once we’d met Kem we worked with him to give him short lines but with lots of his personality shining through too. Jason was always going to deliver with his performance but Kem exceeded everyone’s expectations too, and he played his part perfectly.

Above: Cetinay and Watkins face off in Poison.

Why was Tom Hooper the right choice as director for this project?

SW: We wanted these films to have a real scale to them, and obviously Tom brings that in spades. This was a highly ambitious project right from script stage and we wanted a director to match. His Oscar and BAFTA-winning pedigree brought a real, uncompromising, scale to the project. His relentless attention to detail and the pushing of all aspects of production are exactly what the project required. 

This was a highly ambitious project right from script stage and we wanted a director to match.

Tom and I have a brilliant working relationship, and developed a shared vision and ambition very early on, crafting the scripts, the logic of the campaign conceit, pre-production, shooting, editing and post too. It’s been a joy. He also assembled a cinematic heavyweight team around us too; Barry Ackroyd was our DoP (Bourne Ultimatum, Hurt Locker) and Terry Needham was our AD (Blackhawk Down, Full Metal Jacket), while Eve Stewart was our Production Designer (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables). 

Above: Watkins came up with a line which, towards the end of the film, adds the perfect dose of humour. 

What was it about the script that excited you?

TH: I think they were some of the best commercial scripts I had received in a long time. Sam is a great writer, both conceptually and as a writer of dialogue. I loved how anarchic the scripts are, how they push boundaries in a humorous way. I was drawn to the fact that Sam wanted them to be like scenes from different movies, that in order to mediate between TV drama and reality TV we should inhabit a filmic style that was different from both. 

Reality, even though it is now decades old, still feels like an insurgent, an insecure, less respected branch of the family that wants - needs - to be given the respect it deserves.

The idea that the violent clash between reality TV and TV drama is a metaphor for the fight for the viewer’s attention on the ITV Hub is very strong. Reality, even though it is now decades old, still feels like an insurgent, an insecure, less respected branch of the family that wants - needs - to be given the respect it deserves, clashing against drama that much older but endlessly relevant part of the TV family. I think Uncommon are clever to turn “the fight for your attention" from a rivalry between channels and platforms to a rivalry within ITV content genres, as if the battle is not outside of ITV, it is entirely contained within ITV, keeping the focus wholly on the ITV Hub and positing ITV as serving the entire universe of viewer needs.

Above: Actor Katherine Kelly stars in G&T, in which the audience is "just watching [her] making a drink and, half way through, the viewers’ sixth senses are starting to tingle."

Jason Watkins' performance is both brilliantly OTT, but also malevolent and funny; how hard was it to hit the right tone of what you were looking for?

TH: I’m a great admirer of Jason [and] anyone who hasn’t seen him play the title role in Roger Michell and Peter Morgan’s film The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries should check it out! To me, the central part of his performance is an exploration of the perils of pride and ego. His character has a blinkered snobbery about Kem’s character and reality TV.  When he suspects the drinks have been shifted does he have the humility to accept that he might have been wrong, that he has been outsmarted, and simply not drink, or is his pride and ego just too strong?  

The central part of [Jason's] performance is an exploration of the perils of pride and ego.

Ultimately, he risks himself to back his prideful view of the world - with dire consequences. So, getting that moment right in performance was key, as it was both the inflection point and revealed so much about Jason’s character. Jason was brilliant at being playful, immediately giving us a range of interpretations of the dialogue, allowing my wonderful editor, Russell Icke, immediate tonal range and choice in the cut. I admired the way Jason effectively trusted in the editing process by giving us so many great choices. Jason also came up with the great gag at the end, correcting Kem as he reads his script.

Above: Kem Cetinay [centre] in conversation with Tom Hooper during the shooting of Poison.

While Jason is an award-winning actor, Kem isn't an actor at all; how did you approach working with each of them with their different backgrounds?

TH: Key to this was rehearsal. Knowing Kem would probably be nervous, we had a proper rehearsal day a few days before the shoot, where we marked out the space, blocked out the scene and gave Jason and Kem room to improvise or suggest additional dialogue. This was essential for allowing Kem to relax and become confident in the scene. What fascinates me is that reality stars are, in a sense, actors too because they may be playing versions of themselves that they heightened in order to get the role, or they may still be playing a version of themselves that they’ve outgrown.  

What fascinates me is that reality stars are, in a sense, actors too because they may be playing versions of themselves that they heightened in order to get the role.

The central difference is that reality TV is a one take world. They’re never asked to “go again”. So, the main challenge with working with reality stars in a scripted context is getting them comfortable with the iterative process of multiple takes and multiple setups. I found the most helpful thing, to Kem in particular, was to run the scene in full each time - three minutes or so - as he was used to long, uninterrupted takes. This would allow him to get into a flow rather than get too preoccupied with the technique of altering a particular beat. I think he was impressive and held his own with Jason’s bravura skill well!

Above: The second film in the campaign series, G&T, starring Katherine Kelly.

Drama is obviously the central conceit but the film is also very funny too; was there a conversation about how far to push the comedy versus protecting the dramatic tropes?

SW: The blueprint for the tone was to play it straight, but build in the jokes so they’re indelibly comedic. We couldn’t go gruesome, but we also couldn’t go slapstick. The ambition was to create mini pieces of drama, short sections of cinema rather than the more familiar advertising tropes. Right from the first frame we wanted them to feel like they had a bigger scale and a slower pace, but then the tension builds. Really, what we’re advertising is programming that grabs your attention so that’s what we tried to do with these films themselves. 

What if we had a film where nothing really happens for almost all of it? You’re just watching Katherine Kelly making a drink and, half way through, the viewers’ sixth senses are starting to tingle.

With Poison, the aim was to create the feeling that Kem is being lured to his death by Jason, but first he can’t resist one last lecture why drama is superior to reality. G&T was all about mood. What if we had a film where nothing really happens for almost all of it? You’re just watching Katherine Kelly making a drink and, half way through, the viewers’ sixth senses are starting to tingle telling them something’s not right. Why are you showing me this?

The reveal of Pete Wicks battered and bruised in the cupboard hopefully no one should see coming. It should be shocking but also funny. A proper WTAF?! moment. And then we thought, what if different people were held hostage in the cupboard depending on which version you saw? That would be fun additional layer to the enjoyment. Try and keep the audience guessing even when they’ve seen it before. One time it’s Pete, the next it’s Bobbie Norris, both much loved The Only Way is Essex stars.

TH: Yes, all the time. I think we always wanted the humour to be rooted in situation and character rather than gag based. Sam is impressive in his pursuit of the perfect tone. I enjoyed the rigour of our collaborative process very much.