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This month we’re headed around the world, so to speak…a new historical drama based on fact, some ‘Scottish’ themed specials and an excerpt from Reg James’ biography about Grace Gibson. First up, our new release:
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The Frigate Captain
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A naval hero who tried to improve the conditions for sailors is pushed into perilous conditions himself.
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Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, was a senior British naval flag officer known as a daring and successful captain during the Napoleonic Wars. The French nicknamed him “Le Loup de Mers” - The Wolf Of The Seas.
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After being dismissed by the Royal Navy in 1814 he served in the rebel navies of Chile, Brazil and Greece during their respective wars of independence. In 1832 he was reinstated to the Royal Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral.
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Disliked by the Admiralty for trying to improve seamen’s conditions, Lord Cochrane was given the smallest and oldest ships, and the roughest and toughest assignments.
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When a round-the-world trip pays dividends!
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When Grace Gibson set up her own production company in 1944, she worked hard, borrowed from Peter to pay Paul, hustled to get deals and eventually succeeded. She was a ‘foreign’ woman who set up a business during the hardships of war and she provided opportunities for lots of aspiring writers, actors and producers.
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Following the outstanding success of Dossier On Dumetrius, amongst other shows, Grace decided expansion was her best option, and in 1952 she set out on her first round-the-world sales trip. Her timing couldn’t have been better.
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Television in Australia was just four years away, and those six months on the road shored up her profits for the next 30 years.
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Her first stop was South Africa where commercial radio had just started. Bob Lord of Artransa had provided a lot of guidance to the broadcaster. And Melbourne’s Donovan Joyce had also made a sales trip there. In addition to Dr Paul and Portia Faces Life, SABC also broadcast a lot of half-hour shows such as Night Beat, Address Unknown and Life With Dexter.
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Grace’s shows, and those of Artransa and Donovan Joyce Productions, soon dominated that market just as they did in Australia. In the years that followed Grace Gibson’s name would become the hallmark of popular radio drama in other parts of Africa too - Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Zambia.
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From Johannesburg, Grace travelled to London and the head offices of marketing giant Unilever and global broadcaster Rediffusion. Both companies were immensely powerful and important because they bought radio programmes for the lucrative West Indies markets - Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and British Guiana, now the independent nation of Guyana.
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When it came to building relationships, Grace believed in the personal touch. No market was too small for her to visit; over the years, she and Ronnie enjoyed their regular visits to the Caribbean. The Barbados Sandy Lane Hotel was their favourite spot. Nassau in the Bahamas was also considered worth a few day’s stopover.
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As well as being broadcast in the larger markets of Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and Guyana, Dr Paul and Portia Face Life were played in the Bahamas, Montserrat, Belize, Antigua, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Maarten, Virgin Islands, Bermuda, and Panama. Individually, some of these markets were very small, but collectively they produced worthwhile revenue for Grace, especially since her flagship serials ran for thousands of episodes.
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New Zealand was a vital market for us - it bought about 90 per cent of what Grace produced. If Grace could achieve a nation-wide New Zealand pre-sale for a new show, that would effectively cover the cost of production. Thank heavens for the Kiwis!
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Our thanks to Reg James in his biography A Theatre In My Mind for the historical information on Grace Gibson
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