From his proudest moments to the biggest challenges within the industry, we recently spoke with Satmohan Panesar, Commissioning Editor at ITV, who is behind hit shows including The 1% Club to Loaded in Paradise.
Francesca Aita (Head of Marketing, Together TV): You have worked on some of the UK’s most recognisable and culturally defining shows, which project are most proud of?
Satmohan Panesar: I am proud of many projects for different reasons - The 1% Club with Lee Mack is a big new entertainment format and has been quite a big success for ITV. For Magnum Media – the brilliant small company that makes it - it’s really been amazing.
I’m also really proud of the Fresh Cuts strand for Black directors, and one of our directors Jason Osborne was nominated for a BAFTA for Emerging Talent in Factual.
Francesca: Did Jason first come to your attention as one of our Diverse Film Fund emerging filmmakers (his film Superheroes Wear Hoodies can be watched on our Together TV free streaming service)?
Satmohan: Exactly. It is really important to support people of colour, specifically Black people, within the industry, both on-screen and off-screen.
I’m also really proud of all the shows I do on ITV4. It’s a very niche channel but we’ve created a group of shows that are really channel defining for our audience which is great. I love all my shows - it’s just really amazing to create new shows on a daily basis.
Francesca: The lack of diversity is an ongoing, constant issue in the TV industry. Have you seen any improvements addressing this in the last few years?
Satmohan: At ITV all our decisions are made through the lens of social responsibility, whether it’s the environment or whether it’s people. You definitely feel that across the entire organisation, both on-screen and off-screen. It’s incredible how far we have come, but I think there is always work to be done on all fronts.
When we’re crewing up, we’re looking at ensuring a good mix of diversity off-screen. For on-screen, we’re making sure that the stories reflect on the way we tell our stories have a diversity and inclusion lens, including hidden and visible disabilities.
Ultimately this makes shows better because you represent different and unique perspectives. For diverse viewers, you see your experiences reflected. For all viewers you see different and unique stories brought to life.
Francesca: Going back to the very beginning of your career, could you tell me about your journey to your current position?
Satmohan: After university I came to London and did work experience at a production company – and started to work my way up from there. There wasn’t any formal sort of entry scheme, and I didn’t go on any of the grant schemes. So, I worked on entertainment shows with the usual tasks like driving vans around to pick up kits and props. I became a Researcher, and then Assistant Producer and chose the editorial route.
Francesca: Did you have a clear career path in mind from the beginning?
Satmohan: No, not really - throughout my path I have stayed quite in the moment, taking a lot of enjoyment in doing everything.
When I started working, I thought “I want to make really important documentaries about things” - and then I worked in entertainment shows and thought “this is way more fun!” So, I just went where I thought the shows sounded interesting and fun or I was working with really great people.
Then I went into development, creating ideas and selling them to channels. Eventually I joined ITV as a Commissioning Editor which basically means I was the one buying these ideas. When I started at ITV I thought “Oh gosh, this feels like really where I could be home.”
Francesca: What skills do you need to be successful in your role?
Satmohan: First, you really need to understand what an audience wants, because no matter which channel you’re working for, you need to get those audiences to watch your shows.
At ITV we need to be commercially minded and we need to be popular. You need to manage the creative process and editorially get from an idea to getting a program on-screen. Sometimes you have to manage very big characters in terms of off-screen and on-screen.
And you also need to manage budgets as well as legal and compliance issues. Then you need to think about selling your show to an audience so all the marketing and press elements.
Ultimately all these things are about managing and getting the best out of the people around you.
Francesca: What would you say to someone is starting their career now, and they want to become a Commissioning Editor?
Satmohan: You can have an aspiration but don’t be fixated - just go and do things that you really want to do. Find shows that you really love or find the people that you think “they’re amazing, they’re so creative, I could be learning so much.”
Go and work with those people and see where you end up - because if you’re starting out now, things change so much that in a decade the role of Commission Editor may have changed completely.
It is important to keep on changing by learning - working on great things, being inspired, bringing new ideas to the table - that’s what matters. Where that ultimately leads you is anybody’s guess - there are so many different jobs within the creative industries.
Francesca: How do you think the Commissioning Editor role would evolve again going ahead?
Satmohan: There’s a lot of talk about the streamers, though ultimately it all comes down to content, audience behaviours and their ability to access the content. Are you making content that people want to watch? Yes or No is the answer - and fundamentally that does not change at all.
Francesca: You are currently the Vice Chair at Together TV. Why did you take on this role on top of your busy role as Commissioning Editor?
Satmohan: You always want to be learning and engaging because it makes you better at your job, so this is something that stretches me. It helps me use all the different disciplines that I have to do within my work in a different space. I can evaluate everything through a different lens.
Together TV has a really clear and purposeful remit which is something that feels like you are giving back to a community. It does important work in terms of connecting people - you can see it with the Sunflower Challenge, the Loneliness Campaign, and the Diverse Film Fund, its impact for a small organisation is really powerful and it is quantifiable.
Francesca: What do you think of the role that Together TV plays in the UK media ecology?
Satmohan: It’s all about serving audiences and I think Together TV is an important channel for people to feel included and represented, and this is something that is sometimes often missed by the main mass media companies. Also, the way it interacts with its viewers is a really direct conversation makes Together TV more than just a TV channel to its viewers.
Francesca: You’ve been having a leading role in the Diverse Film Fund initial development. What is the outcome you would like to see out of that effort?
Satmohan: The Diverse Film Fund is one of the things I’m most proud of really because we take film makers, support them, give them the money and they make incredible films. Last year one of them won a BAFTA, one of the directors made his first commercial hour with us at ITV on our Fresh Cuts stand and was nominated for a BAFTA.
We invested what some people would see as a small amount of money into these films and that has changed someone’s life totally. I cannot see examples of that elsewhere. When you can do that, that is incredible.
We’ve been nominated for a BAFTA again this year which is unbelievable - that is when you know you are doing something right.
Francesca: Last question, the TV industry is changing at an incredible pace. Where would you like to see Together TV going ahead?
Satmohan: I would love to see the wider media industry protect Together TV within the Media Bill because I think that’s really important that as an organisation, we can broadcast without fear of losing our capacity to broadcast and that we can keep that connection with our viewers.
I would love to see Together TV continue delivering its quality social impact in a local way because I don’t think there is any other media organisation that does it the way that Together TV does.
And I think the potential that it has shown already with the Sunflower Challenge and You Are Not Alone is unbelievable. To be able to have a guaranteed broadcast capacity will allow us to launch new campaigns, connecting with our viewers in innovative and supportive ways.
Enjoyed this? You can also read Channel 4's Head of Media, Jennifer Carey sharing her thoughts on the future of DTT and the reasons behind Hollyoaks going digital. Or, the Director of BBC Creative, Justin Bairamian's interview including his proudest moments and adapting to the ever-shifting media landscape.
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