It is my pleasure to introduce a friend and journalist Jane Mote as our featured creative this month. She has been very busy with work over the last few months so getting this interview so early in the year has been fantastic, and her journey to this point has been an interesting one…
1 Could you share the story of your creative journey? How did you start in journalism, and what inspired you to transition into documentary and podcast production? What aspects of this work do you enjoy the most?
I have always been curious, verging on nosey and I love language. When I was growing up my Mum’s near-relative Michael Parkinson came on the telly hosting a chat show and I thought ‘I’d love to do a job like that.’ I discovered he started on newspapers as a journalist, so I applied for work experience on my local paper at age 15 and kept going from there. After seven years in local and regional newspapers, I became a BBC radio and then TV journalist going on to create and lead BBC London on TV, Radio, and online. I always think of stories first and platforms second. The way you tell them differs, but the story’s heart is the same. After 16 years at the BBC, I started commissioning programmes on commercial TV channels running channels for UKTV, Turner, and BBC Worldwide, and consulting for Discovery in Moscow. Working at Al Gore’s documentary channel Current TV reignited my love for a documentary which is now fully realised in my role as Editorial Consultant for The Whickers – a global documentary fund for first-time Directors and podcasters set up with legacy money from Alan Whicker. (coincidentally a lifelong friend of Michael Parkinson who I interviewed to mark what would have been Alan’s 100th birthday!)
My quest to find the best applicants for the fund sees me travelling the world virtually and in person to meet new storytellers. I am often a mentor at story labs, helping the next generation find and articulate the nub of what they want to say in a film. Many have great subject matters and access to strong characters, but they don't always have the experience to know how to weave a narrative through their films or audio content that will keep audiences hooked. I don't just mentor, I continue to create my content including Directing my own feature documentary. (More on that later.) I also assisted in producing many international features – recently for the Nepal film Devi attending its premiere in Hot Docs Toronto and in Nepal last year. Currently, I am Executive Producer for Blue Sweater With a Yellow Hole, A Ukrainian film about indoctrination in a time of war that is still in development.
2 How many different areas of media and storytelling do you currently work in, and why did you choose these specific fields?
I am always looking for ways to tell stories so they reach the most people and I love to see the scales fall from people’s eyes when I show them how they can create film content for themselves. I teach people to make short films- shoot and edit them – entirely on their smartphones with my courses called Pocket Stories. I have shot and produced dramas that have been screened at film festivals and supported the creation of a series of short films with refuges in Iceland all made on phones. I’ve worked for BBC Digital and the BFI (British Film Institute) running courses to help people make professional quality films on their phones. The Whickers runs a podcast award and I have recently been taking part in a podcast (Mid Atlantic Core) returning to my radio roots which I love. Audio gives you intimacy and immediacy with audiences allowing them to use their imagination more than film, but film has the longest impact on people. I continue to produce long-form documentaries, create my social media, and keep up with writing too. I am still a member of the National Union of Journalists after nearly 40 years – apparently, I will qualify for lifetime membership soon!
3 Do you think having a creative approach in media production is still relevant today? Is creativity encouraged enough in schools, especially in journalism and storytelling fields? What’s your perspective on this?
I think we all need time and space to test out our creativity in new ways. I took a month off to be part of an Artist’s residency in North Devon a couple of years ago led by @thestonecarver Jo Sweeting. The project was called Rewilding the Word-Hoard and it aimed to examine the relationship between landscape and words creating artistic responses to reflect our findings. This time off from the day-to-day allowed me to play and create content that was new and different and contribute to other artists’ work. There were woodblock printmakers, poets, musicians, and writers in the collaboration. I made short films on my phone as my response to the project as well as helping with many aspects of the collective whole. It made me realise how hard it is when you feel you are on a treadmill – 24-hour news with constant deadlines, contracts to deliver on, or sales targets to meet. It's when there is no pressure or expectation that I think you create your best work. Too many college and university courses in the arts are trying to be vocational. I always give career advice to wannabe journalists to avoid ‘media studies’ courses and instead find subjects to study that they are passionate about. Then, whilst studying, ensure they diversity into volunteering on student newspapers/radio or TV stations and create their content for socials and/or YouTube. The school of life, curiosity, and ‘flying hours’ in writing or film style is the best way to find your storytelling voice. I am also a firm believer in trying out new tech and platforms. I worked with Sir David Attenborough a while back, producing a multi-media programme to celebrate his 85th birthday and on the launch of the channel Eden on UKTV. He always takes his messages to the latest formats whether it's 3D, 5G, or AI – he wants to reach audiences.
