My name is Errol Ettienne (the one on the left) and I’m a BAFTA winning producer and director who works on comedy, documentary and travel shows for the BBC and other major broadcasters in the UK. When I first found out about Steemit around 2 months ago, I was extremely intrigued, because most of the content I make is about using comedy to look at how we can do things differently in society and the potential of an idea like this really resonates with me.
I watched the rise of Steemit and was tempted to rush content out to capitalise on the boom, but if this community is to last I believe it's important that its contributors take quality seriously, so that is why I've waited to create bespoke and considered material for Steemit before introducing myself. I've been busy this month creating original content with the people I find most interesting and inspiring and I'm looking forward to sharing it here.
My TV History
The show I’ve worked on for the last 4 years The Revolution Will Be Televised, addresses the fact that; “our world is filled with hypocrisy, greed and corruption”. Anarchic anger bubbles not too far from the surface in the show.
Our approach has been audacious, ballsy and straight to the point, as you’ll see with the opening scene of the episode linked below. In the episode, our comedians approach bankers on Wall Street and, referring to the 2008 crash, ask them to:
Give Us Back Our F*&king Money You Assholes.
As a team we’ve now filmed over 400 of these type of sketches that aim to speak uncomfortable truths to power. It’s almost ironic that we have won multiple awards for this work that is so often aiming to hit back at the Establishment. Somehow we are celebrated by them; perhaps it serves as a sanitized version of rebellion.
In any case, most of what we’ve done has been filmed using hidden camera and the reactions are real. On our journey using various conceits and front companies, but often simply just high visibility jackets, our comedy characters have managed to infiltrate some powerful spaces.
Played by Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse, these various characters have confronted billionaires Eric Schmidt and Bernie Ecclestone face-to-face about their financial conduct. They’ve managed to actually get into Tony Blair’s house, asked Donald Trump for his daughter's hand in marriage and asked Bill Clinton to give them advice for getting out of “sticky situations”. Transnational corporations like Amazon, Apple and BP have been our targets too and in one sketch we highlighted Google's dubious tax arrangement by sneaking our entire team into their London headquarters and re-branded them "O'Google" to expose their questionable Irish tax arrangements.
Most of my work is about taking a critical look at how our systems are unfair or not fit for purpose, and exploring how we can make positive changes.
To me it’s clear our world is far too dominated by corporatism and centralized power and we need new paradigms and possibilities like Steemit.com to make real alternatives possible. Meaningful change will come from entirely new ideas of how to organize ourselves and our economies in genuinely less centralized ways that reward people, not just the corporate models that empower a small elite.
The second reason I was interested in Steemit was as a creative: the prospect of a new platform to create innovative fresh content, but not have to make the usual compromises, is really exciting!
The usual compromises that need to be made by succumbing to corporate interests and editorial guidelines is a fact of life for media professionals. To be less constrained and freer to say things we want to say and make the films we want to make, has the power to potentially be a real game changer.
What TV, and the weight of an organization like the BBC does, is give me access to the big players and this summer I’ve been directing a new BBC2 series Project X (out in January 2017) and a one-off special also on BBC2 BREXAGEDDON?! which was broadcast a couple of months back in July. We got incredible access to the British political establishment and satirised the mayhem that ensued after the historic events of Britain's decision to leave the European Union unfolded. In the UK this was HUGE. There is link to the programme outline below (its view cycle has expired on the BBC site).
BREXAGEDDON?!
What Value Can I Bring? - The Steemit Revolution Will Be Televised!
I will bring not only a decade of TV experience but my mischievous and rebellious, but hopefully also illuminating spirit to the content I produce exclusively for Steemit.com. I will be filming short documentaries, comedy sketches and interviews about the ideas and culture that most influence me and writing about the process. The idea is to get the tag steemittv established as a great place to go for content.
I have access to a lot of great writers, thinkers and performers here in London and across Europe so my project will be to bring insightful and funny content to this community.
I understand verification is important here so I have done so by a couple of means. Firstly, you can visit my profile here at The Talent Manager where I've updated my "About Me" section to mention Steemit. Also here is a verification picture:
I also have a profile here at IMDB