Interview with Claire Poyser

7 October 2015

How important is the location of Hollyoaks in terms of its success and creativity?

The North West is known for having a rich history of talent and creativity which has been a self-perpetuating cycle with regard to writers providing opportunities for creativity which provides jobs for the area, which keeps writers up here. Critically, there's a talent base in Liverpool which spans carpenters and electricians, to actors and writers. As soon as you lose that, you have an excuse to go and film somewhere else, so it's vital that that community continues to prosper. We are keen to dismiss the notion that writers only write on soap when they can't go anywhere else. It's quite the reverse: you only work on a soap when you are at the top of your game and you know the rules well enough to break the rules.

How many of your crew are from the local region?

Obviously our numbers fluctuate depending on what projects we are working on. But I would say that within Childwall where Hollyoaks is filmed, there's a fixed number of 320 to 350 people who are primarily working on Hollyoaks, and I would say 75 to 80 per cent of them come from within a 15-mile radius. That allows us to put links out to the community. Mersey TV as it was, and then Lime Pictures, has been going for the best part of 30 years. Within that time, we have invested hundreds of millions of pounds, which makes us a key spender and employer. I think this is where Lime is different ,we have links with the 16 to 18-year-olds who are not necessarily going onto university; the local universities; and national training schemes. Lime attracts people who want to commit to being in that area. Yet carry their career through. The thing Lime can offer - and I don't think many other independents can offer this - is that you can do both scripted and non-scripted. We try not to get people to specialise too early. You come in and get a broad experience and then make a choice about where you want to be.

What is the Hollyoaks studio like?

We're special in that we don't have studios in the purest sense of the world. In Childwall, we have an old school which we have converted so that it is receptive to filming. And everything within that area is a location. We have probably 75 to 80 locations within that particular footprint. Everything in Hollyoaks is shot on a single camera because our audience, which is largely 16 to 34-year-olds, are very discerning about the look of a piece. And a single camera gives it a very different look to the overhead light, homogenised look of Corrie or EastEnders. We were the first soap to go HD and the first soap to go tapeless, and we have always been known as the most innovative soap. So we don't have traditional studios, our sets are all converted rooms. Even my office can be used for filming! Anywhere can be commandeered for filming and if we have to ship out for a bit, that's fine.

And what about the people that work there?

I've worked on all the soaps, and I find this a really inclusive company. Sometimes I go in and see someone I don't recognise, and I'm honestly not sure if it's a new cast member or a new crew member. And that's because there's not that distinction or that divide between cast and crew at all. It really is like a family, and that makes it very special. 

How does Hollyoaks fit into the multi-platform world?

I think we are one of the most innovative companies for working in a multi-platform world. Viewers want more than they can physically see on a screen, now. We absolutely recognise that we get the traditional viewers, but also people who want to use other devices and other means of watching and engaging. We were the first to use Snapchat. We built a storyline over nine months about a murder, and we decided to reveal the killer on Snapchat at 4pm, ahead of showing it on air at 6.30pm. Certain people would warn that we were risking cannibalising our audience or ruining the point of people watching. But actually what it did brilliantly for us was it drove people to watch the episode at 6.30. I think it demonstrated that we trust our audience. We said, 'We're allowing you a sneaky preview of what's happening'.

How has that success changed your approach to social media and audience interaction?

As a result of that success, we now tease something every day, and the audiences love it. We've just relaunched the Hollyoaks game on the mobile. We had a conversation about whether it might displace the viewer away from the scripted content, but actually it's just giving them one more thing to enjoy.  Our other programmes are the same: TOWIE is the only reality show that is real time so we shoot and edit it in a few days so that between the Wednesday and Sunday episode, social media can influence the action. And a huge part of Young, Free and Single on Monday nights is about engaging with viewers on social media.

Lime has just won an Emmy Award, and you are selling to many territories, as well as Hollyoaks going from strength to strength. As you keep expanding your business, do you need to make any changes to your sets to keep up with demand?

Yes. Our Hollyoaks audience is getting younger, not older, and that is bucking the trend for most soaps. And our other shows are winning awards. So we've just massively invested in refurbishing a lot of our sets on the Childwall site. We are now chockablock there so we are looking to invest in other locations. What we are incredibly excited about is the announcement by Liverpool City Council that we can move forward with the conversion of the old Littlewoods building into studio facilities. We are in very in-depth conversations with them about what we think the region needs. Liverpool is an amazing backdrop for exterior shots; I think what we need now is more basic facilities for interior filming. We are really hopeful that the people in Liverpool will engage and invest heavily in that as it would be a huge boost to the region. With Manchester just 40 miles away, we are keen to keep talent in Liverpool.

Do you have strong links with the immediately local community?

Yes, we do. We've given out around 150 work experience places over the past three years, which is good. We have a really good relationship with the church next door, and a new school that is being built next door. We try to spend locally whenever we can, which advantages the community indirectly. I'd like to think they like having us there!