David Eilenberg is the head of content for ROKU. He is the son of a professor of theatre and spent his youth standing in the wings of theatres watching a number of productions including vaudeville which moulded his views around entertainment. He states that when he informed his parents, he was going into TV that said “At least you are going into something stable”

David studied history and literature and went on to study screen writing. He found a way into the unscripted world at its inception. There is a direct correlation between reality TV and game shows.

David's first role was writing for MTVs Head-trip https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256562/ - He also wrote the questions for The Weakest Link USA- He spent time working with Michael King of King World who distributed Wheel of Fortune https://wheeloffortunehistory.fandom.com/wiki/KingWorld which is in every country in the world!

David joined ROKU and has gone on to be head of content. ROKU is the number 1 streaming service in the USA and delivers to over 85 million homes! As well as streaming the company produce originals including the Great American Baking Show features Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. This is filmed in the United Kingdom with American contestants. Roku are looking to scale business to 100m users in the USA, they hope to achieve success with their venture into the sports production. As an example Roku will be hosting a number of sporting events including X Games and are continually seeking the next big thing!

David states that Mark Burnett –is a role model Mark was instrumental in the Eco Challenge and Survivor production.

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Barry was born in Birmingham in the 1960s. He was always a fan of the television and recalls the time that there were only 2 channels! The Impact of Television on Family Life was enormous and Barry's love was compounded when he went to the filming of Tiswas. Tiswas featured Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry, Sally James and Bob Carolgees with his dog spit!

Aged just 14 Barry wrote in to the production company of Look Hear. This production was hosted by a young Toyah Wilcox and the show fell below the standard expected by Barry and he was happy to share hi views. This resulted in him becoming a stringer for the show.

He worked on publications such as Blitz, NME and The Face. He was also part of the production team for the ground breaking Tube and saw the explosion of some of the most influential band in popular history. Working alongside Muriel Gray he watched bands such as Simple Minds and Big Country become household names. Lesser know bands Swans way got significant exposure on national television.

He was an integral part of the Janice Long show at BBC Merseyside where he would find up and coming bands to feature.

Reminiscing over a bygone entertainment time Barry discusses the late great John Peel and his fabulous festive 50 with producer John Walters.

Barry was accepted to a role at the BBC where he became a producer and his first BBC Job was 999 from BBC Bristol.

Barry moved roles and remember the day he booked Metallica and to everyone's amazement hey swore This wouldn't have been so bad had it not been a children's audience!

The formation of Free at Last enhanced Barry's ability to identify talent and produce his own shows. He has formed a brilliant working relationship with Martina Cole and her show lady Killers is still being shown across the world.

Free at last are also behind the award winning Agatha Raison and have a number of fabulous productions in the pipeline with brilliant writers such as author Ian Moore.

#thetube #nme #agatharaison #martinacole #freeatlast #toyahwilcox #television #swansway #tiswas

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