Geoff Posner, BA (Hons) Live Events and Television’s newest Lecturer, has a career spanning over 30 years, 6 BAFTAs, 3 Comedy Awards, 2 International Emmys and a back catalogue of credits that include programmes like Blackadder, Little Britain, dinnerladies, The Royal Wedding and the 2012 Olympics.
We caught up with Geoff to hear a little more about his incredible career and find out what he hopes to bring to the course.
Can you tell us a little bit about the beginning of your career and how it evolved?
I have been involved in television my whole life. I started at the BBC as a Floor Assistant, and one of my first jobs was on Dr. Who, where I had to put on a green glove with a plastic spider on the end of it and make spider-like movements, which was superimposed on an actor’s face. Sadly, it was in the pre-technical days of Doctor Who, and on screen it looked very much like my hand in a green glove with a plastic spider on the end of it.
I quickly left my arachnophobia behind, became a Stage Manager, a Floor Manager, a Production Manager, a Director and a Producer. The very first show I directed was the last series of Not The Nine O’Clock News, which was followed by the first series of The Young Ones.
I left the BBC and set up my own production company and, since then, I have produced and/or directed series with Victoria Wood, French and Saunders, Lenny Henry, Paul Merton, Harry Enfield, Steve Coogan and Catherine Tate, as well as series like Victoria Wood’s dinnerladies, C4’s Saturday Live, Little Britain and its successor, Come Fly With Me. I also directed the pilots of Blackadder and Vic and Bob’s Big Night Out.
What is the most unusual thing you have ever worked on?
One of the most unusual things I have directed was a TV version of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro shot as a soap opera, and transmitted over three consecutive nights.
A lot of your work seems based in comedy. Have you worked in other areas of TV?
Yes, in addition to a long career in comedy, I have directed many live TV events, starting with Eurovision, The Royal Wedding, three Prince’s Trust Concerts, the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Concerts at Buckingham Palace, Live 8 as well as the centre section of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony based around Rowan Atkinson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzjlmBLfrQ
You’ve obviously had an incredible career working on many well-known shows. Have you managed to bag any awards along the way?
I have won 6 BAFTAs, 3 Comedy Awards, 2 International Emmys and, for my Marriage of Figaro, I’m proud to report I won the Crystal Vase of Prague, which, sadly, after transit from the Czech Republic arrived as the Crystal Fragments of Prague.
And finally, what are you hoping to bring to the BA (Hons) Live Events and Television?
My career in TV has been quite varied, and this is due to the great training I got from the BBC in those early days. This doesn’t happen these days, and so I have become passionate about training the next generation of TV and event directors, which is why I am so thrilled to be joining LCC.