Charles Hamlyn-Harris

One of the nicest blokes you'd ever meet and a very good producer as well. Find out more about our 'producer of the month', Charles Hamlyn-Harris.

Geoff: When did you start in the industry?

Charles:1990

Geoff: Where did you start?

Charles: After years in Darwin and another career in what we knew at the time was the pioneering in Australia of the backpacking industry (no-one in authority believed it had a future), I decided to move towards the kind of work I had always aspired to as a kid and enrolled in a degree course in Television Production at Charles Sturt Uni in Wagga Wagga. That was the best three years I’ve ever spent – before reality brought me to Sydney to try to make a living in the business.

University was a complete blast – and when you’re having fun you do well. When I left they gave me the University Medal for coming top of the whole university! The Chancellor said that that should set me up. I explained that the industry I was moving into didn’t care too much for book-learnt skills, so maybe it wouldn’t.

Geoff:  What was your specialty on early productions?

Charles: At Uni I specialised in writing, directing and ‘conceptual’ photography – although I had great fun doing everything else as well – particularly shooting video and editing. The one thing I never really wanted to be was a producer – although I feared that I could go that way because of my background.

Geoff:  What was it about the industry that grabbed your imagination and made you want to be part of it?

Charles: Mainly, I like the suspension of reality. A civil engineer has to make a bridge that will stand up and take the weight of whatever crosses it. A film-maker only has to make it look like it will. I enjoy the ability to create illusion.

Geoff:  Did anyone in particular inspire you?

Charles: I did badly in English at school because I wasn’t interested in studying other writers. I’ve always been reluctant to have heros and influences.

Geoff:  When did Charlie Bravo start?

Charles: Pretty well as soon as I moved to Sydney from Wagga in 1992. I had become a producer.

Geoff:  What does the name mean?

Charles: Here at Charlie Bravo it means ‘Charlie – Bravo!’ – though I’m the only one who says that. In the NATO phonetic alphabet it’s the pronunciation of CB – which for pilots is the abbreviation for Thunderstorms – wild and unpredictable but beautiful to look at.

Geoff:  Our work with you has included a lot of production for the aviation industry. Did you work for Qantas or another airline? Are you a pilot, astronaut!!??

Charles: About 20 years ago I logged 33 hours in a Cessna 172 – including a bit of solo flying. But I was never that good at landing and I ran out of money so I stopped. (It took a while to stop, mind you, because of my problem with landing.)

Working in aviation related jobs was a coincidence. Ken Moffat at the Qantas Audio Visual Department gave me a job in the early days and I managed to make myself a fixture. Once I got to know the industry jobs at other airlines followed.

Geoff:  Tell us about some of your favourite productions?

Charles: My favourite productions are the ones where the client relaxes and leaves me to be the video maker. Sadly, as is normally the case, everyone’s a director.

Geoff:  I believe you won an award for your Qantas safety video. People actually listened to it for a change. How do you make something like that watchable?

Charles: The script of the current Qantas Safety video was nominated for an AWGIE award – but sadly didn’t win. I bet it was the only production of any that didn't win that night that everyone in the room would have seen. It’s a challenging video, that one. It has to be incredibly technically correct and it has to be able to stand up to being shown to the same audience over and over again for years – five years so far on this one.

There is no real trick to making people watch. People watch it when it’s new. I reckon that if an airline makes a new one every few years, the frequent flyers will check it out, get a quick update and then go back to their newspapers.

Geoff:  I’m always impressed how you and some of our other clients can make something like wooden spoon interesting. How do you get an interesting story line in a corporate video?

Charles: That’s the fun of a corporate video. You get a budget to make a short film. You can dream up any idea. You can hire great cast and crew and enjoy the challenge of making the mundane exciting. Maybe comedy this week, doco next then a game show the week after that. So long as the General Manager doesn’t want to do a piece to camera… The beauty is that so long as you can convince the client, there are no limits to what you can do.

Geoff:  Is the story the most important thing or does it vary job to job? I mean some productions survive on pretty pictures?

