Background:
- Wildlife SOS, made by Wild Productions for ITV and Animal Planet, is a fly-on-the-wall documentary series looking at the work of animal charity, Wildlife Aid
- Simon Cowell MBE, was the Executive Producer and also the founder of the charity
- After the programme had aired for a number of years, broadcasters wanted to refresh the brand with Simon himself actually presenting the programme
- He was unsure about this, much preferring his production role, and after some test recordings to camera his producer's eye told him things weren't looking good
- Concerned he might not be able to pull it off, he came to us for help
Solution:
- A three-hour intensive coaching session, held at Wildlife Aid HQ, using the programme's existing director/cameraman
- Pieces to camera, walking and talking, interviews, handling the animals etc. was all covered - exactly the kind of thing he'd expect to be doing
- As a bonus, we also spent some time with the head vet nurse at the centre, trying out pieces to camera
Results:
- It took a while to crack, just as you'd expect when a producer swaps roles giving them an extra critical view of proceedings
- It wasn't long before he really started to come out of his shell, let himself go and start to find his feet - by the end of it he was "on fire" and doing a fantastic job
- With Simon fronting it, the programme became even more popular, new series kept being commissioned and the show was sold to 23 other countries
- He also fronted a new series, Wildlife SOS International, where he was seen travelling the world, meeting other wildlife experts and investigating the plight of endangered or threatened species
- And his head vet nurse, Sara Cowen, ended up co-presenting the programme and was a hit with viewers
- Simon Cowell, shortly afterwards, received an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his work with wildlife
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