Phil Basi

Director and producer Phil Basi had been out of work for six months after being made redundant from ITV Nottingham following the corporation's move to Birmingham, when he found out about Move On Up. At the event he met Duncan Rycroft, Head of Regional Television at ITV Granada who commissioned him for two shows. Following on from that Phil was commissioned for the BBC 2's Asian arts and entertainment show Desi DNA.

The biggest challenge Phil faced following his redundancy was his lack of contacts. ITV's relocation to Birmingham meant that Phil lost many of the contracts he had made during his 20 years of working in the area. Many people moved away from frontline television into advisory posts and were not commissioning new projects. Without key senior contacts it was difficult to develop new relationships because, traditionally, senior commissioners are reluctant hire producers who they do not know as there is more risk involved.

Phil has highlighted that although there are a lot of new starters from BME backgrounds in the audio visual industry, this change is yet to filter up into more senior levels. Consequently, the people commissioning shows do not reflect the communities they serve. There needs to be a culture change at senior levels to really ensure that the British media is reflective of the British population.