Satusfaction

Series 2: Surviving a Dubai Drugs Bust

Blast Films for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer

Editor: Chris Scurfield

A docudrama detailing the real-life case of three friends in Dubai being arrested for drug possession and the issues they had to deal with.

In 2012, Karl Williams, Grant Cameron, and Suneet Jeerh found themselves in trouble for possessing a quantity of synthetic cannabis, commonly referred to as spice. They claimed they were given electric shocks and had guns held to their heads during a seven-month period when they were held without trial.

Following their sentencing to four years in prison in April 2013, a ray of hope emerged with a pardon granted under a Ramadan amnesty merely three months later. This compelling docu-drama combines gripping dramatic reconstructions of their ordeal with insightful interviews with Williams himself.

Chris Scurfield was the co- editor of all 5 episodes of this series, working on it for a total of 7 months. This was a dream job for Chris, he loved working on the series and especially enjoyed cutting the playful and visually ambitious drama sequences.

High: Surviving a Dubai Drugs Bust is available now on BBC iPlayer

Exec Producers: Harry Lansdown and Natalie Wilkinson

Renegade Pictures for UKTV / Dave

Editors:

Andreas Torner: Series 4 Ep1 ‘Albania’ and Series 5  Ep 8 ‘Bulgaria’

Melanie Golden: Series 5. Ep 3 ’Sri Lanka’ and Ep 7 ’Bhutan’

Ian David Smith. Finishing Editor. Series 5

A fresh team of daring comedy stars and celebrities gear up to take on even more challenging adventures as they set off on extraordinary road trips through some of the most stunning and isolated regions on the planet. Never before have a group of individuals been less equipped to deal with everything these genuinely terrifying roads throw at them!

Andreas has worked on a couple of series now and he said “It’s a great format – part travel show, part comedy and it’s a lot fun to work on”.

Melanie edited the Bhutan and Sri Lanka episodes with comedian duos Maddix and Larry Dean venturing into Bhutan and Jeff Stelling and Chris Kamara embarking on a journey through Sri Lanka. Melanie enjoyed working on the series commenting; “The World’s Most Dangerous Roads – what a ride 🙂 2 comedians/celebrities in a car, filmed all day in epic landscapes, doing crazy things and trying to stay on the road, being funny, witty, scared and sharing some insights into themselves. Editors dream. Biggest challenge on this show – the amount of amazing content that we have to get through, and deciding what will finally make it into the edit, having to finding the balance between the epic journey, the culture of the country, the funny moments ( and there are so so many) and then the insight into our contributors. A fantastic show and an incredible team!”

Catch Worlds Most Dangerous Roads on Dave on Sundays 8pm or all episodes available on UKTV Play.

Editor: Dan Knight

Exec Producer: Tayte Simpson

Mentorn for Channel 5

Sunday 18^th February 9pm

Dan was incredibly excited to be part of this 3-part thrilling documentary adventure series presented by Ben Fogle. Dan is usually more known for cutting comedy so was looking forward to getting his teeth into a different genre.  This series see’s the renowned British adventurer embark on his most extreme and immersive expedition to date exploring the length and breadth of the Republic of the Congo. His aim to better understand the wildlife, people, and land that are still steeped in great myth and misconception. He fully immerses himself with native tribes and discovers how ancient ways of life are still thriving. He encounters incredible animals, as well as taking on a challenging journey through the jungle terrain.

Dan Knight edited Episode 2 ‘Gorilla’s. When we chatted to him about it Dan said “it’s a really lovely show, really beautifully shot and an absolute eye opener. I’m really proud of my work on this one”.

Into the Congo with Ben Fogle starts Sunday 18^th February 9pm on Channel 5

Series 6

CPL for Sky One

Editor: Steve Flatt ( Part 1 )

Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan return with an exciting special, delving into the high-stakes realm of Formula One racing. Joining forces with team Mercedes at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, they’ll rub shoulders with racing icons Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Their journey includes meeting with the strategic genius behind Team Mercedes’ triumphs, team principal Toto Wolff. As they immerse themselves in the world of Team Hamilton, they’ll undergo challenges to test their mettle and see if they’ve got what it takes to join the elite ranks of the team.

Steve Flatt was looking forward to working with CPL again and enjoyed editing this special which combines two of his favourite things; comedy and sports. Steve edited episode 1 of this 2-part special which airs on Thursday 15^th February 9pm Sky Max.

Editor: Jake Lofdahl

Exec Producers: Benjamin Turner & Leo Pearlman

Fulwell 73 for Netflix

Confirmed to be the final season with just three episodes, Sunderland Til I Die returns to Netflix on 13^th February.  Jake Lofdahl was co-editor on Episode 1.

The returning sports ob doc series delves into the inner workings of the famous Sunderland AFC. This new instalment chronicles Sunderland’s journey back to the Championship through their League One play-off final win against Wycombe Wanderers under former head coach Alex Neil. Peter Farrer, Sunderland’s favourite taxi driver, now retired, will also return in the final season. Featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes access with the club’s board, manager, key players, staff and its unique fanbase.

Jake is one of Satusfaction’s most experienced sports documentary editors and clients love working with him due to his natural flair for finding a story in amongst hours of footage. He offers some interesting insights:

“I was acutely aware that STID is a keystone of the genre and it was an honour to be working on something with its own history and folklore beyond a normal sports doc series. The third series lived very strongly in the context of the first two and the inherited storylines and characters, as well as an important sense of what the audience were expecting from this ‘more than football’ series, this made it an unusually weighty project to work on.

