Artist Services 35th Anniversary Reunion | Television tonight

EXCLUSIVE:

About 150 former employees of Artist Services and Network Seven gathered at the Emerson Hotel in South Yarra on Sunday for a 35-year reunion.

There on the occasion of iconic shows such as Tonight live with Steve Vizard, Fast Forward, Full Frontal, SeaChange, Big Girl’s Blouse And Jimeon were founders Steve Vizard and Andrew Knight, joined by familiar faces in front and behind the camera.

“People like Michael Veitch, Marg Downey, Alan Pentland…” Vizard said Television tonight. “All the producers and many writers were there.

“Jennifer Keyte, I think, is probably the most important news anchor in the country. She has the authority that she’s been doing this for over 30 years, and that she’s been a woman. …that she’s not only survived, but she’s been able to continue to thrive and grow, and have even more authority, not only with the public, but through so many management changes.”

“There were people who said they wanted to be there, like Chris Greenwood, one of the executive producers of Live tonightwho had produced Parkinson’s also… Ted Emery, the great director. …Ben Elton sent a cheerio.”

Keyte was present together with her brother Don Keyte, who made an important contribution Live tonight And Fast forward. Also in attendance were Richard Stubbs, director John Olb, Tim McColl-Jones, son of the late comedy writer Mike McColl-Jones, producers Tarni James, Michelle Wild and publicist Di Rolle.

Cameraman Jack Degenkamp, ​​​​Writer Tim Smith

Even present was “the oldest cameraman in the world”, Jack Degenkamp.

“Not only is Jack still with us, he looks like he hasn’t changed!” Vizard stated.

Those present at the event also sent a message to the beloved Magda Szubanski.

“150 people held up a large card with the text: ‘Get well soon, Magda, we love you!’ We took a group photo and sent it to her,” Vizard said.

“It was a sight to behold with all the staff and colleagues together, many wonderful memories and so many stories told under the ‘cone of silence’,” said Di Rolle.

“Andrew Knight and Steve gave a wonderful speech that showed they still had it in spades, saying TV isn’t what it used to be! Those days of live television were a gift to us all.”

Richard Stubbs and music producer Anne Haebich

Vizard added that they made two salient points to those representing the approximately 1,000 staff they employed.

“One was how proud we were to have worked with all those people on those shows. They were all equal creators of the shows,” he said.

“That was at a time when there was a recession… the recession we had to have… interest rates were at 15%, people were losing their jobs and homes, and unemployment was rife. It was particularly important for us to be able to actually bring some cheer into people’s lives at that time.”

The second point was about collaboration and ensembles.

“It was all about teams of people. Even in a sketch, it’s a group of people, and it’s kind of like mini templates of how people work together collectively, … it was almost like a little showcase of how a society works together and makes people laugh. Of how people can work together to do things, and I’m really proud of that too.

“People almost said to a person that that period at Artist Services, which lasted over a decade, was one of the funniest, most enjoyable times they had because, honestly, we didn’t know what we were doing. There was this kind of maverick, reckless fun. That was the part they enjoyed, joking around.

“If something doesn’t work out, that’s no problem. We’ll make something else.”