A Fork in the Road - popular SBS Television Program chooses Kythera as a location - 2004.
One of the locations for this SBS Program in 2004 will be KYTHERA.
Ashley Smith:
Chief Researcher - "In its basic form the program is a travel show but with extra layers and levels built into it. Those who wish for more than just a look at a pretty Greek island will find ample substance below the simple visual.
We look at the lifestyles of those who live and work in their communities, this is not a tourists view but an attempt to see their culture & life from the inside.
Normally we have about three characters from different levels of society.
Food is an important aspect to peoples culture and our program, we use it as a way of seeing into peoples lives."
Background.
A FORK IN THE ROAD (Mediterranean 2004)
"A Fork in the Road" is a television travel series different to most others in that it strikes a stimulating balance between the visual and verbal. The title refers to the divergent, off-the-beaten-track aspect of the series. It concentrates on the natural attractions of the country in question and particular aspects not generally known. It features local people expressing what they feel is special about living in their part of the world.
Representing a different and more reflective approach to travel, the series shows why people and not just places, make travel memories. With beautiful vision and local perspectives, we celebrate the original purpose of travel – to broaden our understanding of each other so that we can appreciate and enjoy our similarities and differences. The critics and audience certainly agree with our stylistic variety. Simple evidence of this is the fact that we are now in our twelfth year of production.
SBS is a quality national network based in Sydney, which reaches over seven million viewers weekly across Australia. Our AB audience profile tends to be dominated by decision-makers such as professionals, business people and politicians. We are a successful niche broadcaster appealing to thinking people in the higher socio-economic brackets that choose to watch our programmes and therefore expect the highest standard of televisual 'infotainment'.
“Fork.. ” is SBS's most successful series internationally. Series have been broadcast on Britain's "DISCOVERY CHANNEL" and ATHE TRAVEL CHANNEL, which have satellite footprints across Europe. France's ALE CINQUIEME free-to-air network, Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel, the Czech Republic, China, Japan, Poland and Canada have also bought various series. Episodes have won awards at documentary festivals. Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines have featured programmes as part of its in-flight video entertainment. The series is also shown on FOXTEL’s The Lifestyle Channel.
The countries/regions filmed in Series 1 were EGYPT, TUSCANY, SCOTLAND, HONG KONG, RHONE-ALPES (France) and NEW YORK. Series 2 - GREECE, ARGENTINA, INDONESIA, ZIMBABWE, THE RHINE VALLEY (Alsace, Germany & Switzerland) and SAN FRANCISCO. Series 3 - CHICAGO, PARIS, SICILY, KERALA (India), MALTA and NEW ZEALAND. Series 4 -NEW ORLEANS, HUNGARY (x2), MARSEILLES, RIO DE JANEIRO and MALAYSIA. Series 5 – WASHINGTON DC, JAPAN, SPAIN, JAMAICA, IRELAND (x2) and JAMAICA. Series 6 involved an eight-part series on aspects of living in Australia. Series 7 featured eight destinations in Asia - TOKYO/HOKKAIDO, DELHI, BEIJING, NEPAL, LEBANON, SINGAPORE, GUILIN and THAILAND. Series 8 featured Africa – TUNISIA, KENYA, CAPE TOWN (x2), ETHIOPIA, MADAGASCAR, ZANZIBAR, MALI and BLACK PARIS. All have been broadcast in prime-time throughout Australia every year since July 1993.
The production of "A Fork in the Road" has been made possible only with the support of airlines, national tourism bureaux and hotels. In return for any assistance, organizations will be featured with links on the new FORK website and included in the credits of the relevant episode.
SBS
14 Herbert St,
Artarmon,
Sydney, NSW, 2064,
AUSTRALIA
Ph: + 61 - 2 - 9430 3976
Fax: + 61 - 2 - 9430 3462
THE PRESENTER
PRIA VISWALINGAM
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Malaysia, Pria was educated in his homeland, as well as Britain and Singapore, before coming to Australia in 1978, where he completed his studies at tertiary level.
An active interest in drama and the theatre saw him attain an Associate Diploma in Performing Arts from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1987.