Charles: The trick is to find the style and form that best suits the client, their message and the budget.

Geoff:  What is the health of the corporate market? Do you have to niche yourself more these days? For instance, you and the aviation industry?

Charles: The niche is nice, but I think consistent service and product delivery is still the best way to keep busy. Like anything, exceed their expectations, give them little extras, be honest and helpful – just basic customer service really. I once wrote a training programme about that.

Geoff:  Do clients expect more for their dollar these days?

Charles: Yes. That’s all part and parcel of the modern way of cutting costs while improving productivity. I think it applies to everything they do, not just video production.

Geoff:  If they do expect more, why is that? What has changed in the corporate mind?

Charles: Modern technology has made a lot of clients think they can do it themselves. Buy a digital video camera and some edit software for the cost of one corporate video – and then get Denise from Accounts to learn how to use it all. Of course, Denise – bless her – has never learnt the craft, so the videos don’t quite work and we get called in again.

Geoff:  You have a few strings to your bow. What other areas is Charlie Bravo involved in?

Charles: These days, about half of my work is as a writer. I do all sorts of things – from doing Plain English edits on business documents and tenders to putting together training days, product launches, websites, performance pieces, works of whimsy… I also do a bit of graphic design, knock together websites, design interactives. I’ve never been good at specialisation.

Geoff:  What do you love about running your own production business? What drives you nuts about it?

Charles: Since I never wanted to be a producer, I never really wanted to run a production business. But probably I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve never had a 9-5 job and am not about to start now. I like the independence and unpredictability.

I dislike things like budgeting, fee negotiation, time management, filing – it all gets in the way, constantly, of the creative.

Geoff:  You told me recently about writing a book. Without giving the plot away, tell us some more…

Charles: All I’ll say is it’s complete if not finished, I enjoy reading it – and as soon as I find someone with publishing money who enjoys reading it too, I’ll be very happy – and I’ll send you a copy.

Geoff:  Since writing seems to be a love of yours, is that your favourite part of the production process?

Charles: I’d be very happy to be a full time writer. I don’t care what type of writing – just so long as I have time to write fiction on the side.

Geoff:  Do you see the corporate market working much like it is in ten years, or will it have different delivery methods etc?

Charles: The market has changed hugely over the past ten years. Cheaper technology has put production into the hands of amateurs and many companies are putting thrift ahead of craft. I don’t know about 10 years from now, but I think the pendulum has already started to swing back towards quality over expediency.

Delivery formats will keep changing and corporate will pick up on latest technologies and give them a relatively inexpensive test run. Just look at the rise of DVD, interactive, web-based delivery and so on over the past few years.

Geoff:  How has technology affected the way you do things in comparison to ten years ago?

Charles: Ten years ago I’d take a DOP, Gaffer, Grip, Sound Recordist, actors and Make-up artist on every corporate shoot – probably a camera assistant to carry all the gear as well. At its worst, I’ve done some shoots all by myself with a digital camera and the client holding a flexi. Technology has gradually replaced many of those people – though it’s often a false economy because the results are never quite right. I mentioned before about thrift overtaking craft. This is a prime example.

Geoff:  What hobbies do you have to get away from the business?

Charles: It’s so long since I had a day off I can’t quite remember, but I play the piano – have done since I was a kid – and am thinking of taking up the sax. My biggest obsession at the moment, however, is my 11 month old son Joji.

Geoff:  Your most forgettable moment in the business?

Charles: Hopefully I’ve forgotten it. It’s the moments I can’t forget, the ones I still cringe about 10 years later, that cause me most grief. I have one in mind, but it’s still too painful to discuss…

One of my favourite afternoons was many years ago, in a voice-over studio. We had (the guy who does Bugs Bunny, I can’t think of his name) in the booth doing character voices and in an hour or so we created an entire soundtrack for a complex series of videos featuring everyone from Luciano Pavarotti to the Queen. Illusion at its best.

A huge thanks to Charles for giving us his time.  I know he was flat out when I asked him to do this.  Find out more about Charlie Bravo at the web site.