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Some things have changed, but the Dragons are still ready for business
Dragons' Den
Thursdays, CBC/CBC Gem
If you thought pitching your business idea to a panel of Dragons before a national audience was scary before, try doing it in 2020.
There's no doubt it's hard out there for an entrepreneur when even the most established companies have had to pivot their business models so many times, they forgot where they started. But everybody's got to start somewhere — and a willingness to be flexible and an ability to manage change are keys to success in today's anything-but-normal new world.
“Pivoting and speed are key!” says entertainment bigwig and Dragon Vincenzo Guzzo, who has returned to the Den for the show's 15th season, which debuted Oct. 22 on CBC and CBC Gem. The unscripted series sees aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and products to a panel of Canadian business moguls including Guzzo, Arlene Dickinson, Jim Treliving, Manjit Minhas, Michele Romanow and Lane Merrifield in hopes of securing financing and partnerships.
Even the ol' Dragons' Den itself was changed. A set revamp by designer Alex Nadon had been commissioned before COVID-19 hit, and luckily most of its features — including sleek LED technology and an unforgiving, fly-away video wall that allows entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas remotely — have worked in their favour. However, filming anything during the COVID-19 era is not without its challenges, and the Dragons' Den crew and cast — including the Dragons and host Dianne Buckner — faced several obstacles, says executive producer Tracie Tighe.
“Our big challenge was how remote we had to stay from each other and the Dragons and the pitchers,” says Tighe, who barely saw the Dragons in the flesh during the show's 10-day shoot. “We couldn't interact with the Dragons as they were in their own bubble. So everything was via intercom and speaker.
“Our story/segment producers were also kept distant from the pitchers. The pitchers had a separate waiting room and their producer could only communicate via a video link. They talked through a video screen to each other.”
Rules limiting the number of presenters on set meant no big group pitches or performances this season. So anyone planning to bring in a vehicle or a marching band for their pitch was out of luck. Though that didn't necessarily mean business owners had to tone down their presentations, says Tighe: “We did manage one single fire-eater!”
After all, it is a Dragons' Den.