TV documentary series

[kateg]

Hallo

I have sought permission before posting on the forum and have been told that I may. 

I am an assistant producer with Outline Productions, a TV documentary company based in London. I am working on a series for Sky which will look at unusual medical conditions and aims to raise awareness about them by meeting people who have them and following them on a journey as they get treatment for them.

We are looking for people who have or believe that they have gynecomastia. Perhaps you are considering surgery. Or perhaps you don’t feel you want to. Whatever your feeling I would like to speak to you (confidentially of course) about your experience and the programme we are developing. Of course, contacting me doesn't oblige you to take part.

I understand that there has been a lot of interest in recent months in gynecomastia from the media but I do hope that there are still people who would be willing to talk to us about it.

Please email me your telephone number and/or email address to kgriffiths@outlineproductions.co.uk and I will contact you.

Many thanks.
Kate

[Hypo-is-here]

Kate,

Perhaps you could detail the history of your production company in terms of all the documentaries that your company has made in the past?

If you can be open and transparent with people here and if you can provide evidence of serious documentaries that have been produced by your company then maybe you will gain our trust.

Recently we have received a lot of interest from production companies and found that they have been trying to sell cheap entertainment in the name of documentary off of the backs of sufferers- tried to sell gynecomastia sufferers short/down the river for cheap shock interest TV.

Can you show that you are not looking to do that Kate?   




 

[NotFedup]

hey KATE get lost along with all the other idiots that want to bring all the sufferers to light.

[HarryO]

Sod off Kate

[AK]

i can feel the love in this thread!!

[Time_to_fix_it]

I sense the feeling that gyne sufferers don’t want to be pointed and laughed at like oddballs in a travelling circus.

Sorry Kate you have a lot of work to do if you want to win the trust of people on here.  Your industry has done a lot of harm to people who suffer physical problems, and it should be deeply ashamed of itself.

[merle]

I don't like the tone of the replies. If you don't want to be a part of this fine. We need all the press we can get to love through the shame. The more men that tell their stories the less shame there will be. We need more education and more awareness.

And to date, I have not been unhappy with any of the coverage that I have participated in. If you have lists of names of shows that have embarassed and shamed men with gynecomastia, then post them. But to slam everyone with a broard brush is not acceptable.

Keep a civil tone in the discussion.

Merle

[Bob1981]

Kate are you the AP on a documentary about gynecomastia or is this development research?

May we expect a programme along the lines of those in the BBC's recent schedule, including Me and My Man Breasts, Teens Addicted to Porn, and Sex, Lice and Videotape?  The last of which I notice you were Assistant Producer on. 

Of these I have only seen Teens Addicted to Porn, which I thought was a fairly sensative observation of the worrying and often over-looked area of porn addiction.  In my opinion, the few participants who came across in a bad light only had themselves to blame.  After watching the programme I had only sympathy and admiration for most of the boys involved.

Personally, I have no objection to making programmes dealing with gynecomastia or sexual health for example.  Most programmes, although undoubtedly embarrassing for those concerned, offer a much needed platform from which to raise awareness.  Very rarely do these programmes descend into an exploitative 'freak show'.  Most directors and producers are not tabloid reports, simply looking for the next big shocking story, whatever the cost!  Filmmakers are human beings too!  For them these cases offer the chance to explore a thought provoking 'human interest' story.  Most of the time, participants are regarded with respect and represented as rounded human beings.  Of course, each case is unique, as is each production company and crew.

[NotFedup]

The thing is Merle that this is the UNITED KINGDOM and people are very incensitive here.
Along with the fact we dont have many tv channels.
They say it as they see it and if a program was on tv here lots of people would see it and start to pick fun at us poor sufferers.
no way would anyone be daft enough in UK to be in any of these documted programs

[Hypo-is-here]

I don't like the tone of the replies. If you don't want to be a part of this fine. We need all the press we can get to love through the shame. The more men that tell their stories the less shame there will be. We need more education and more awareness.

And to date, I have not been unhappy with any of the coverage that I have participated in. If you have lists of names of shows that have embarassed and shamed men with gynecomastia, then post them. But to slam everyone with a broard brush is not acceptable.

Keep a civil tone in the discussion.

