Wow! The Indie that pretty much paved the way for the rest of the industry. In its heyday, it was the place to work. Especially in the early years, RDF seemed to offer an incredibly rich production diet for people to work on - volume, popular entertainment & ground-breaking formats on the one hand, as well as high-end one-off docs & short series like Adam Curtis's Power of Nightmares on the other - and a track record of nurturing talent. But what are the memories of people who worked there?
Sad news and another great British Indie gone. I've worked on a numerous projects for RDF over the last 10 years. Always a creative hub, it's weathered the changes in recent years and produced a wide variety of content. They were loyal to freelancers and will be sadly missed.
The OG! RDF and the legend that is Jules Waring gave me my first job in TV and some of my oldest friends are those I made as a runner at RDF. Memories of getting to travel round all of Europe with Carole Smillie's first DIY show post Changing Rooms (although me and my fellow runners basically did just decorate all the houses and wait for her to fly over and paint one wall on camera haha!) What a summer!
Michelle Woods
Such sad news. I was one of many who cut my teeth at RDF on shows like Ladette to Lady and Holiday Showdown. Worked with some incredible people there and learnt a lot. Really feel for all the staff there today.
Matt Ainsworth
This is a real gut punch. Firstly because for 3 years at the beginning of my career I worked on the legendary and epic production that was Scrapheap Challenge - part of which took me to the USA for a year. Incredible times and fond memories.
But secondly, what really sent a chill through me was reading the reasoning that “Broadcasters are increasingly moving away from general factual and lifestyle". We all know it. But I think this is going to make thousands of freelancers shudder. Love to RDFers everywhere
Emma Seagrove
I've worked at RDF West for most of the past four years and it has been a truly wondrous place to work. I feel very lucky to have worked with such magnificent people who have become good friends and very, very sorry that such a brilliant and lovely company is closing.
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But secondly, what really sent a chill through me was reading the reasoning that “Broadcasters are increasingly moving away from general factual and lifestyle". We all know it. But I think this is going to make thousands of freelancers shudder. Love to RDFers everywhere