The Thousands

Remember how we told you that Andrew Denton’s company, Zapruder’s Other Films, was looking for young folk to help them create a mysterious new series? Well, looks like they found some good sorts because it’s finally happening. We’re still not entirely sure what ‘it’ is, but all reports point to awesome.

We spoke to Elmo Keep, one of their web boffins, who, judging by this promo is quite a fan of giant bubbles. Here’s what she had to say:

Alice Fenton: So. This Hungry Beast. What is it? Every time I try to describe it to someone they go “Oh, like the 7pm Project” and look bored.
Elmo Keep: Well, that is so nearly there! Except not at all like that. Someone here coined it the “7:15pm Reject” which is 7pm Project x 7:30 Report. This however, also is lies, not least because the show will air at 9pm. Anyway, I describe it to people as Lord of the Flies with cameras, only newsier.

AF: There are reports of a gruelling training program for the ‘lucky 19′ who made it through the gruelling application process. True?
EK: Gruelling! God yes. The worst part was not being allowed a toilet break, and only eating one meal a day. Wait, that’s Landmark. In reality it was like having a journalism Masters crunched down into four weeks. It really took your head off, attending lectures for eight hours a day with people like David Marr, Richard Neville, John Safran, Catharine Lumby, Allan Hogan, Jon Casimir, Olivia Rousset – incredible. Being taken through ethics, media law, interview technique, writing for television, story conferencing, camera workshops, it covered a huge amount. Like being back at uni, just with 90% more actual learning.

AF: And the site. What is its aim?
EK: To crush all other websites and eliminate idiocy from the internet, obviously. We’re hoping to build a community of users who not only have insightful comments to contribute to ongoing discussions about our stories, but to contact us directly with both story tips and corrections, and further to contribute video stories of their own on any current issue that gets their goat. They will even be paid! But only if their stuff is so kickass we put it on the show, which we hope to do. There will also be daily stories and tonnes of extended content that can’t fit into half an hour of TV. We will also have a blawg, a thing which I understand is popular on the internet.

So, as you can see, some of our aims are lofty, but we think, achievable.

AF: So do you get to have cups of tea with Denton?
EK: Now you mention it, I’ve yet to see him drink tea, or coffee. Or eat anything, ever. It’s weird, because we monitor him closely every day, yet somehow he manages to subsist on a diet of compressed air. Actually! One night last week I ordered Indian for the team and managed to somehow get Andrew something the exact consistency and colour of slime, yet he soldiered through and ate the whole thing. But tea, no.