Help needed for a British TV documentary

[NickH]

Hello,

We're making a documentary for Channel 4 which will air in the summer of this year. It's part of a series that will chart the journeys of foreign women marrying men from the UK. It seems that the world is becoming a smaller place and through the internet, we’re finding partners in places far and wide. And why not.

We're particularly keen to explore the process from the female point of view. There are thousands of women now happily married and living in the UK, having UK families and making the UK their home. I want them to show me their journey, where they come from, what they’re leaving behind and how they see our country in 2006.

It's in no way a current affairs type programme, with a judgmental tone. This will be a personal and sensitive approach to stories told by the people involved. I want to understand the things couples have to go through, the sacrifices they have to make and the subsequent rewards they're hoping for.

At this stage we're simply to trying to find people who are in contact with women from the FSU, who are just about to go over there and meet their potential partner or girls who are just about to come to the UK for the first time.

We're a small team (me and my director Lucy) so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. People getting in touch with us are in no way committing to the programme and everything can be off the record and in confidence.

Thanks again for your time and I look forward to making contact.
 
Kind regards

Nick

Nick Holt
Assistant Producer

Betty TV
The Heals Building
8 Alfred Mews
London W1T 7BB

Switchboard: + 44 (0)20 7290 0660
Fax: +44 (0)20 7290 0679

Direct line: +44 (0)20 7907 0887
nick@bettytv.co.uk
www.channel4.com

[Dan]

Nick,

Are you only looking for a specific ethnic group? You posted only in the Russian section - yet you mentioned "foreign women." On this board, we have a MUCH larger contingent of representative marriages from Asia and Latin America than from the FSU countries. If your interest is in "foreign women" then your post might generate more results in one (or both) of the other sections.

As we discussed when you posted this over at RWD a few months ago - the normal reaction people have to this sort of request is negative - because there is so much negativity in the press towards this endeavor. It seems that very few reporters are truly interested in providing a balanced perspective, prefering the sensational and salacious - and presenting this endeavor in a manner which is not at all balanced and not at all favorable.

- Dan

[NickH]

It's precisely this approach which we are avoiding Dan. By focusing on the female journey, following her point of view and letting the film be hers, we will understand this life changing journey from her perspective. We’ve never seen this before and the hope is that this approach will really give a voice to the thousands of women who make the UK their home each year.

We do, however, need this to be an English marriage. It's for British TV after all so that's why I'm trying to speak to English men who are embarking on a foreign romance. And by foreign I do mean the FSU. It's closer to the UK for us.