'I saw him eat raw meat from strange body parts', says Myleeta Aga-Williams about Anthony Bourdain, whose show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations she co-developed and produced
'I saw him eat raw meat from strange body parts', says Myleeta Aga-Williams about Anthony Bourdain, whose show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations she co-developed and produced
Where were you when you heard about the Emmy nominations?
I was at home. One of my team members in the US called and I quickly went to the website to confirm it. We were also nominated for Special News and Documentary in 2007.
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How did the idea for Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations come about?
Anthony Bourdain is a well-respected chef in the US. I was with the Travel Channel and we were looking for authentic travel stories. We talked about Anthony Bourdain as a travel host what kind of places he would visit, what he would do.
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Is Anthony Bourdain really that grumpy?
Tony (Anthony Bourdain) is a fascinating person to work with. He does not pretend. He is who he is. That sometimes gets shot down (laughs). There were times when we disagreed but then we would come up with something better.
What's the weirdest thing he has eaten?
In a desert in Namibia I saw him eat raw meat from strange body parts cooked in the sand. He also went to Alaska and ate raw meat. But one man's meat is another man's poison. We don't judge.
The crew was caught in the Lebanon war
In the middle of the night we sent Tony and the crew to shoot in Lebanon as they have great food. The war broke out and the airport had been locked down for two days. The crew was isolated in a hotel. We set up a crisis management centre (in the US). There was an American evacuation but we had to decide if they should leave the county. It took us three days to get them out of the country.
While they were there we asked them to film and once they came back and had recovered, we did a very poignant interview with Tony about a beautiful country at war and put in footage from before the war broke out. It was especially cool that this was nominated for Special News and Documentary in 2007.
What is that is unique to Indian TV and what are its pitfalls?
Indian TV has grown really fast. US TV has been around for a long time and their distribution and content is vast. Indian television went from weekly to daily to reality TV as well as to the development of a niche like children's channels. However, we are not always quality conscious. I am certain that quality will come as well. We need well-trained and experienced people to put in the effort to tell good stories.
If you win, what will the celebrations be like?
We might have a nice dinner; after all we have connected over our love for great food (laughs).
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