Meet your new Non-Executive Director: Mellie Buse

Can you tell us a bit about your background?

At University, I did a joint degree in Drama and Russian as my father said that I couldn’t possibly do a single honours in Drama – no good to man nor beast! Subsequently, I had a brief stint in PR before getting a job in a recording studio with a company that specialised in audio publishing. We recorded pretty much anything you could imagine, a lot of Shakespeare, history documentaries, children’s stories,  corporate training programmes and Boney M in Hindi. An eclectic mix! The first thing I wrote was a course for Advance Laundry Services about best practice with roller towels and soap dispensers. That was clearly the pinnacle of my career, it’s all been downhill from there!

During that time, the audiobook boom began to ignite, and I started producing numerous audiobooks. Penguin came along and wanted to launch a series of nine dramatised Roald Dahl titles which I adapted, wrote, and directed. Through this I got my Film and TV agent and my first pre-school writing gig with the Jim Henson Company, working on an ITV show called Mopatop’s Shop.

Henson subsequently got a commission from Channel 4 for a preschool series called The Hoobs, and I ended up showrunning 250 half-hour episodes. As well as writing on numerous children’s brands, I set up my own company, with my colleague, Jan Page, and we went on to create and produce Grandpa in My Pocket for CBeebies and Ha Ha Hairies for Cartoon Network. I now run a sister company with Martin Franks, a producer and Director, where we create and produce IP for both broadcast and digital platforms.  Our latest broadcast show is Mimi’s World on Ch5/Milkshake. In addition, we run a successful Kids’ YouTube channel called Grandpa in my Pocket and Co.

What do you particularly love about creating content for children?

They’re the best audience. They’re also the most important audience, especially the preschool demographic, which is my particular speciality. Writing for this age group allows you to be exceptionally creative, because they’ll go with you on any sort of imaginative adventure. They live and breathe it.

We all know from personal experience, that what we see as a kid stays with us forever. It has a huge impact. To create stories for this age range requires you to have a good understanding of child development. Their brains are developing so quickly, and the content has to be handled with a lot of integrity. Children’s media should be viewed with the same gravitas as education and not left solely at the mercy of commercial imperatives which is, sadly, the current big risk. The decline in commissioning and available finance for inspirational kids’ programming in the UK has led to a degradation in quality and that’s a serious concern.

What interested you in standing for election to the ALCS Board? And why now?

I have benefited from the ALCS over the course of my career.  It champions the work of writers across the board, as well as offering so much potential to improve their income.   I felt it was time for me to give something back. I’m excited about new challenges, and am looking for different ways to make use of my experience. ALCS is a very professional organisation run by an extremely talented team. I’m doing my best to absorb as much as I can about how it achieves its goals. It’s a steep learning curve and I’m loving it! 

What sort of qualities do you think you’ll bring to the Board?

Well, I’m happy to go into battle for a cause that I believe in. That said, I’m a great believer in keeping a sense of humour and a sense of proportion. I’ve worked collaboratively in teams throughout my career, and I know the importance of being sure to appreciate and respect the work of the professionals involved. And I hope that my experience in the AV sector will be of benefit to ALCS.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing screenwriters at the moment?

The AV landscape is in danger of spiralling out of control. We’re living in the Wild West at the moment. Every day that goes by, another digital platform pops up. Your work ends up on there and nobody knows where it is or how to get to it. The shows that you’ve written get licensed, sub-licensed and distributed here, there and everywhere and it’s become this massive, seemingly impenetrable, spider’s web.

The traditional linear broadcasters are in decline, and they’re competing with the streamers and a ton of small, digital platforms. So it’s increasingly taxing for collecting agencies to ensure the writers receive what should be due to them.

Have you noticed AI already having an impact on the sector?

With my producer hat on, I can see how AI is going to bite first at the cheaper end of the market, especially digital kids’ content. The economics are brutal. It’s incredibly difficult to monetise what you produce on YouTube due to stringent safeguarding rules governing kids’ content. So producers simply can’t afford to employ writers, designers and animators in the same way as before. All the while AI is just sitting there, beckoning. I think many people will hold their nose and be forced into using it – just to pay the rent.   

As a writer, I believe that the sensible approach is to learn how to use it as a tool, a kind of brainstorming partner for structure, plot, getting your ducks in a row. But the minute you ask AI to actually write the piece – that’s my red line. It can churn out work easily, but it’s very “first port of call” – predictable, derivative. There is still a need for original ideas with their own DNA, and (for the moment at least), that still requires human authorship.

What are you watching at the moment?

Traitors, obviously! Who in their right mind isn’t watching Traitors in the dark days of January? It’s ridiculously absorbing. Slow Horses, Amadeus, The Night Manager and a raft of documentaries seem to fill my viewing time, but I also watch a lot of kids’ content to keep abreast of what’s happening. I’m also a big fan of audiobooks and podcasts.