#DDVV: life of a Producer and Autocue Operator during a daily quiz

We had the opportunity to talk to Producer and Autocue Operator Elien on the set of the daily quiz ‘De Dag Van Vandaag’.

So actually… TinkerList is our holy platform.

elien – producer & autocue operator

Hello Elien, how are you?

I’m good! We’re about to start the show so there’s always some tension right before. So yeah… I’m excited! (laughs)

Healthy stress?

Yes healthy stress!

What is your job exactly?

I work as a producer for ‘De Dag Van Vandaag’ so that means I make the whole quiz: looking for news, creating and developing the questions, and sometimes creating the media as well. During the broadcast I also do the Autocue.

What does that exactly mean?

I operate the intro texts that explain the different rounds and that make a transition to the next round. Bart then reads the texts from the prompter while looking straight in the camera. To put it simply I just scroll through the text at his reading pace so the transitions happen fluently.

Do you adapt the text so it’s better readable for Bart?

Yes after every round there’s, for example a summary of how much money there is and I need to precisely follow along and count with them in order to adapt the text in TinkerList as quickly as possible if a mistake has been made. It then automatically changes in the Autocue which is really handy for Bart to follow along as well.

It’s really easy to adapt questions, or if there’s a long list of answers that make it hard for Bart to figure out what’s already been said, then we’re able to easily cross out answers, or if they need extra information we can quickly look it up and add it to a specific TinkerList Card. It’s a very nice way of communicating with Bart.

For such programs we only use TinkerList so we make the questions in there, they get prompted from there, the gallery consults the platform as well,… So actually… TinkerList is our holy platform.

How do you like working with Bart?

So much fun I really like it! He’s a good mentor, he motivates everybody all the time and he’s really involved with every small detail of the show. He’s really fun to work with. I don’t understand how he manages it all, it’s a tough job for him! But he does it well and we have a good time.

I’m going to wrap it up because it’s getting busier here! I wanted to ask about the paperless aspect that is becoming more and more the norm in the industry: How do you experience that within your job?

I think doing everything online comes in really handy because you easily lose papers and you don’t find them back. Working online is really convenient because everyone can work on one project and you can see who’s adapting what without having to explicitly say it every time.

You can also always consult the history to trace. modifications so I find it really handy you can see the evolution at all times without having to communicate about it all the time. It saves you a lot of time and I love it.

I want to wish you good luck with the show and enjoy!

You too!

Thanks!