THE PRO-FILE

ANDI LEW - THE ROAD TO PRESENTING (PART ONE) Andi Lew is now into the second series of “Melbourne Woman”. This was her first regular presenting job with an ongoing TV series. She started out hosting the ‘Shopping For Love’ segment in Series 1. Now with Series 2 re-named as ‘MW’ she is presenting a real estate segment. We chatted over coffee at the Turtle Café in Elwood and I asked the obvious … “What’s it like doing Melbourne Woman?”

Andi: It’s exciting, always a challenge and its fun. It’s a really good team to work with - they are all so dedicated and passionate. The mix of people is interesting and they are all there for reasons other than just having a job.

Richard: What’s your work routine?

Andi: Well, the shoot is usually Thursday and most of the time we do the voice over the following Tuesday. Then Thursday and Friday nights are usually events that you have been invited to.

Richard: So there’s a social aspect attached to it?

Andi: Yes, its fun. It might be for a good cause, a charity event and you go along to support it. Or it might just be the opening of a bar or something like that. You don’t have to go to these things but most people would die to be invited, so I’m making the most of it and going to everything I can.

Richard: And what’s a shoot day like?

Andi: It depends. At the moment it’s all on location. We meet up at the Richmond Studio and we go in one car, as a team … with the cameraman and the producer. For example last week we shot in Mount Eliza. The segment I am doing at the moment is on real estate. We usually do vox-pops in the street straight away. We talk to them about what are the hotspots around town, why they like living there, what they like about the area, why they moved to the area and so on.

Richard: How do you find it, doing vox-pops?

Andi: That’s my favourite. It’s easy.

Richard: What’s easy about it?

Andi: Just talking to people, connecting with them … it’s not really a challenge. Maybe because of my years of experience in radio and with Melbourne Storm when I did roving reporting at the ground I had to go up to people and interview them. I would just ask them questions and encourage them to talk. At the game people really wanted to get their mug on the big screen but in the street its different. Some people go, “Oh, I don’t want to be on camera.” And I say, “That’s OK. But if we asked what you like about the area what would you say?” And they immediately start talking, “Oh, there’s a really good café down the road …” and you say to them “Well, just say that.” Once they know that’s all they have to say it’s easy. We just keep the camera rolling. So, it’s just asking questions and finding out the truth. But you always ask for permission. If they don’t want to be interviewed we leave them alone. But most of the time they go, “Oh, yeah! I’ll be in that.”

Richard: So you do vox-pops first?

Andi: And then you do ‘pieces to camera’. They are usually the segment opener. “Hi, we’re in Mt Eliza today. When you think community, when you think relaxing beachside views, that’s what Mount Eliza is all about.” Something like that. It’s usually always scripted.

Richard: So the producer’s written that?

Andi: Yep. Gives it to me the night before. I’ve got a few hours to learn it. That’s OK. I’ve done heaps of your courses now so I’ve had lots of practice at learning stuff fast. I think that’s the good thing about doing courses all the time because you have to keep practicing your skills. If you haven’t done anything for a few years or whatever you are rusty at learning scripts. I think the more you do something the quicker you are at it.

Richard: So when you’ve done your pieces to camera, then what?

Andi: That would take a couple of hours and then they’ll leave me in a café somewhere by myself and the producer and the cameraman go off for about half an hour and shoot some visuals for the voice over. And when they’ve finished that they come back I’ll do another piece to camera in a location. Rather than standing in a street or a park we might do it in a café.

Richard: And are any of those made up by you on the spot or are they all scripted?

Andi: The producer scripts everything, but I’ll just make his script my own. In recent times I have been thinking that I probably could be a little more spontaneous, I think. I tend to be more spontaneous at the end of a piece … when I might grab onto something, it just depends what’s going on around me.

I always watch other presenters to see if there’s something I like. You learn things that way too. If there’s something I don’t like I decide I definitely wont do that. But I watch people I admire. I am a big fan of Jules Lund actually. I watched him on Getaway the other day, and most of his pieces to camera were so spontaneous – they were probably a little bit scripted to, ‘cos you have to be …

Richard: What Jules last said to me was that they are pretty loose now and that he’s got enough experience to just do them.

Andi: Well, that’s what I was admiring and thinking to myself that I would like to work towards that point where I just do it myself. But his stuff is probably made up when he gets to location but ours is pre-planned because we have to involve so many sponsors. But I’d like to be able to get to the point where I can do it myself because I know I can, I’ve done radio and reporting and stuff before.

In the second part of this interview Andi discusses the various jobs that enabled her to build her experience. The path to being a TV Presenter – how she acquired the skills which led to her appearing as a regular on ‘MW’ in Part Two.

GO TO PART TWO >>