Heydon Prowse on making online political stunts and co-creating the BAFTA winning 'The Revolution Will Be Televised' - a podcast by Steve Whiteley

In this conversation I chat to writer/director/performer/producer, Heydon Prowse (https://www.twitter.com/HeydonProwse).

Heydon began his career creating hidden camera political stunts with the viral creative agency Don't Panic. Many of these videos

gained international press coverage. This led to the BBC3 show 'The Revolution Will Be Televised,' which Heydon co-wrote and co-starred in with Jolyion Rubenstein. The show went on to win a BAFTA, a Rose d’Or and a Broadcast Award over three seasons. Other TV shows include Democracy Dealers on BBC3, Revolting on BBC2 and The Ministry of Justice on Channel 4. As well as directing documentaries for the likes of Vice and The Guardian, Heydon also hosted and wrote the BBC2 documentary called The Town That Took on The Taxman. He most recently created the Spotify podcast series Sex, Lies & DM Slides, featuring Gizzi Erskine and Sydney Lima.

Heydon breaks down how he got into making hidden camera political stunts on YouTube with Don’t Panic. He describes what it was like outing MPs, who lost their jobs as a result of his stunts and the anxiety that came with dealing with the online aftermath. Heydon talks about the anxiety that came with being behind illegal stunts that could have imprisoned him and the crash that comes after filming such highly adrenalized productions.

He explains why he felt it was unwise to loose skills in producing and directing, as he became more front of camera talent. We talk about dealing with imposters syndrome and this idea of being an introverted performer. We discuss how social media has made comedy more of level but the curse that also comes democratising content. Heydon describes the struggles of pitching to commissioners and how The Revolution Will Be Televised got made. Why he has decided to focus on creating mainstream entertainment content and how the Spotify series 'Sex Lies and DM slides' came about.

Heydon explains the strength in being part of a network and the opportunities that arise as a result, why it’s not necessary to have an agent anymore and why creating content is only 10% of what leads to eventual success. He reveals what strategies he used to create viral videos and why he wears so many creative hats. We talk about this idea of constructive procrastination, the challenge with writing scripts on spec, the importance in toughening up as an artist and loads more!

If you like this episode please do rate and review the podcast on Apple.

Happy listening :)

Steve - @offkeysteve

#podcast #balancingacts #heydonprowse #stevewhiteley #comedy #apple #spotify

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/balancing-acts.

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Further episodes of Balancing Acts

Further podcasts by Steve Whiteley

Website of Steve Whiteley