![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/next-star-2018-in-car.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI could write a lot\nabout the shows of my communist childhood, about Stars’ School, Surprise Surprise\nor Ciao Darwin, about our pranks shows, about the kids talent show Next Star,\nthe Masks shows or the 15 New Year’s Eve programs I have produced and… so\nmany others! Maybe I should do this one day, but in order to do it I need to\ntake a vacation. A 3 year vacation. J<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until then, I want to write a bit about the obsession of \u201cfabrications\u201d, of \u201cfakes”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNDERCOVER BOSS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThese months, I was an\u2026 undercover producer<\/strong>. After so many\nyears of studio shows, I discovered reality-shows<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG-20190819-WA0010.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190926_095328-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe show “Undercover boss”<\/strong> was\nbroadcast on ProTV, produced under the hat of Zucchero Media, where I met\npeople I have known for 100 years. Some of them from ever since the Cretaceous\nEra, I could say J.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI took over the project\nat a certain point and I had to quickly understand things, to read about it, to\nwatch the shows produced in other countries and to take out the entire arsenal\nto convince companies to enter the project. But the most difficult thing was\nfor me to lie to simple people, the people we have filmed. You need ability to\ndo that. God, I don’t even want to remember what we told the employees\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190906_111133-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE THEORY OF FAKE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n“Is this a fake?”\n\u2013 I was asked a lot of times by the people who watched the show. Nooo!!! And I\nwas not the only one from the team who had to answer this question. In a tv market\nwhere, yes, there are lots of fabricated shows, some even openly so, anything\nyou do makes people doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that is not something\nnew. The fear of “fakes” has existed for years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Surprize-Surprize-8-1024x729.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen we were producing\n“Surprise, Surprise”, people suspected that the \u201csurprised\u201d people\nknew why they were in the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During “Ciao,\nDarwin”, people were sure that we bring actors to play the Time Travel\nmoment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ciao-darwin-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nEven during “Next\nStar” they said that it is impossible for a child to sing that well live,\nso it was clear, it was a studio recording…<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/next-star-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd the list can go on.\nThe truth is that we, as viewers, have lost confidence in the product we get.\nBut I think we are exaggerating with the\nconspiracy theory<\/strong> that makes us more concentrated on discovering the\n“fabrication”, than on enjoying the show \u2013 be it a huge studio\nproduction, a reality show or a quizz.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDuring The “Surprise”<\/strong> production, we\ncanceled expensive surprises when we found out that the ones who were our\naccomplices did not keep their mouths shut. We have “thrown away” farces<\/strong>, when the victims realized what\nwas going on. I fought with my bosses when we refused to take for Next Star<\/strong> children recommended by\ndifferent people, because they were not at the level of the show and they would\nhave hurt both the show and themselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd now, during Undercover Boss<\/strong>, we canceled a shooting\n(so we lost both money and a part of the show), when we failed to convince a\nworker that we are not the ones “from the ProTV show”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG-20190816-WA0010-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAs during other shows,\nwe have been lying through our teeth. But not to the viewers, but to the participants!\nWe have been accomplices of the Bosses, but we played a role in front of the\nemployees, to get a 100% authentic product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190914_053025-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe ones who caught the lie were shown on TV. It seemed fair enough to do this. The reality shows have a special trait: it does not always come out as planned… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have had unpredicted moments, that obliged us to take instant decisions, we have filmed with the mobile phones when things happened far from the place where our cameramen where, we have lost our main characters when, during emergency interventions out of the blue, they ran away from our visual range. And you should have seen us run after them…<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG-20190819-WA0000-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cold men’s council\u201d before shooting \u2013 the director (George), myself and the scriptwriter (Sorina)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFor me, this was a new experience. We had to shoot at 4 in the morning, the second day at 10, then at 7 in the evening, and after that in the morning again. And we had to go places we never knew existed J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190906_143906-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI went from working in a big studio, with a lot of cameras and lights, with a team of tens of people, to field work with a small team that could hide anywhere. But here you could not shoot a double, as I could do in a studio. You could only shoot once and that was it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190819_111242-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>We are not preparing for surgery, we are in a sweets factory… I look like a character from a cartoon hihi.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI have played too… I\nfound something in every company, belonging to every boss. This was the best\nwas to really wake up before shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190821_131007-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>with the protection casket of the BGS owner<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190824_130155-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a> \u201cdriving\u201d one of the cars belonging to the Alka owner<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG-20190918-WA0015-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>…suffocating in a real diver helmet, in the Salad Box owner\u2019s office<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190924_102717-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>discovering very old books in the Phoenicia owner library<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe have been filming for\nhour on end. We tormented the company owners… The ones who accepted the\nchallenge and left the luxurious offices and went to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We went into the\nkitchens of the companies \u2013 both figuratively and in the real ones…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190927_072006-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a> at 5:30 in the morning, I proclaimed myself a Chef…<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20190927_091849-1024x660.jpg\")
