Maverick TV to go behind scenes of supermodel agency
Jul 16 2010 by Graeme Brown, Birmingham Post
Birmingham-based Maverick Television is to produce a new series going behind the scenes of the model agency which helped build the careers of supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer.
The media production firm is working with Channel 4 on the documentary series, which aims to give viewers unprecedented access to the world of modelling.
The Model Agency, consisting of seven one-hour programmes, will follow Premier Model Management, the agency which has worked with models Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and Linda Evangelista.
The Model Agency’s executive producer is Maverick’s Jilly Pearce. She said: “It’s incredibly exciting. We feel privileged that we have been given access to Premier – it’s the first time Channel 4 are going to do a documentary series in this sort of commercial business.
‘‘We are also going to see Premier in New York, Paris and London so there are some fantastic locations.”
The Model Agency will feature the bookers, scouts and office assistants to the models, designers and photographers who pass through the doors of the agency during the build up to London Fashion Week.
Filming begins this month and the series is expected to be broadcast some time next year.
Mark Raphael, Channel 4 commissioning editor, documentaries, said: “I’m excited by the idea of putting 30 cameras into a highly competitive office. The model industry is full of colourful characters with incredible stories, and I hope this series will make for some compelling television.”
Ms Pearce said the show would tie in well with Maverick’s previous programmes, which include How To Look Good Naked and 10 Years Younger.
“We have a history of doing documentaries, also, because of our background in fashion, it seems like the best of both worlds.”
Maverick Television’s head office is in Digbeth and the firm has a second office in London.
As well as its fashion expertise, it has also carved out a niche in health-based programmes, with its Embarrassing Bodies series garnering critical acclaim as well as a BAFTA in May for its interactive aspects. It is making a new 18-part series of Embarrassing Bodies in Birmingham, as well as its series Animal Madhouse.
Maverick also has a strong multimedia production arm and recently expanded into providing services to the public sector. It announced earlier this year it was leading a consortium to deliver a contract for the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority worth £15 million over five years for the company. The new service will connect people living in the region to frontline staff in the NHS as well as providing online health resources and information.
