Party Vibe

This is a very sensitive subject at the moment (most Southern police forces have a zero tolerance policy) and there has been an increasing clampdown on these events.

It was only recently that we were discussing the pros and cons of a free party documentary on here, and most people were of the opinion that badly made project could do a lot more damage to the future of these events.

in the light of this situation perhaps you’d like to answer a few questions?

• what are the full contact details of your production company, and which broadcast trade unions are you affiliated to?
• if it is intended for TV which broadcasters will be funding you? (many have their own angles and agendas, and Ofcom’s own rulings would automatically put a negative spin on many projects due to the rules on drugs)
• how would you deal with a request from the Police for untransmitted footage from your project?
• what steps will you take to protect your sources, before, during and after the completion of the project? They would basically be admitting to attending a number of unlicensed gatherings where potentially illegal activities happen before a wide audience – and TBH few free party crews I know would welcome a camera crew unless they had certain assurances on how the footage would be used.

I guess you are a raver of some sort otherwise you would not have come on here, but perhaps you could give people some assurances why they should put themselves and their friends at potential personal risk to assist you with your project (which sounds like a mainstream media project for commercial gain)

I know these questions are hard-hitting; but I have seen way too many bad club programmes (some of which even have led to clampdowns on the events they have featured), and people also having their lives screwed over by media exposure.

The media is powerful, as you no doubt know. This power needs to be used carefully or it can be destructive…

I’ve merged both threads as there were two original posts across both the “chat” and “free” party forums….

Steveo – perhaps as I have previously suggested in a PM perhaps you would like to share some examples of previous projects with us (from whatever media) – or if this is your first big video/film project, why not just say so?

If it seems we are all being hard on you its nothing personal. We regularly get requests from various media types for people to take part in this sort of project – the BBC asked us last year and they get the same grilling.

you are correct that its not illegal to attend parties; OTOH its not illegal to be Asian or black either and to follow certain religions, yet it doesn’t stop old bill mounting surveillance operations on these communities. The same applies to raves. Both licensed and free events are monitored by the cops; often also because of suspected drugs and motoring offences.

I’ll also point out that Hampshire cops are particularly tenacious in pursuing suspected illegal party organisers through the Courts and landing them with heavy fines. A video such as the one you are making could be used as extra evidence or intelligence material. Just because you don’t want to incriminate people won’t stop hantspol getting hold of a copy and watching every frame to glean extra info (they have done that in the past).

I get the impression you do actually have an interest in the urban music scene (as opposed to someone who is a crime reporter or wants to follow the old bill around as they raid people like the ITV lot do!) and perhaps are pursuing a career in music journalism.

OTOH achieving your ambition should not be done at the expense of others – and making content about free parties is way different to covering the commercial club scene.

Furthermore both licensed and unlicensed raves have had problems with camera crews turning up to obtain footage covertly for crime programmes and other negative projects.

if you are ever wishing to be seen as a decent journalist and not a hack willing to get a story by any means I hope you will take on board peoples concerns…..