RTÉ Keeping ‘Hands On’ Approach? | The Irish Film & Television Network

RTÉ is inviting proposals until May 17th for an informative and engaging series of programmes developed around the needs and interests of the Deaf community that will involve that community while also bringing their stories to a wider audience.

The broadcaster is looking for a ten-part series for Sunday 12:40pm on RTÉ One. The RTÉ website states that Mind the Gap Films’ ’Hands On’ performed well in this new slot last season and RTÉ now wants to build on this success. New series submissions should be 10 x 25 minutes and be planned for broadcast in November of this year with a budget of €200,000.

RTÉ ask, in the first instance, that producers submit ideas into the eCommissioning system: (see the following link e-commissioning.rte.ie) under the programme category ‘Programmes for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities’ no later than Monday 17th May 2010.

Mairéad Ní Nuadháin, RTÉ’s commissioner for Irish Language, Multi-cultural and Education programming tells IFTN this call for submissions does not reflect an unhappiness in RTÉ with the ‘Hands On’ series: “We have a legal requirement, after a certain number of years to open up a commission again to proposals,” she tells us. “So it’s not the case that we’re absolutely ending anything. And the Mind the Gap crew are well aware of the fact, we’ve been talking with them. This happens regularly with all our commissions and we would keep the production company in the loop about the possibility that we may have to advertise because we wouldn’t like them to see it on the website first."

	Free Industry Newsletter

Subscribe to IFTN's industry newsletter - it's free and e-mailed directly to your inbox every week. Click here to sign up.