If there’s one photo which sums up my recent move into my first apartment, this is it:
*Landlord note, the poster is not actually on the wall.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Hawthorn’s newest resident
Category: Melbourne
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Home? This must be the place.
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From the ashes of MTR
The dream is over.
When I applied for my 76th job for the year in May 2011 – a “talent bank” advert for Melbourne Talk Radio – I had little hope it would turn into anything more than an unread email, and no idea it would actually turn into a full time position as the panel-operator & audio producer for The Steve Vizard Show, plus the guy who manages the station’s social media accounts and podcasts.
And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 6 months. It’s essentially been my life.
Since moving from casual weekends to The Steve Vizard Show at the start of October, I never missed a shift. I panelled a total of #99 3-hour live talk radio shows and racked up 505 hours on the buttons.
I can panel that show in my sleep.
Working at MTR has been the most incredible experience of my life. And I don’t say that lightly.
Hey, I would have been content if all I got out of this job was my first ever dedicated office phone line…
I could finally put something in the (W) section of a standard application form!
But MTR was obviously so much more to me than that.
The people I had the great pleasure to work with every single day are some of the most talented and hard-working individuals I’ve ever met. In any industry.
But it broke our hearts on Friday when the talk station went into administration and shut down, switching back over to easy listening.
It’s a loss for Melbourne. It’s a loss for the Australian media landscape.
Speaking now as an employee of no radio station, I can say without bias that the Melbourne radio market is easily big enough to support a second commercial talkback station. Just look at Sydney. And in terms of advertising dollars, Sydney has the smaller market.
Talk is the future of radio. The future of music is the mp3 player.
It can be done. It should be done. And I predict that eventually, someone with vision will come along and give 3AW a proper run for their vast piles of money.
Other commentators will postulate why MTR failed. And there are many theories. But let me just say, we all had a hell of a good time. Towards the end, it was essentially 15 people running an entire Melbourne radio station!
As Steve Price told us at a farewell dinner on Monday, it was a two-year long party. And I’m glad I was along for the ride for 9 months.
For an accurate summary of the events that lead to MTR’s demise, see Michael Bodey’s article in The Australian.
In true comic style however, I chose to sign a 12-month lease on February 29 for an apartment in Hawthorn just 5 minutes from the former MTR studios in Richmond.
48 hours later, I lost my job.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!
Is it too much to ask for JUST A WEEK of convenience?!!?
I’m moving house on Saturday. So this really is the start of a new chapter in the life of DMG.
I’ve lived in this wonderful share house in Coburg for two years. Team Bell Street rescued me from the horrid squalor of three weeks in Altona. However, I feel it’s time to take the next step and get my own space.
As I’ve already made this decision, this puts me in a tricky position. I will need to find another job reasonably quickly, or risk the embarrassment of being bailed out by my Mother.
But that’s show biz, kid. Highest of highs. Lowest of lows.
One day you’re the most important guy who ever lived. The next, you’re some schmoe working in a box factory.
Of course, if you’re reading this and thinking your box factory could use a little more David M. Green, by all means send me an email. We have the technology.
On the plus side, this does give me more time to dedicate to my upcoming TV game show 31 Questions. It would have been a slightly wasted opportunity, had I not been able to put 100% into what will be the largest creative project I’ve yet undertaken.
I will be on television later this year, with or without a job. Like some sort of radio phoenix, rising from the ashes of MTR.
I’ll leave you with a brief look at just a fraction of what I had the great privilege of doing at Melbourne Talk Radio these past 9 months. Enjoy.
[display_podcast]
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Off the buttons. For now. -
2011. A year of sweet success.
What started out as a pretty crappy year for me, really picked up about half way through, and ended on a high.
Since finishing journalism at RMIT Uni last year, I literally applied for 75 jobs between October 2010 and May 2011, to no success. It was extremely demoralising. Even more so because I’m a genius, and most people don’t seem to have the time to notice. Also, I’m terrible in job interviews.
But it just so happened I was at the right place at the right time with MTR. I started as a Melbourne Talk Radio panel operator in June. And in October I started working full time on The Steve Vizard Show. It’s turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. Great people. Lots of laughs. A few tears. And some great radio. Very much looking forward to continuing in 2012.
This is why I moved to Melbourne.
Something that’s gone a little less successfully, was my Channel 31 TV game show “31 Questions”. After actually being canceled in February, we managed to get un-canceled in May and we shot a second pilot on June 29. It went very well and certainly one of the highlights of my year:
We had a spanner thrown in the works when some clown at RMIT University decided they wanted to make it as difficult as possible for people to use their television studio. And for the last 6 months we’ve been waiting for the go ahead to present the pilot to Channel 31 (which might I add, has already been filmed. It’s sitting on a DVD ready to go). We’ve neither been approved nor rejected. And we’re hoping (yet again) we’ll get to make a 13-episode series in early 2012.