Merle

In the UK these type of documentaries are FAR too often a SHAM and cheap sensationalistic entertainment TV in the name of documentory.

Such things are NOT remotely in the interests of gynecomastia sufferers hence my initial post.

I don't agree with just attacking this person/proposal, that is wrong...

But;

They DO have to go a long way to justify themselves and show a level of transparency and trust-ability that has so far been lacking.

You cannot just dictate how other sufferers should feel, or impose your US logic on the UK.  There IS and HAS been a difference here and a tendency to turn such matters into freak shows and this is why the concerns are different.

If any honest, decent documentary film maker come here and shows transparency, honesty, integrity etc then that is a different matter.

Given the backdrop to  such matters in the UK why on earth should people open themselves up to ridicule and potential problems if the would be producer is not willing to offer any decent assurances as too who they are and what their background is?

P.S

If BBC Two and a reputable documentary producer appears and has transparency, dignity, honour etc then i am sure there will be many takers. 

Merle you are dead right in terms of sincerity- but knowing the UK media and what it typically does, that ensures a different outlook. These people should be given a chance and some posts are dead wrong, but they DO have to prove themselves a lot more than they would perhaps in the US.

[man-chest-r]

I saw the teens/porn thing, and likewise thought it was a sensitive and useful programme that belied its title, and revealed what was a real problem.

I would therefore have some faith in the makers of that programme to make a gyne doc that was sensitive.

EXCEPT

There can be no doubt that the young people in that documentary exposed themselves in a way which would have harmed them now and in the future, for example with prospective partners and employers, and which would have opened them to ridicule.

Such is the nature of gyne, it is a very brave man - and perhaps a very foolish one - who is going to let themselves be reported and represented in this way, IMHO.

Is there was a way of  making a documentary without revealing identities? I guess not.

While some of the answers here have been rude, lets be honest, gyne makes you ANGRY sometimes, and particularly with those who want to make something of it. Journalists have thick skins, and they choose their jobs. We don't choose gyne. And this is a gyne guys board, not a board for (the growing number of) would be UK documentary makers. Perhaps they can be charged a fee for the targetted direct marketing they are getting?

Merle, check the links on my "am I being insensitive" thread to see how far away from the love even supposedly liberal understanding papers and feminist journalists even, in the UK are. This is the "tone" we have to live with. And, there is stuff on this board the tone of which I don't like, but hey, this is a community of guys from all walks of life who otherwise might have nothing in common. We all deal with it differently, but we are in this together.

In solidarity.

[Its Gone!]

I am working on a series for Sky which will look at unusual medical conditions.

Says it all really... Let's make a freak show production and lump the guys with gyne in with the people with webbed toes, some nice cases of bulging forehead growth, maybe some cases of absesses growing on the face, perhaps even some really 'interesting' cases of genital deformities etc etc.

A typical sky Tv program, or a genuine 'gynecomastia' documentary... yeah right lol lol lol.

Nice try Kate.

What you don't realise is gyne sufferers are well aware of riducule and consequence, and being in the UK (unlike Merle) we know who to trust (i.e say BBC2) and those like Sky who love to have a good crack at sensationalist journalism AT OUR EXPENSE.

Sorry Merle, no offence im sure your reply was based in a good nature. But your in the US and were in the UK, we know how certain UK TV producers report things, as im sure there are certain US producers you wouldn't trust. The same here is true. Hence the reason Kate has been slammed by every UK reader.

[Time_to_fix_it]

A lot of concerns have been raised and I think justifiably so.

Merle, here in the UK we have seen how some of the satellite channels work over here; our scepticism is based on experience.  I’m waiting for Kate to get back to us on these boards and allay all our fears and assure us that this condition will be handled sensitively, honestly, and in no way sensationalised purely to attract a large viewing audience.

Kate if you want sufferers who find this condition deeply humiliating and embarrassing to come forward, then you will have to give some pretty cast iron guarantees up front before you expect people to open up to you.  Since your initial post we haven’t heard from you again.

Should I hold my breath?

[NotFedup]

just watched the teens addicted to porn and feel that it showed all the cases quite accuirately
i feel tho that now the kids will get the p1ss taken out of them in their home towns by people who have watched the documentary.
That is the main reason that i doubt youll get anyone from here.