Attitude (TV series)
| Attitude | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Robyn Scott-Vincent |
| Presented by | Dan Buckingham, Tanya Black |
| Narrated by | Dan Buckingham, Tanya Black |
| Country of origin | NZ |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 540 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Robyn Scott-Vincent |
| Producer(s) | Emma Caveley |
| Camera setup | Hunter Crouchley |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | TVNZ1 |
| Original release | 2005 – Present |
| External links | |
| [www.attitudelive.com Website] | |
Attitude is a New Zealand television programme showcasing the lives of people living with disability. It aims to promotes possibilities, especially for those living with disability and chronic health issues.
History
Attitude Pictures Ltd is the production company that produces Attitude. The company was formed in 1992 by Robyn Scott Vincent, and was originally called RSVP Productions (based on her own initials). Scott Vincent changed the company name to Attitude Pictures Ltd, "because it’s not all about one person, it’s about presenting the lives of others... and Attitude perfectly sums us up as a company".
A common theme in the company's catalogue of work is life for those on the margins of society; people who are differently able, or facing a significant challenge.
Scott Vincent’s eldest son was born with learning difficulties, a scenario that sensitised her to the issues and discrimination faced by people with disabilities in their everyday lives. Her goal was to create a programme that would showcase the possibilities of those living with a disability and grow a team of people with lived experience of disability to produce and run it.
In 2003, TVNZ was transformed from a State Owned Enterprise with a purely commercial focus into a television company and a new transmission company requiring TVNZ to balance its commercial performance with a set of public broadcasting objectives, set out in a Charter.
TVNZ’s Chief Executive at the time was Ian Fraser who described it as "an opportunity for us to prove that we can reflect New Zealand to New Zealanders even better than we've been doing - that we can offer a richer and more diverse view of our world and grow the business at the same time."
The scope of the Charter provided the perfect environment for specialist disability programming to flourish and in 2005, after a successful pitch to NZ On Air, Attitude was born.
In the first year, Paralympians Curtis Palmer and Grant Sharman fronted the programme along with Nikki Sturrock. Other presenters over the years have included fellow-Paralympian Dan Buckingham, former restaurateur and wine buyer Tanya Black, Kristy Green and youth advocate Mark Berry.
The Attitude Group now has a team of 20 people in its Auckland office, five of whom live with disability.
Milestones
- 2004 – RSVP Productions secures the contract from NZ On Air to develop 40 episodes of Attitude for 2005
- 2005 – first episode of Attitude screened on TV One
- 2006 – Feature-length documentary following the New Zealand wheelchair rugby team, the Wheel Blacks
- 2007 – presenter Tanya Black joined the team
- 2008 – inaugural Attitude Awards held at Sky City
- 2009 – Secures the Worklplace Diversity Award at the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards
- 2013 – Web platform AttitudeLive.com launched, a free VOD platform incorporating blog articles and information
- 2014 – Secures rights to broadcast the Paralympic content in the New Zealand territory, consequently live-streaming over 50 hours from Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games
- 2015 – Live-streams and produces a documentary from the Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Champs
- 2016 – Partners with TVNZ to produce the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games for the New Zealand territory
- 2017 – In its 13th year of production of the television series Attitude, funding is split between terrestrial and online broadcast; 30 television episodes for broadcast on TVNZ 1 and 160 minutes of digital content to be published on AttitudeLive.com
Attitude Pictures Ltd
Founded in 1992, and then known as RSVP Productions, Attitude Pictures Ltd is based in Auckland, New Zealand.
The company has a flagship television programme titled Attitude, which has screened weekly on TVNZ 1 since March 2005. The television series focuses on character-driven content relating to disability and chronic health. Its current time slot is 8.30 am, Sunday mornings on TVNZ 1. In 2017 the company produced its 13th year of production of the weekly documentary-style television show. Attitude is funded by NZ On Air.
There is now a back catalogue of 540 programmes from the long-running series. The continually growing catalogue of television content forms the core of content on the AttitudeLive.com web platform.
The company also produces documentaries, and bespoke video content for clients upon request.
AttitudeLive
In September 2013, Robyn Scott Vincent launched an innovative online broadcast platform, attitudelive.com. The site showcases the company’s catalogue of documentaries, provides information and resources relating to disability and enables people to connect to one another.
Paralympic Content
After almost a decade of following New Zealand Paralympians to international events, Attitude Pictures became the first production company in the world (as opposed to a broadcaster) to secure territory broadcast rights to a Paralympic event. Attitude secured the rights to the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and livestreamed more than 50 hours of coverage via attitudelive.com.
Attitude also broadcast coverage of the Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, and partnered with TVNZ to produce the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Special Olympics
In 2010, Attitude Pictures was selected by Special Olympics in Washington DC to be the official documentary production company for the Special Olympics Unity Cup. Attitude used its experience in television and in the disability sector, along with its understanding of the people whose lives it films, to make documentary content before, during and after the Unity Cup match at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
By broadcasting the game on television throughout the world, the Unity Cup presented a unique opportunity to tell the life-changing stories of Special Olympics through the power of football.
Attitude Pictures is also a recognised partner of Special Olympics in New Zealand and has produced several documentaries about athletes both in a sporting and social context.
The Attitude Trust
Established in 2008, The Attitude Trust is a registered Charitable Trust created to promote public awareness and recognise achievements of people who live with disability. In 2014 the Trust’s focus expanded to encourage partnerships and initiatives with like-minded organisations encouraging integration of people with a disability into every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
The Trust’s flagship event is the Attitude Awards – a televised national celebration of achievements in the disability sector. The various awards categories acknowledge the contributions and achievements of New Zealanders who live with disability.
Proceeds from the event fund tertiary scholarships for people with a disability who are studying media and digital media.
The Attitude Trust also raise funds to develop video resources not otherwise provided, and which will benefit the community.
The Attitude Awards
The Attitude Awards were established in 2008 to celebrate the achievements of the one in four New Zealanders who live with disability.
The annual black tie gala event hosts over 600 guests in Auckland each year at a televised event. Three finalists are selected each year in various categories and the winners are announced at the dinner. Two additional awards, the People’s Choice and the Attitude Hall of Fame are also announced at this prestigious event.