From an operational point of view it had the two completely normal challenges of too much work to get done in the time given & managing different opinions amongst the top level decision makers. However, to be completely honest, those issues melt into the background firstly because the characters and the city are inherently interesting, but also because fundamentally Fulwell 73 is just a great place to work. From the edit assists to the execs, they make a great team with engaging and fun people who in turn make it a pleasure to get the work done. While there’s plenty of pressure, it’s done with a genuine smile and an open question. Who doesn’t like that?”

Stream Sunderland Til I Die: Series 3 on Netflix, Wednesday 13^th February.

Short Film for Netflix

Director: Olivia Smart

Editor: Desiree Ivengbuna

Netflix’s latest Documentary Talent Fund winner, Black Stroke is a short film produced and directed by emerging talent Olivia Smart and edited by Desiree Ivegbuna. The team won £30,000 to create their short doc based around the theme of ‘connection’. Black Stroke follows three British Black contributors from different walks of life who broke racial stereotypes to learn how to swim for the first time. “Drowning isn’t an option as three people tackle their biggest fear.”

Desi had a blast at the Premiere last night and reported that Netflix can throw a great party. (If her phone turns up, let us know!)

On her experience editing the film she commented “It was a challenging process to tell the stories of three people learning to swim across eight weeks, and to weave in their backstories too in just 12 minutes, but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and working with Olivia. Olivia said she wanted the film to be ‘A love letter to the Black community’ and I think what we produced was full of warmth, humour and honesty with a wonderful and positive pay off at the end”. Black Stroke had it’s premiere in London last night along with the other Talent Fund winners and will be available to watch on Netflix’s Still Watching YouTube Channel.   

Jackpot Productions for Netflix

Exec Producers: Jack Whitehall & Richard Ackerman

Finishing Editor: Joe Swanson

Tuesday 30^th January

Jack Whitehall has recorded his Settle Down tour for a Netflix special, Joe Swanson was the finishing editor and although he is familiar with Jack’s humour from cutting series of his in the past, this was the first time he had edited one of his live shows. Joe applied his vast experience of cutting multicamera and live music performances to give the finishing touches and polish.

The stand-up show was filmed over three nights at the O2 Arena in London. Featuring Whitehall’s thoughts about being 34, he is growing up and discarding trivial things as he prepares for fatherhood. He talks about dogs, drinking and dining alone. Also about being a famous alumnus of his private school. He reflects on his decision to settle down and become a father.

Settle Down is coming to Netflix Tuesday 30th January.

Naked Entertainment for BBC1

Editors: Gruff Lovegreen and Alex Soskin

Thursday 1^st Feb

Can you believe Lord Sugar is back! Faithful aides Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell will also return to the boardroom for Series 18 (yes, series 18)! of The Apprentice.

As usual the series will see Lord Alan Sugar putting a new batch of business hopefuls through their paces as they aim to impress him and win the chance to become his next business partner.

One of Satusfaction’s faithfull’s, Alex Soskin, returns to British TV with a bang and smashes it on one of the most long-running reality shows for the BBC. Editor Gruff Lovgreen loved coming back on the show after cutting series 17, it was on Gruff’s wish list to edit the show and we’re glad to have made it happen for him.

Alex said “I had a great time working on The Apprentice. It was hybrid work, which i found worked really effectively. I was on a variety of episodes over the series and finding the scenes, we often took a different approach to other shows, one that gave the EP an encyclopedic knowledge of the footage. It worked well and I look forward to working with that team again and watching the series on TV”.

The Apprentice starts Thursday 1^st February

Jam VFX for Paramount+

Writer, director, and executive producer: Michael Caleo

VFX: Lem Lawrence

It’s one of the great British gangster movies and now, Paramount+ brings you the origin story of its memorable characters. 

The original film was based on Gangster Gal’s attempts to live out a peaceful retirement in Spain, only to be coaxed back for the classic “one last job” by Don. This brand new series transports viewers to London during the 1990s. Gal (James McArdle, Mary Queen Of Scots) and Don (Emun Elliott, Guilt) are a couple of small fish starting out in a very big and murky pond. But when they catch the attention of rising crime kingpin Teddy Bass (Stephen Moyer, True Blood), the pair are enrolled into a high-stakes job that could change their lives.

Lem Lawrence used Flame to create VFX across the series. He explained “I was part of the team at Jam VFX working on the VFX shots throughout the series. My work including safe cracking, extensive set cleanup, explosions, changing environments to reflect the 80s period the drama is set in. It might even be worth signing up to Paramount for!”  

We think so too Lem!  Writer, director and executive producer: Michael Caleo know’s his gangsters he previously worked as a writer on The Sopranos and also wrote the 2013 Mafia movie The Family, starring Robert De Niro.

The first episode of the eight-part original series Sexy Beast, is available tonight,  Thursday 25^th  January exclusively on Paramount+

Plum Pictures for Channel 4

Exec Producer: Will Daws

Editor: Belle Borgeaud

Johnny Vegas is back creating a bigger and better Field of Dreams glamping site.  From converting vehicles to organising a star wars wedding, the two-year adventure is a journey packed with tragedy and farce that comes close to breaking him but ends in triumph! 

Belle worked across several episodes on this enjoyably and chaotic six-part series, she really enjoyed working with Plum. She said “With the help of a great team on the ground and in the office, working on the series was a total pleasure and thankfully a lot less chaotic than Johnny himself ! Hopefully we’ve all managed to make a unique series with plenty of laughs along the way”.

The series is currently on Wednesday’s 9pm Channel 4