His broadcasting experience began in radio, where he has worked both as a newsreader and a reporter, specialising in politics and international affairs.
Pria is married, has young twins and lives in Sydney. Pria also speaks Bahasa Malaysia, and enough French to survive a provincial stint. He cooks, reads and daydreams.
Pria has established himself as one of SBS's most popular on-air personalities. In 1989 he hosted the weekly half-hour current affairs program which concentrated on the Asian region called 'Asia Report', in 1990 he presented our nightly currently affairs program, 'Tonight', and in 1991 he presented 'Dateline' each week night. Following those, he also regularly presented SBS TV’s nightly flagship World News program.
In 1992 Pria embarked on a project which took him around the world, meeting people, and indulging in the peculiarities of various cultures. The result of this was his first series of A FORK IN THE ROAD which went to air in 1993 with six episodes covering Egypt, Italy, Scotland, Hong Kong, France and New York.
In 1994 Pria took on another vigorous travelling schedule to make A FORK IN THE ROAD Series II. This time he visited Greece, Buenos Aires, Zimbabwe, The Rhine Valley, Sumatra and San Francisco.
In 1996, A FORK IN THE ROAD did it again - in Chicago, Paris, Sicily, Kerala (India), Malta and New Zealand.
In 1997 Pria took us to New Orleans, Budapest (2 episodes), Brazil, Marseilles and the French countryside, and Malaysia.
In 1998 the fifth series of A FORK IN THE ROAD visited Japan, Spain, Washington, Jamaica and Ireland (2 episodes).
Pria was also one of three hosts for SBS’s new wine show THE WINE LOVERS’ GUIDE TO AUSTRALIA which screened in mid 1999. This 13 part magazine style program took a behind the scenes look at the Australian wine industry, presenting stories about the origins of our long standing and familiar labels, discussing issues facing such a new and rapidly expanding industry, and looking at the future of the industry. Pria completed production of a second series of THE WINE LOVERS’ GUIDE TO AUSTRALIA, which was broadcast in August 2001.
In 1999, Pria diverged somewhat from FORK and concentrated on A FORK IN AUSTRALIA which took a fresh look at different aspects of Australian life. The eight episodes dealt with Colours, The Cringe, Food, Friends and Lovers, The Pilgrimage, Clever Country, Wheat and Tourism. The series provided a sort of outsider’s point of view with a little insider knowledge.
In 2000, A FORK IN ASIA saw Pria focus on Japan, Delhi, Beijing, Lebanon, Nepal, Singapore, Guilin and Thailand. This series was broadcast in August 2000 to wide acclaim.
In 2001, Pria took another fork producing and presenting major 4 x 1 hour documentary series on Australia’s evolving social structure. Entitled CLASS, the series explored Australia’s move from a society towards an economy in which new wealth-driven divisions are widening the gap between rich and poor. This in-depth and textured series was broadcast in April 2002.
In between that, Pria was also involved in producing, directing and writing a 4-part documentary series on the culture of doing business in Asia. A YEN FOR A DOLLAR involved unique access behind the professional and personal worlds of Asia’s business leaders. It also went to air in April 2002 on ABC Television.
In 2002, Pria returned to the familiar road to make A FORK IN AFRICA which featured Tunisia, Kenya, Cape Town (2 eps), Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Mali and Black Paris. This is regarded as the best FORK series to date because it broke some long-held negative stereotypes of life in that blighted continent.
The multi-award winning FORK series continue to be SBS TV’s only consistently selling product overseas and has been long regarded at SBS as a benchmark programme.
In Feb 2003, Pria picked up his strands of business and society and began work on a new documentary series on the quality of Australian business leadership. Entitled SHE’LL BE RIGHT.. BOSS!, this five-part series is best described as a layman’s look at “the big end of town” in Australia. It is scheduled to commence on-air in mid-January 2004.
As that series goes to air, Pria will begin Series 9 of FORK, this time taking in eight locations around the Mediterranean.
For further information, photography or interviews, please contact SBS Publicist, Sam Jones (02) 9430 3161, or [email protected]