4 Instead of focusing on influences, we’d like to know about media or writing styles you don’t particularly enjoy. Are there any that influence your approach to documentary and podcast creation in an unexpected way?
I am not a fan of podcasts that are glorified TV chat shows – one person interviewing another or more, filming it then putting them out as a podcast on Youtube. I prefer podcasts that focus on the aural experience – keep people within the world of sound. I love podcasts that take us on journeys and create soundscapes that immerse us in place whilst having a cracking story – Jenny Kleeman’s The Gift or the Syrian series Bloodlines are good examples. How you manage past, present, and future is critical to all story-telling so I’m always interested in devices to help us navigate narrative arcs. You can find great ideas anywhere. I’ve just been inspired by a clever device on Series 1 of Bad Sisters – where they use a faux film roll device to take us back and forth in their story timeline. It's simple and so effective. I also appreciate people mixing media to suit the story they are developing. The documentary Flee which is entirely animated is outstanding and The Mole Detective is one of my favourite documentaries as it uses humour and humanity to take us into the serious subject of ageing.
5 If you could go back to high school, what advice would you give your younger self about the working environment in media and storytelling?
Unusually among my family and friends, I knew I wanted to be a journalist from an early age. Luckily I did something about it by writing for school and church magazines, and local newspapers and then contributing to student radio and editing the student newspaper at University. The best way to learn is to gain experience of creating content in safe environments where making mistakes doesn't matter too much. I cringe to think of some of the writing I did when I was younger, but that trial and error has made me stronger and more confident now. I am always trying new things and spend a lot of time persuading women especially to believe they can do anything they want – as long as they allow setbacks to be part of the journey and don't judge themselves harshly. I have found that many men I have worked with or taught overstate their brilliance and women often hold themselves back until that mythical time emerges when they are 100% capable of achieving excellence.
6 Looking ahead to 20 years, what do you hope to achieve or avoid in your career as a documentary and podcast creator?
Funny question – my old self may have said: ‘What? In 20 years I’ll be 80+ so wow could I possibly still have a career then?’ But, after meeting one of my greatest muses 7 years ago, the former weaver and fine artist Ann Sutton, that has all changed for me. Ann ditched her role as an internationally acclaimed weaver aged 78 to pursue a new path as a fine artist. She gave up her looms and started from scratch. I met her in Arundel and was excited that she was constantly coming up with new ideas, creating modern and ground-breaking art, and looking forward to her next challenges. I wanted to bottle up her essence of creativity and positivity, so I decided to make a feature-length documentary about her called My Bones Are Woven. I had commissioned and produced 1000s of hours of TV and film content but this time it was me calling the shots and even assisting with the filming. The feature documentary premiered in Shetland, Chichester, and the British Library in London and is now being distributed internationally through Good Docs. The making of this film has inspired me to push my boundaries more. I am now plotting other collaborations with artists that I hope will stretch my creativity and lead to some exciting new adventures.
Beechotbeach- https://www.beechtobeach.com/ Pocketstories - https://www.pocketstories.co/
My Bones are Woven trailer - https://vimeo.com/750014120?share=copy#t=0
The Whickers - https://www.whickerawards.com/apply/film-and-tv/
ReWilding the Word-Hoard at Bucks Mills - https://vimeo.com/showcase/11416538?share=copy
Devi - https://www.devidocumentary.com/
Blue Sweater With a Yellow Hole - https://www.facebook.com/people/Blue-Sweater-with-a-Yellow-Hole/61554967163534/