A Proposal for a Documentary

The Making of Thatcher’s

Prepared by Drew Taylor

Green Pictures
03/10/23

PROPOSAL

Short Summary

‘The Making of Thatcher’s’ will take audiences on a behind-the-scenes tour of Myrtle Farm –
the home of Thatcher’s Cider – and provide unique inight into the inner-workings of cider
production, as well as the people involved in the company. We will follow Thatcher’s staff
around the farm and document the different stages of production as they demonstrate their
expertise and offer us knowledge on the craft. Our documentary will be Expository; it will
feature several interviews, and text added during editing will provide the audience with
additional context and information on the subject. However, the documentary will have no
voice-over narration and will instead rely on the staff themselves to carry the narrative. Our
documentary will focus solely on the staff and the environment they work in, with no
distractions from a narrator or presenter, as we aim to capture the friendly spirit of
Thatcher’s and convey to audiences that it is a family run business. Focusing on the people
at Thatcher’s instead of ourselves - the documentary makers - helps to create a sense of
connection between the staff and the audience and will therefore result in a more engaging
documentary.

USP

There are currently very few promotional pieces of media for Thatcher’s, and those that do
exist do not go into very much detail on the actual production aspects of the company.
Thatcher’s does provide tours of Myrtle Farm which allow guests to learn about the stages
of cider production, however these in-person tours are only accessible to those who reside
within a close radius of the farm and have the ability/desire to attend. Our documentary
would be a televised version of these tours, accessible to anyone with internet access, and
would therefore reach a massive audience in comparison.

Purpose

The main purpose of the documentary will of course be to educate: to teach audiences
about the process of making cider. We are aiming to share new knowledge with our
viewers, providing them with information they did not have before and perhaps sparking an
interest for a subject they had given little thought to in the past. However, our documentary
will also act as a promotional piece; we are aware that Thatcher’s has played a very
prominent role in the Somerset community and that older members of said community are
likely to already be aware of Myrtle Farm and its facilities, therefore our documentary will
aim to bring awareness of the company to younger members of the community – and even
those outside of the somerset area entirely. It is our hope that this documentary will
enlighten audiences who were not previously aware of Myrtle Farm and encourage them to
look further into the history behind Thatcher’s Cider – and possibly be enticed to book an in-
person tour for themselves.

Viewpoint

Our documentary will be mainly from an objective viewpoint as we are recording the stages
of cider production and talking to experts in the field, therefore it will be very factual.
However, there will be room for more subjective elements in our interviews when asking
Thatcher’s staff about their experiences of the job.

Crew

Our crew consists of: Drew Taylor, Director; Emily Forey, Camera Operator; Jess Mawer,
Sound Recordist; and Melissa Allsworth, Editor.

Cast and Contributors

We are hoping to interview Martin Thatcher, the Owner of Thatcher’s, as well as members
of staff from each aspect of cider production (e.g. Orchard Team, Cider Making Team,
Kegging Team, Canning Team).

Locations

Our documentary will be filmed at Myrtle Farm (BS25 5RA).

Target audience

The target demographic for our documentary will be 18-35 year olds as we are looking to
make a connection between Myrtle Farm and younger audiences who are less likely to know
much about the place. It is also important that we target those over 18 as they are legally
able to drink and our documentary will be discussing alcohol. We are hoping to reach our
main audience within Somerset and the surrounding Counties as these are the people that
would be able to book a visit to the farm should our documentary spark an interest for
them.

Equipment and Resources

We will require atleast one Sony X70/Z90 Camera to shoot our footage, a Boom Mic to pick
up room tone, at least two Radio Mics to pick up audio from interviewees, a Zoom H4N to
record the audio, and some headphones to listen to the audio.

Platform it would be shown on

Our documentary should be available on BBC iplayer as the BBC is based in Britain and
hence would be primarily accessible to British people, allowing us to reach our target
audience.