Brent Hansen: MTV, RWP, and the future of music...

Interview – 2013

Brent Hansen's favourite music videos include Joy Division’s Atmosphere and Tall Dwarfs’ Turning Brown and Torn in Two; and Hansen has seen a lot of music videos. From producing famously eclectic Kiwi music show Radio with Pictures to rising through the ranks to become head of MTV Europe, he has been a major player in putting music on screen.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Hansen talks about:

His first invitation to work as a floor assistant for television, while studying in Christchurch to be a teacher
What made long-running Sunday night music show Radio with Pictures so special
How Radio with Pictures host Karyn Hay was "singularly independent and the first real New Zealand television presenter"
How an OE with his wife Phillipa Dann timed in with the European launch of music channel MTV — and revolutionary change in the way music was showcased on screen
Making sure MTV playlists mixed mainstream acts like Madonna with more alternative artists like The Cramps
Early days at MTV Europe, and rising through the ranks to become Creative President and Editor-in-Chief of MTV International
His achievements at MTV, including launching the MTV Europe Music awards, and enabling the channel to operate on a more regional basis
Where he sees music television going in an age where music has been tribalised — and devalued

This video was first uploaded on 30 December 2013, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview – Ian Pryor. Camera and Editing – Alex Backhouse

It was the programme that everybody cared about. Because even if you didn't like anything that was on Radio with Pictures, it was a portal. And you had to watch it to find out what was good and interesting . . . It was important because it wasn't just about charts and countdowns, which everything ends up doing; all radio these days, and most television music shows are all about counting things down. And this wasn't like that. This was the opposite of that.
– Brent Hansen pays tribute to Sunday night music show Radio with Pictures

Brent's Full Profile