91Èȱ¬

We asked 91Èȱ¬ Producer Charles Miller about the film and the new production methods he used.

Can you sum up How to Succeed in Business in a sentence?

It’s an interactive video of tips for startup success from top business tycoons.

Anyone we would know?

I would think so - there are interviews with the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump.

Impressive – but what makes this different?

The video features a group of young entrepreneurs preparing to present their business ideas to investors at a big show. The tips from the big names are the interactive element. You can choose which of them you want to watch by touching or clicking the screen.

What did you set out to achieve?

I wanted to use the experiences of well-known businesspeople who I’d interviewed for past 91Èȱ¬ documentaries as useful lessons for those just starting out with their enterprises.

The optimism and energy of the startup programme was great to capture on camera. And I was pleased that we could explain some of the young entrepreneurs’ business ideas to a wider audience.

You used Touchcast, but is there anything else different about how it was made?

Much of the footage was shot on an iPad, adapted with various additional bits of kit, to improve sound recording for instance. I wanted to see what kind of quality you can get on a tablet and found the results were pretty good. And there are definite advantages in the smaller size and weight of kit you need to carry around.

What do you hope to learn from it being on Taster?

How well do the interactive elements work for viewers? We have tried hard to introduce the interactive material without slowing down the film itself while the viewer is offered the chance to make choices. So have we got the balance right between the time offered to click and not lingering too long if you don’t want to?

What happens now?

This format could be used in more formal learning contexts, where different students will choose different aspects of a subject to pursue in more detail, while still being part of an audience that is being offered the same ‘big picture’ view of a topic.

I’d also like to see other ways in which existing 91Èȱ¬ archive footage could be put to use as additional material to throw light on issues raised by new content.