<\/a>scrambled eggs for everyone!<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nBut, most importantly, I\nmet simple, beautiful people, with interesting stories, people who accepted to\ndo their daily job in front of a camera. And they believed us, without thinking\nabout our production plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LIFE LESSONS!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSweepers, couriers,\nmaids, cooks, security agents, sellers, stewardesses, pizza delivery men and\nmany others. All real. Authentic. People who, without trying, gave us some\nlessons. A woman who was sorting garbage, illiterate and without teeth, with\nhealth problems and with a mother who was ill at home, gave us the most\nimportant lesson of the season! It was said better than any scriptwriter could\nhave written it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe show “Undercover boss”<\/strong> was\nbroadcast on ProTV, produced under the hat of Zucchero Media, where I met\npeople I have known for 100 years. Some of them from ever since the Cretaceous\nEra, I could say J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took over the project\nat a certain point and I had to quickly understand things, to read about it, to\nwatch the shows produced in other countries and to take out the entire arsenal\nto convince companies to enter the project. But the most difficult thing was\nfor me to lie to simple people, the people we have filmed. You need ability to\ndo that. God, I don’t even want to remember what we told the employees\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Is this a fake?”\n\u2013 I was asked a lot of times by the people who watched the show. Nooo!!! And I\nwas not the only one from the team who had to answer this question. In a tv market\nwhere, yes, there are lots of fabricated shows, some even openly so, anything\nyou do makes people doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that is not something\nnew. The fear of “fakes” has existed for years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we were producing\n“Surprise, Surprise”, people suspected that the \u201csurprised\u201d people\nknew why they were in the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During “Ciao,\nDarwin”, people were sure that we bring actors to play the Time Travel\nmoment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even during “Next\nStar” they said that it is impossible for a child to sing that well live,\nso it was clear, it was a studio recording…<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the list can go on.\nThe truth is that we, as viewers, have lost confidence in the product we get.\nBut I think we are exaggerating with the\nconspiracy theory<\/strong> that makes us more concentrated on discovering the\n“fabrication”, than on enjoying the show \u2013 be it a huge studio\nproduction, a reality show or a quizz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During The “Surprise”<\/strong> production, we\ncanceled expensive surprises when we found out that the ones who were our\naccomplices did not keep their mouths shut. We have “thrown away” farces<\/strong>, when the victims realized what\nwas going on. I fought with my bosses when we refused to take for Next Star<\/strong> children recommended by\ndifferent people, because they were not at the level of the show and they would\nhave hurt both the show and themselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now, during Undercover Boss<\/strong>, we canceled a shooting\n(so we lost both money and a part of the show), when we failed to convince a\nworker that we are not the ones “from the ProTV show”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As during other shows,\nwe have been lying through our teeth. But not to the viewers, but to the participants!\nWe have been accomplices of the Bosses, but we played a role in front of the\nemployees, to get a 100% authentic product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ones who caught the lie were shown on TV. It seemed fair enough to do this. The reality shows have a special trait: it does not always come out as planned… <\/p>\n\n\n\n We have had unpredicted moments, that obliged us to take instant decisions, we have filmed with the mobile phones when things happened far from the place where our cameramen where, we have lost our main characters when, during emergency interventions out of the blue, they ran away from our visual range. And you should have seen us run after them…<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, this was a new experience. We had to shoot at 4 in the morning, the second day at 10, then at 7 in the evening, and after that in the morning again. And we had to go places we never knew existed J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I went from working in a big studio, with a lot of cameras and lights, with a team of tens of people, to field work with a small team that could hide anywhere. But here you could not shoot a double, as I could do in a studio. You could only shoot once and that was it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I have played too… I\nfound something in every company, belonging to every boss. This was the best\nwas to really wake up before shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have been filming for\nhour on end. We tormented the company owners… The ones who accepted the\nchallenge and left the luxurious offices and went to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We went into the\nkitchens of the companies \u2013 both figuratively and in the real ones…<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, most importantly, I\nmet simple, beautiful people, with interesting stories, people who accepted to\ndo their daily job in front of a camera. And they believed us, without thinking\nabout our production plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sweepers, couriers,\nmaids, cooks, security agents, sellers, stewardesses, pizza delivery men and\nmany others. All real. Authentic. People who, without trying, gave us some\nlessons. A woman who was sorting garbage, illiterate and without teeth, with\nhealth problems and with a mother who was ill at home, gave us the most\nimportant lesson of the season! It was said better than any scriptwriter could\nhave written it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE THEORY OF FAKE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>LIFE LESSONS!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n