Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/413175
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2014 News 11 condition of anonymity. A former producer for a prominent local TV drama, the source suggests that the problems run deep. "These TV projects are what you might call a labour of love for their writer/producers. Or at least they start off that way and end up as a massive ego trip, and god forbid you should ever point out to them that their expectations are unrealis- tic," the source said, recounting how they, "genuinely worked with people who seem to feel that they are owed something by the cast – even though most actors are paid €50 per episode or less and come to set after their normal employment hours". According to the source, a complete lack of perspective – both in terms of budgets and raw talent – was also evident on set. "People would tell me something like 'We have to do it this way, it's going to be like that scene in Grey's Anatomy/Desperate Housewives/ Prison Break'. Which is all well and good, but these productions have a budget to do whatever they want," the source said, adding that while budgets will always remain a prob- lem locally, "solid writing or acting could make up for a lot of that". "Often in my experience, scenes would still be unwritten (not un- polished, but completely unwritten) while the episode was already be- ing filmed. Many times the actors only received their scripts a couple of days before. That would be difficult enough for professional actors, but when you're casting people based on who looks best, with little regard to acting ability, this is a major prob- lem." An actor from a separate TV pro- duction who also spoke on condi- tion of anonymity corroborated the slapdash professional environment in which local TV productions seem to operate. "I got the role because they saw a photo of me on Facebook. My poor Maltese speaking ability and lack of a driving license were ignored. They then made a big deal out of the fact that I sounded funny and got me a pick up truck to drive that I had to turn down. I was also promised a load of stuff in sponsorship deals, but never saw a thing. I was told we'll be given clothes, and all that jazz. But in fact, my own wardrobe ended up be- ing used for fight scenes, explosions and so on," the source said. A long slow death? The blogging team behind Eye- Skreen – a local hub for film and TV criticism – recently set out to chart and examine 'The Long, Slow Death of Maltese TV Drama'. Penned by Franco Rizzo – a former director of the since-cancelled One TV drama Il-Klikka – the two-part blog series one key polemic at its core: why is Maltese TV drama lagging behind other local art forms such as music, literature and theatre? 'Is it possible that there's no better subject material for TV drama other than personal and familial intrigue ('Katrina', 'Hbieb u Ghedewwa', Ic- Caqqufa', 'It-Tfal', 'Midinbin 2'), implausible crime scenarios ('Klikka Season 3', 'Rifless'), facile comedy ('Becky ir-Ritorn'), overused scare tactics ('Rajt Ma Rajtx') and so on and so forth?,' Rizzo asks in his blog post. Judging by the above, this unin- spiring collage is a result of too lit- tle money and too many unchecked egos. treljic@mediatoday.com.mt MATTHEW AGIUS THE hearts of most motorists usu- ally begin to fill with dread during the last weeks of August to early September, and with good reason – the arrival of autumn means not only possible storms, but also the start of the scholastic year for the 50,000- odd students and traffic gridlock be- cause of school transport. Term time translates into daily traffic jams from around seven in the morning as parents taking their children to school compete with em- ployees on their way to work. It is bad news for all concerned, not least for the students whose educa- tion is suffering for it. "Students arriving late due to traf- fic is a common occurrence," says Janice, a primary school teacher. She is careful to point out that the increas- ing number of cars on the road is not just a problem for parents. "Getting to work is always a struggle. I have to be up at six to get to school before my students, because what used to be a 20 minute journey from Msida to my school in Mgarr now takes closer to 45 minutes," she said. She appealed to parents to car pool more, but feels that other factors don't help with morning traf- fic jams. "For example, why can't major roadworks be carried out in summer and not win- ter?" she wonders. Daniela, also a teacher, says she considers herself fortunate for hap- pening to live close to her workplace in Kappara. "My daily commute is very short, but I have friends from the South of the island who spend over an hour to get to work every day." She thinks that better coordina- tion and training for the police of- ficers who direct traffic is needed. "It sounds counter-intuitive, but whenever I see a policeman next to a roundabout, there is a traffic jam and whenever there are none, the traffic flows much more smoothly." "Everyone is experiencing delays due to traffic," agrees Marco Bon- nici, senior vice-president of the MUT, who believes this is attributa- ble to an increasing trend in parents driving their children to school, rather than have them use school transport. "They are opting for this mostly due to concerns on the part of par- ents regarding supervision and ag- gressive driving. Also, government schools do not organise supervision on school buses and the schools that do, charge parents for the service." Has the government approached his union for input into devising a solution? Bonnici says that although the government had floated propos- ing a "student pass" for public trans- port at the beginning of the legisla- ture, nothing has been heard since. One measure he says would miti- gate school traffic is, funnily enough, already available in the form of the government-organised "Breakfast Club" for state primary schools. He blames the low uptake of this meas- ure to the patchy supervision cover- age for pupils on these buses. Not all bus routes have teachers. "I think we need to address the is- sue of supervision on school trans- port first, by offering an attractive package to those who would be do- ing the supervising," is Bonnici's vi- sion of the way forward. Bonnici's view is shared by Don- atella, a mother of two from Bid- nija. "Many parents at my children's school don't trust the minibus driv- ers, preferring to drive them to school themselves," she told this newspaper. Asked if perhaps it would be bet- ter to shift school hours by an hour, she said that she does not think so. "School buses already pick up chil- dren very early," she said, so much so that she has taken to dropping her two girls off at school on her way to work. Not including the school run, she says her daily commute to San Gwann takes 45 minutes on average. "By 7:45 the Mgarr road is already at a standstill, meaning that I have no option but to take a long detour. Even then, I still find traffic and sometimes arrive late for work." With a story like this, the recent news that the minister for transport is proposing all manner of alternative public transport projects, including light rail and underground transport, should come as a great relief. Indeed it did. Donatella welcomed the proposed public transport reform, comment- ing that as long as the resulting sys- tem is well-planned and reliable, she would gladly use it. This begs the question of why she doesn't use pub- lic transport already. "Unfortunately, the closest bus stop to where I live is a 20 minute walk away which is rather impractical. "What I need is a helicopter," she laughs, echoing a thought that has crossed the mind of many motor- ists stuck in traffic. "God forbid this transport reform doesn't happen." School run giving parents the traffic blues more t han Maltese TV' Tezara Camilleri in Il-Klikka Lara Cuschieri in Ic-Caqqufa