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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 4.6 - SEPTEMBER 1999
The History of Channel 4 and
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One of Channel 4's greats
- The Snowman Courtesy of TVC London.
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Channel 4 Television has a world-wide reputation
as the powerhouse of British animation. Clare
Kitson, its Commissioning Editor for Animation for the last ten
years, recently resigned however, and the tributes to her have become
mixed with profound anxieties about the future of animation at Channel
4.
There is much misinformation. For instance a recent prominent article
in the British trade magazine Televisual, while showering accolades
on Clare, completely writes out of history her predecessor Paul Madden,
who commissioned some of the Channel's greatest successes including
Nick Park's Creature Comforts. Depicting history as the story
of the Great Individual, while it may make for an easy journalistic
angle, is neither the entire picture nor even, I believe, helpful
to the current situation. It ignores any other influences, which in
the case of Channel 4 is ironic since the Channel itself and its progressive
support of animation resulted from many combined efforts and force
of circumstances.
Change is in the Air
To try to understand the future prospects for animation at Channel
4, it helps to appreciate that its history has been an evolutionary
process. It definitely looks like the Channel's policy toward animation
will change, since Clare is not being replaced with another full-time
specialist. It may also be worth mentioning that animation is not
alone; there is right now major concern and debate about the direction
Channel 4 is taking generally, as it seems to be steering a course
firmly toward more populism and light entertainment at the expense
of the arts, innovation and its original public service remit to address
minority interests not represented by other channels.
The way Channel 4's publicity has handled Clare's departure has moreover
been exceptionally offhand. Clare, who was very well-known and highly-regarded
in the animation world even before her appointment to Channel 4 ten
years ago, resigned from her job in March. The Channel's public relations
department decided not to make any announcement at that time. Although
there was no strategy ready for replacing Clare, they did not feel
the news of her resignation needed to be kept secret. Since her contract
was not actually up until September, Clare began telling people informally,
by agreement with the Channel, that she was leaving.
There was rumour, compounded by Channel 4's silence, that Clare was
not going to be replaced at all. Given Channel 4's prominence in animation,
ripples of alarm quickly turned to shock waves which reached as far
away as Los Angeles. Pretty soon it was too late for the Channel's
publicity to act.
No official statement was made about plans for replacement until early
July, four months after Clare's resignation, when an undated circular
letter was sent around the British animation community from Clare's
boss, Kevin Lygo, Head of Arts, Entertainment and Animation. In the
meantime, not surprisingly, speculation and panic had gripped the
independent animation world.
What Kevin Lygo's letter said essentially was that Channel 4 had made
an internal appointment by adding animation to the job description
of the Deputy Commissioning Editor for Arts and Music, Camilla Deakin.
Deakin is a recent arrival in television, having joined the Channel
in February from her job as a producer at a live-action company. There
was also going to be some other reshuffling, with Cheryl Taylor, Deputy
Commissioning Editor for Entertainment, who specialises in comedy,
helping to develop new series. Clare's former assistant Ruth Fielding
is being upgraded, and Clare will stay on as consultant for Christmas
specials.
The fragmentation of responsibility for animation, and failure to
appoint a senior full-time commissioning editor, plus the casual way
this decision was relayed, seems a bit of a smack in the teeth to
a genre in which the Channel has traditionally excelled.
The awards to Channel 4's animation over the years listed in their
catalogue include two Oscars (plus several more nominations), two
Cartoon d'Or (meant to be the European Oscar equivalent), three British
Academy Awards, two Prix Jeunesse, fourteen British Animation Awards,
two Dick Awards for the most controversial, innovative and subversive
film of the year; fourteen Grand Prix at major festivals around the
world, as well as over one hundred and fifty other festival awards
-- the list goes on and on, and that's just up until the catalogue
was printed last year. Channel 4 itself was also awarded a special
Cartoon d'Or for its contribution to European animation. The catalogue
is also effectively a "Who's Who" of British animation (with
a fair smattering of international auteurs like Jan Svankmajer, Raoul
Servais, and Paul Driessen as well). Given all this success, it does
seem odd that the Channel should seemingly be whipping the rug out
from under its own achievements.
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Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.