Jay Hunt, head of Apple TV Europe and chairman of the BFI, took part in a rare public Q&A moderated by ‘The Traitors’ UK presenter Claudia Winkleman during the BFI London Film Festival. We talked about his long career in public service broadcasting, the move to streaming, and the UK. The entire screen industry.
Among the advice Hunt shared with the audience was the importance of admitting failure and taking risks. Of the latter, she said “Slow Horses,” one of AppleTV+’s biggest British hits and has since won BAFTA and Emmy awards, is considered a risky investment, with the U.S. streamer He revealed that he brought it up after the broadcast ended. It was introduced on BBC.
“I think we need to take risks,” Hunt said. “It’s interesting. ‘Slow Horses’ is a very good example told by the BBC. I think one of the reasons people struggle with shows like that is that they have a hybrid tone. So people go, is that show a comedy? Is that program a drama? And oddly enough, that means risk. ”
“We’re confident that we can find those things and hone them into a production of the quality that we’ve seen so far, and working with a great team, a great writer, a great director. I think this is a stone’s throw for the best of Britain’s creativity, which is everything I wanted from this job. ”
At AppleTV+, Hunt will appear in British and British films, including “Bad Sisters,” written and starring Sharon Horgan, “Criminal Records,” starring Peter Capaldi, “The Hijacking” with Idris Elba, and the docuseries “Prehistoric Planet.” He has commissioned a number of Irish hits.
“We have invested millions of pounds in British creativity,” Mr Hunt said. “And as someone who has built a career in this market, who has actively chosen to stay in this market, and who works in a place that has given us the challenges that we have given effects designers, by the way, you have 66 million years. Can you bring the world back to life?” Before? Or you want an extraordinary production designer to say, “Slow Horse,” and create Slough House with such attention to detail that it’s frankly mind-blowing. It gives people the opportunity to do that, and they can do it in this market. This is not a brain drain. You don’t even have to leave your company and work somewhere else to do it. That’s something I’m really proud of. ”
Jay Hunt attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards Ceremony held at the Peacock Theater on September 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty Images)
Variety (via Getty Images)
Hunt also revealed that she was the company’s first UK employee for the streaming side when she first took up the job in 2017. “I started this work completely alone,” she said. “I had an assistant, but no one worked with me for a year above the Apple Shop on Regent Street.”
Winkleman also asked Hunt about her time at BBC One, Channel 4 and Channel 5, where she held top creative roles at each network. In particular, the TV anchor asked whether it was a difficult decision to quit her job at Channel 4’s BBC One. “When you have a great job, you’re being offered a great job,” Winkleman said. “It’s like [having to choose between] Brad Pitt or George Clooney. ”
Mr Hunt admitted it was difficult to leave the BBC, citing the hit drama Luther, in which Idris Elba was cast in 2010, as a “place where you can change the way people think about things”. That’s what I explained. It was the first time a black actor played a lead role on BBC One.
He revealed that the network lost Big Brother to Channel 5, making the transition to Channel 4 even more difficult. This meant that the commissioning team suddenly had to fill 200 hours of airtime.
“But there’s something about it – getting back to what I loved. [Channel] “Fifth, it’s about brave underdogs and Channel 4 being there to be disruptors,” she said of the move. “And there’s something about my character that I think is very appealing. I like the idea that we were subversive.” Commissioned under Hunt’s leadership at Channel 4 Some of the shows included “Black Mirror,” “Derry Girls,” and the controversial dating show “Naked Attraction.”
“I’m really passionate about this show changing the way people think about different types of bodies,” Hunt said. “But it was disruptive and surprising. We had a lot of programs like that, and that was a great character to me.”
Claudia Winkleman and Jay Hunt attend industry talks – Spotlight Conversation: Jay Hunt during the 68th BFI London Film Festival (Lia Toby/Getty Images for BFI)
Another controversial decision was stealing “The Great British Bake-Off” (known in the US as “The Great British Baking Show”) from the BBC. During a Q&A, Mr Hunt acknowledged that it caused a “fuss” at the time, but said the reality behind the move was more pragmatic.
“The truth was the relationship between [“Bake-Off” production company] Love and the BBC have fallen apart. And while the BBC obviously deserves credit for discovering that show and growing it into what it is today, Love no longer wanted to make it for the BBC, so it’s widely known that it’s available for purchase. I was known,” she said.
Another program commissioned under Hunt was Gogglebox, which Channel 4 persevered to air despite poor ratings for its first two seasons. The show also has numerous celebrity spin-offs and is currently in its 24th season.
“That show went on to become a huge hit, a huge hit, a worldwide hit, but when it first came on Channel 4, no one watched it,” Mr Hunt said. “I asked for it again and no one saw it. I asked for it again a third time. I moved it to another slot on Channel 4. And as time went on , it became a defining part of that channel. But it was because each time we were ready to go back to the crime scene and think, “What went wrong?” ”
This experience taught Hunt the importance of getting things wrong. “One of the things I feel really strongly about is that we’re crap at talking about failure,” she said. “All of them [successful commissions] However, something happened along the way that cannot be described in words. There were also programs that received poor ratings. There have been times when I have made wrong choices and wrong decisions. And I think one of the things that makes us better as a community is to own that better. ”
Hunt also paid tribute to the BFI, which he was appointed chair of last year, saying it was “the research and development laboratory for this country’s creative skills and success in film”. She accepted the role despite being busy with her day job at AppleTV+. “Public service is a defining part of who I am. It’s very important to me,” she explained. “I think great movies and television can change the world.”
