Creating a TV Show on a Budget: BTS of a Daily Talk Show

Television production is not only an effort- and resource-demanding undertaking but also expensive! Producing one episode of a popular TV show can cost up to $1.7 million a week, as proven by ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’. But not all production houses can afford to pay millions to create one episode of a TV show or even a whole season. This is especially true for local productions with smaller teams. So, how can those production companies with smaller workforces and lower budgets still produce high-quality daily (talk)shows without breaking the bank? The answer is Cuez by TinkerList!

We invited Tom Bevernage, executive producer, and the multitasking director extraordinaire, Dirk Van Tilt, to share their insights into crafting an entire season of a TV quiz with only an 8-person production team on the budget by using an automated one-man band powered by Cuez.

Cuez by TinkerList as a Central Production Tool

The idea of a daily talk show ‘De Positivo’s‘ “was to look every day for the best news of the day. That is ‘De Positivo’s’“, says Tom.

When the show was in the early stages of production, Tom faced the challenge of coordinating a new team of producers without the opportunity for in-person collaboration. To ensure smooth coordination of ‘De Positivo’s’, he needed a clear overview, and that’s where Cuez by TinkerList came into play.

• “I aimed for the most comprehensive overview possible”, he shares.

Cuez’s single-platform approach enabled all producers to collaborate effectively in one workspace. They could intervene at any stage and implement changes with just a few clicks — a crucial advantage for a daily quiz show with tight timelines and frequent last-minute script alterations.

• “The platform unfolds intuitively. You can visually track your progress and see how the show is coming together very effectively, even before setting foot in the studio.”

Low-Budget Production = High-Quality Daily Talk Show

Operating with a limited budget and a small crew, Dirk explains how Cuez’s automated workflows enabled him to concentrate on the creative aspects of the daily talk show. Cuez is more than just a rundown tool for his team; it’s a solution that facilitates smooth, automated production, allowing Dirk to focus on the artistic elements of the show.

• “If your Cuez rundown is running automatically, and you can easily follow the sequence of items, and all images are ready to be cues, and you just have to press a button on your mixer, it actually is just preparing buttons”, he explains.

• “No viewer noticed that there was a limited budget for what he had to do”, Tom remarks. “We learned that you don’t need to be with many to make a TV show”, adds Dirk.

When the new challenges posed by the global pandemic forever changed the flow of television production, the industry had to adapt and adopt new ways of producing content. Discovering new avenues for cost-effective and remote production of a daily talk show became imperative, underscoring the significance of cloud-based solutions like Cuez by TinkerList. The pandemic catalyzed a slow but necessary transition to cloud-based production, presented with new opportunities for enhanced efficiency and creativity in television production, where creativity, rather than cumbersome technicalities, takes the central stage.