WHAT I’M WATCHING

LAURENCE HAMBURGER

Hamburger is a director and producer and head of the production company goodcop. The first show I binge-watched was a thing called Murder One, with Stanley Tucci. It was sometime in the mid ’90 s and I had a friend bring out the VHS box set for Christmas. That was the first time I remember realising it was 3am and I was reaching for the next “fix”.

I am planning to jump into a show called Heimat, which is apparently the most watched show in German TV history — about Weimar era Berlin. My father says it’s fantastic. I think the trick to finding shows to watch is to interrogate the right people. Don’t trust those who only watch TV series and don’t be afraid to stretch your interests. There are loads of popular shows I’ve never seen and I don’t miss them in conversations. I watch to be transported, not merely entertained, and I only really need one person to share that kind of experience with, at the time or later. Our company has found way more interest in our work and our creators in general in other markets, for both their African content and their style. But it’s still a long way from it being a going concern. My heart says it’s gonna ultimately happen for us as it’s inevitable that this market becomes fashionable, but my head is concerned that the local gatekeepers still don’t really have creative thinkers in the right positions. The world is still very skewed towards the Western (white) model . . .

We’re pitching a couple of shows in the US later this year, set on the continent, and waiting on a development deal to expand at a streaming channel on a show we piloted two years ago . . . this is an arduous process. It’s probably wiser to have shut up and tried to get the local commissions but our creatives can do that with a lot of other companies. They’re crying out for an alternative. We’re doing our best to find one. Tymon Smith