It is now only four sleeps until the premiere of one of the key programming links in Seven’s 2018 schedule: Andrew Denton’s interview.
Day 1: Andrew Denton and Jon Casimir on Seven’s interview format
Day 2: How Andrew Denton handcuffed himself to Kerry Stokes
So far this week, host Andrew Denton and executive producer Jon Casimir have explained the strategy and the concept behind interview.
Denton has also discussed with Mediaweek how he pulled off the Seven deal, explaining how handcuffing Seven West Media executive chairman Kerry Stokes in the past might have helped!
As well as being a significant figure onscreen across the past 30 years, and longer on radio, Denton has been busy behind the scenes too as a production company executive. The Zapruder’s Other Films business merged with Cordell Jigsaw in early 2012 to form what the partners branded CJZ – ”super indie”.
Just over 12 months later Denton departed CJZ and retired from television.
Jon Casimir
Mediaweek asked Denton this week if he kept in touch with his CJZ colleagues.
“Um… we have a number of court cases and I can’t comment,” he joked. “Yes, indeed I do and we are still friends. In fact I got a lovely message before the pilot the other night from Nick Murray (one of the principles of CJZ, along with Michael Cordell). I play one tragic game of cricket every year, which also includes Michael Cordell. I actually tore my calf muscle last year and three of us had to get ambulance attention… it was not good.”
Denton added he still tracks the industry regularly. “Even though I have been out of the industry I follow it every day pretty closely.”
Denton has worked with Jon Casimir for many years and Casimir was an executive producer on Denton’s Enough Rope at the ABC. He is also one of the principles in Denton’s new media business Legacy Media, along with Peter Thompson.
Thompson is Denton’s long-term legal adviser and the two go back over 20 years.
Casimir told Mediaweek: “You can’t call him a silent partner because he is pretty noisy. Although Andrew and I are theoretically the creative duo, Peter is pretty creative as well.”
As to whether Legacy Media would remain a one-program production house, all Casimir would say was, “At the moment. We are just making one thing and then seeing how it goes.”
While he wouldn’t elaborate if they had any other programming ideas, he did tell Mediaweek:
“We run the company very much on the principle of ‘best idea wins’. Andrew has always done that and I have always done that. We fully realise the best idea for next week’s show could come from the person manning the phones. People have titles at Legacy Media, but we don’t hold them to just those roles.
“The three of us running the company and being small allows us to make a television program.