With 2022 having drawn to a close, Realscreen offered industry professionals from around the globe the chance to sound off about the year that was by taking part in our annual, and somewhat irreverent, year-end reader’s survey.

Our wistful and occasionally whimsical look back at 2022 continues with BossaNova Media co-founder and CEO Paul Heaney (pictured left) and Nick Mavroidakis, executive producer at Woodcut Media (pictured right).

PAUL HEANEY

My favorite unscripted/non-fiction program of 2022 was:

All or Nothing: Arsenal. The final episode is hilarious.

I never thought they’d make a program about:

How about The Man With a Penis On His Arm?

The program/series/doc people will be talking about in five years is:

Drive to Survive.

The most positive development in the non-fiction/unscripted content industry this past year was:

Equal billing for scripted and unscripted.

The most troubling development in the non-fiction/unscripted content industry this past year was:

Too many similar projects.

The buzzword I don’t want to hear in 2023 is:

“I don’t want anyone pivoting on my narrative.”

My New Year’s resolution for 2023 is:

Calm down. It’ll be fine.

NICK MAVROIDAKIS

My favourite unscripted/non-fiction program or feature doc of 2022 was:

Girl in the Picture. Just an incredible story, so harrowing and tragic but mesmerizing at the same time.

I never thought they’d make a program about:

A man with a penis on his arm. But they did. I saw it. And it was wonderful.

The program/series/doc people will be talking about in five years is:

Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99. What a great documentary — contributors and archive were incredible. Who’d have thought Limp Bizkit could cause such a fuss?

The most positive development in the non-fiction/unscripted content industry this past year was:

The easing of COVID-19 restrictions on so many shows has been great to see.

The idea I wish I thought of was:

Is It Cake? I was going to justify this with a lengthy spiel but no, I just love cake. And it turns out I love things that don’t look like cake turning out to be cake too.

The idea I’m happiest to have had this year was:

Taking a Mental Health First Aid course — it opened my eyes to a few things both professionally and personally.

If 2022 taught me one thing it was:

Watching rolling coverage of a queue is pretty addictive. I thought the BBC did an amazing job covering the Queen’s death and the mourning that followed.

The buzzword I don’t want to hear in 2023 is:

“It is what it is.” I even heard someone say “It was what it was” the other day. Most of the time I find it isn’t what it is at all.

My New Year’s resolution for 2023 is:

To watch more Bluey with my daughter (although secretly, I’d happily watch it by myself)