Springtime on the Farm
In early 2023 we saw an online call for farmers to be part of the latest season of Channel 5's Springtime on the Farm. Not thinking we'd be hugely likely to be picked we sent in an email anyway. A few days later one of the producers asked to have a chat! Whilst we we were a good match for the programme, their planned filming dates didn't fit with things happening on the farm, nor, as it happened, the weather! Maybe next time!
A week or so later we had another call from another producer, responsible for the video diaries they hoped to get a selection of farms to film and send in. Would we be interested? Definitely, yes!
Over the following week or so we had to plan out a whole range of shots, showing off the different breeds we keep and telling viewers a bit about them and how we farm. Then it was just the small matter of actually filming them. As the old adage goes - never work with children or animals! But the difficulty was more with us remembering the script or dealing with the blustery weather. Finally we had a selection of clips, including some fabulous drone footage filmed by a neighbour, and sent them off.
The show aired whilst we were lambing but we had it on record and tried to find an opportunity each night to watch and see if we'd made the cut. On the penultimate night of the series Helen was out in the barn bottle feeding the goat kids whilst I made dinner, with the TV on in the background. All of sudden we were on screen! We loved how the shots had all been cut together. Not quite our 15 minutes of fame, but a brilliant 90 seconds!
Winter on the Farm
In December 2023 we had a call from the production team for Channel 5's Winter on the Farm. They were rapidly putting together content for the forthcoming series and asked whether we could do another video diary for them - UGC (user generated content) in media-speak!
The deadlines were once again tight but we managed to find some time at the weekend to shoot a few clips with the various animals. This was helped massively by the recent snowfall adding a perfect winter atmosphere, and by a crisp, sunny Friday afternoon with the animals out enjoying a break from the rain.
With everything uploaded we waited to see if we'd make the cut!
This time we were better prepared than in Spring and could sit and watch the show as it aired each night. With no sign in the first three episodes we wondered whether we had fallen victim to overruns and been dropped due to time constraints. But then on the last night, about halfway through, there we were! The 60 seconds had been put together brilliantly by the production team and we loved seeing the end result.
