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Become film producers in a day! Our TV Challenge team events are truly fun, different and aimed at encouraging and developing creativity.

As media specialists our creative team can work to your brief to put together an innovative team development day, involving TV production challenges as varied as producing TV commercial for your company to making a short film. Here's an idea of what your team might enjoy with ball park figures:

TV Challenge

Full Day plus dinner followed by film showing.
Suitable for groups of 10-20
Two or Three Coaches plus technical support

Working in teams of four or five, the task is to produce a TV ad or video promo for your organisation, or a specific aspect of its work. The event tests planning skills and creative thinking as well as teamwork and leadership. There can also be a competitive element, as teams are pitched against each other to interpret the same brief.

The first task is to assign roles to the individuals in the team and one of the rules is that all members of the team must appear in the finished work. Blank storyboards are provided, as is all necessary technical equipment. Participants are expected to show initiative in procuring props and establishing locations.

Your Coaches will be available for support and advice throughout the process. You will be given coaching in important aspects of the production process, including use of a digital video camera – and you will work with a professional editor to prepare the final pieces. The day concludes after dinner with a viewing session, when awards may be made for best overall production, best actor, best director etc. Guests may be invited to the dinner if required.

Cost: From £5,000.00 plus (optional) dinner

90-second video challenge

Full Day, optional evening.
Suitable for groups of 4-16.
Two Coaches plus technical support

This option is suitable for small teams. The 90-second challenge calls for great creative effort and covers an even broader range of interesting technical skills than our other media-based options. The task is to make a promotional film, a funny film, an arty film or an “info-tainment” film to be used for internal purposes or external promotion – it’s up to you!

However, the finished product must strictly fit the 90-second slot, so planning and intensive editing will be part of the process.

Filming is with Sony PD170 cameras with staff in 2 x 2 person crews. Target is 30 minutes footage from each crew within 15 minutes travelling radius of the venue. Props may be used but must be provided/improvised by the crews themselves.

You will gain hands-on experience not only of camera and lighting but also of editing software, titling and credit sequences.

As with all our media-based team days, each participant will receive a DVD of the finished programmes, and there is the potential for an awards ceremony over dinner (optional).

Cost: From £3,500 plus optional dinner and venue

Movie Team

Day (from 9.30 – 4.30) plus Evening. Suitable for groups of 10-25. Three Coaches plus technical support

Working in small groups, the task is to produce a short dramatised sequence on video, using costumes and props provided (plus creativity and imagination). Each team is allocated a topic and suitable costumes. The finished videos are between 3 and 5 minutes in duration.

Rules: Everyone in the team must appear on camera. Each video must incorporate at least one scene involving a member of the public, or conference/hotel staff. At least one scene must be shot outdoors. The story must include a (supplied) prop. A (supplied) line of dialogue must be included in each video.

All relevant training and advice is given, including in camera/sound operation and in designing a storyboard and scene-structure. Participants are free to create their own plot, storyline, structure and dialogue. Example titles: Batman & Robin go mad, StarTrek: the new frontier, How the West was won, Robin sorts the hoods.

The evening starts early with a showing of all movies and an Oscars ceremony before dinner. Guests may be invited to the dinner if required.

Cost: From £5,250.00, plus dinner.

News Team

Two day event Suitable for groups of 15-40 Your Coaches: Numbers vary with size of group and will be made up of at least three experienced broadcast journalists and management specialists.

The Challenge: To produce a half-hour television news magazine, from scratch, in just nine hours.

Producing a nightly television news programme is a highly time-constrained and acutely focused process of teamwork. When the team is totally new to the process, it becomes a huge challenge – the challenge of NewsTeam.

NewsTeam is used to explore issues of leadership, teamworking and the management of change. As participants work through the exercise, they encounter real management issues such as communication, motivation and control – all of which are directly relevant to their everyday working lives.

The exercise can also be tailored to meet company-specific learning objectives. This learning is later explored and reinforced in a lively interactive debrief session. A video recording is made of the “process” throughout the exercise and extracts are played back during the debrief to highlight learning points.

Typical issues explored include:

What are the principles of effective teamworking?
How do you get the best from cross-functional teams?
Management or leadership – what is the difference, which is appropriate?
How do you present a vision for change and manage it in a way that minimises
How do you achieve effective communication and individual motivation?

Participants are fascinated by the chance to gain an insight into the workings of a TV studio and newsroom. But the real focus of the exercise is on the individual contribution to the overall team goal - the quality of the final product depends on everyone’s input.

Creating the programme against a tight deadline and with an element of “live” performance generates real excitement and a valuable sense of achievement, as well as underlining the inter-dependency of teams.

Cost: Depends on venue and delegate numbers. Range £20,000 - £30,000

And something slightly different involving making sweet sweet music!:

Music to our ears!

One-hour, half day and full-day versions available
Suitable for groups of 5-50
One Coach plus technical support
A one, three or six hour workshop lead by experienced musician composer Mark Emney.

You don't have to be musical in any way because, with Mark's guidance, somehow magically you and your team begin to produce beautiful music over the event culminating in a finished CD that you can take home with you.

This is a good fun event that will have you laughing, singing and learning about yourself and your team in a really positive way.

It's an ideal icebreaker for conferences which also makes a great Away Day event.

Guide prices: 1 hour: £400.00, Half day: £1100.00 Full day: £2,000.00

Contact Claire Harrington to discuss your team-building requirements or for proposal and quote.

Tel. 0117 9237933 or email office@mentorltd.co.uk