Galleries HTV West Advert

Back in February me and my family were filmed for an advert for the Galleries shopping centre in Bristol. We had a great day and were promised a DVD copy of the advert for my 2 little girls to have, however this has never materialised.

As we dont live in Bristol we havent had the opportunity to even see the advert so I was hoping, on the off chance that someone might have seen our 2 seconds of fame and, better still someone might be able to get us a copy.


help?

You might have a bit of a problem there.

It could be difficult finding the viewer.

If you honestly believed the production company would deliver on the DVD then (and I don't mean this nastily) I'm afraid you have a lot to learn about dealing with TV folk. I have been involved with several over the years; researchers have wanted either Grange Hill episodes or items of continuity and what's more they expected me to drop everything and supply it immediately. In return they all promised me the earth, be it full idents or GH episodes from the master tapes. On every occasion these rewards failed to materialise.

If that wasn't enough, I wondered if I'd ever see a master VHS I'd lent another firm again, and a freelancer working for Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe was particularly insistant that I delivered a certain item of continuity which was difficult for me to copy since it was on VHS, only for it not to be used in the final broadcast.

As a result, I no longer assist any TV researchers that contact me begging for material. I would advise you to chase up the production company you were involved with; it is unlikely to change the outcome but would certainly make a point.

thanks

it does seem obvious that the production team did just tell us that to keep our kids happy but it is very disappointing. I will get in touch with them again but I suspect my best hope is that someone make have recorded it in error.

it reminds me of the time that you requested some material from me - which i duly supplied, however i did not get as much as a thank you.

I'm sure I did; if not then a very belated thank you. Any request for return material would have been honoured but I don't remember you making any.

If there are various ways to get in touch with them, I would say: first and foremost, contact by phone if you can, so you at least get a direct and instant response to your inquiry.

Nothing wrong with firing off an e-mail of course, but perhaps not ideal - I may sound a bit cynical here but there's always a chance you'll get an extremely delayed or contrived response that way (or no reply at all; and if that happens, you have little chance of determining why); and there's nothing worse than asking a polite question - let alone a full complaint - and not getting satisfactory correspondence.

Please don't tar all TV Researchers with one brush and bear in mind you could have spoken to a Runner or AP. I ALWAYS honor my DVD promises - or am honest in the first place if I'm not in a position to send any out.

Also, regarding the original post - the ad would have been made by a specialist Advertising Production Company I suspect - not a TV production company. The two entities are quite different and run very separately...