And if we get a “no”, then we’ll obviously be looking at other options, because this is what we want to do. We want to make TV. It’s incredible how many people are out there trying to tear you down. But I can assure you I will never give up. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!
I’ve made a few other TV appearances this year. To save you time, here are a selection of hilarious highlights:
It’s been a year of highs and lows. But I think the high highs make the low lows worth it. And I do believe that for the eighth year in a row, this has been the best year of my life.
Professionally. Creatively. Socially.
And I’m still loving Melbourne.
I’m now looking forward to heading back to Adelaide for Christmas and the New Year. See the family, old friends and shoot some more Too Easy!
But I’ll be back in Melbourne for 2012. I have a feeling next year is going to be something special.
So have yourselves a merry little Christmas and all that crap. See you on the other side.
Kind regards,
David M. Green -
31 Questions iPilot 2.0
Six thumbs up? Or a bunch of well-dressed criminals getting ready to surrender their fingerprints? You decide.
Yes! The 31 Questions Re-pilot, Pilot Mach 2, or iPilot 2.0 if you will, was successfully recorded to tape on June 29, 2011.
The evening at RMIT University’s fabulous Studio A went very well. The set looked great. Wonderful lighting. All the mics and cameras worked. The crew turned up (well, most of them). The gags worked (well, most of them). The questions were just the right level of difficulty (unlike last time – way too hard!). And most importantly, it was a fun night of TV-making.
It’s community television, so it’s virtually impossible to avoid using the term “shambles” at some point. But we embraced our shortcomings and kept on with the show.
That’s right folks! 31 Questions. The show that keeps the mistakes the other game shows cut out!
The day before the rehearsal, which we had the previous Wednesday, our original score-keeper and glamorous assistant, Minky Cooper, decided to quit the show (via Facebook. A sad sign of the times…). So we had less than 24 hours to find a replacement.
Incredibly I was able to find the lovely Melanie Valentine at extremely short notice to take over the role. And considering it was her first time inside a TV studio, she did very well.
Alasdair “Al” Tremblay-Birchcall also gave a fabulous performance as the official moderator. That guy cracks me up.
Special thanks also to our very talented, and forgiving, contestants: Julia and Andrew. They were both an absolute pleasure to work with.
And a big thanks to the 16 or so strong crew. Without all you we’d just be making a silent film in the dark.
But most importantly, THIS pilot went SO, SO, SO MUCH BETTER than our first pilot back in November. Instead of 4 pages of post-show improvement notes, this time I only had 6 key points. And they were all procedural or organisational issues, not to do with the fundamental concept of the show.
The pilot is currently being edited by the talented Anthony McCormack. We’ll soon be handing it in to the good people at RMITV Student Television and Channel 31 Melbourne for their approval.
And hopefully they’ll let us film 12 more!
I’ll keep you updated.
But if you’d like more immediate updates, or you want to check out more production photos, make sure you LIKE 31 QUESTIONS ON FACEBOOK. It’s all up there. And SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE. All episodes (& some extra bonus material!), that’s where they’ll be.
Kind regards
David M. Green
Mayor of TV-Land -
Panelling it like it is.
I’m proud to announce I’m back in the panel-operators’ club! I now work at Melbourne Talk Radio MTR1377!
It’s been a long time since my last paid panel-operator gig at Adelaide’s SAFM ended with me being replaced by a computer.
That was August 2008. I was young and inexperienced. And it was in that brief period after the job cuts of the global financial crisis but before the increased opportunities that came from digital radio. But hey, that’s all water under the burnt bridge… 😉
So it’s only taken 3 years, a Graduate Diploma of Journalism, a move to Melbourne, and 76 job applications since October (not even joking), but I’ve finally found another job in radio.
So far I’m enjoying working at MTR. Everyone I’ve met has been fantastic. There’s a strong news culture. And it’s no secret I’m a fan of talk back radio (See On The Yacht).
I’ll be working on a casual and fill-in basis for now, which suits me perfectly, as that will allow me to work on my Channel 31 game show 31 Questions over the next few months. A big thank you to MTR operations manager Jason Taylor.
I’m particularly enjoying the idea of working in the same building as Steve Vizard and my childhood TV hero, Glenn Ridge! Actually, it’s kinda strange having filmed that sketch with Glenn just last month, and now I’m seeing him every Saturday night when I arrive at MTR just as he leaves.
So tune in to 1377AM if you’re in the Melbourne area, or listen online. You just might hear the audible results of me pressing buttons and moving faders.
I’ll leave you now with a tune that sums up this moment perfectly, from a fellow panel-operator by the name of Radio’s Sam Mac…
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Back on the buttons!