Terrestrial TV Stations Face Difficult Choices as Location Shoot Bento Quality Declines

Haruka Kiminami (38) caused a controversy at the stage greeting of “Hey Handsome! Haruka Kiminami (38) caused a controversy when she complained about the poor quality of the location bento at the stage greeting of the “Hey Handsome!

In a talk corner on the theme of “Hey XXX,” named after the title of the film, the “Incident” was a “Hey Handsome! The “incident” occurred during a talk session on the theme of “Hey, Handsome! He said that he once had a bento box that was divided into four boxes, two of which contained white rice and the rest were pickles and sausages. …… When this comment was reported in an article, the Internet went wild with angry voices saying, “If you have a problem with it, why don’t you just prepare it yourself?

However, the presence of location bento in the TV industry is high, and according to a director of a production company, “It is even said that staff with good taste in choosing bento will rise in the ranks, and the process has even been made into a comic strip.

The process has even been made into a cartoon.” “There are many sites where the staff is so busy with their schedules on the day of recording that the only thing they have to look forward to is the location bento. It is true that a disappointing location bento can lower morale at the site. If a bento like the one Ms. Kiminami mentioned were served, anyone would be inclined to complain bitterly.

On the other hand, a producer at a key station, after acknowledging the decline in the quality of location bento, laughs that it is a “painful decision on the part of the production side.

In the past, we prepared several kinds of bento, including Japanese and Western-style bento, meat and fish bento, etc., without being willing to have extra. We used to be willing to prepare several kinds of food, such as Japanese and Western, meat and fish. But nowadays, when production costs have been cut, we only order enough for the exact number of people. Rules are also set in detail. For example, in the case of a drama, breakfast is only served on the set that leaves by 7:00 a.m., and dinner is served until after 8:00 p.m. Dinner is only ordered for those filming until after 8:00 p.m.

If the location does not allow us to prepare a boxed lunch, we ask the staff to prepare it individually and pay with the receipt, but the limit is 1,000 yen. We are not willing to lower the quality of our work. We are working on a very tight budget, so I hope you understand. ……

A senior executive at an entertainment company also hangs his head, saying, “It’s better that they provide us with lunch boxes.

There are an increasing number of sites where there are no location bentos, and on one occasion, rice balls and side dishes with discount stickers from the supermarket were provided. Even so, key stations are better off. At local stations, it is standard to have “no lunch and rice balls from a convenience store at night.

This executive believes that “the decline in the quality of location bento has gone through the roof with the COVID-19 crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis, however, forced us to prepare masks and alcohol disinfectants from a small budget, and this has had a major impact on the quality of the location bento. Variety programs are still luxurious because they are basically recorded every other week, but dramas are filmed from morning to night every day, and because of the large number of staff and performers, they are becoming more and more “frugal.

The meals for TV programs that receive steady advertising and Internet programs that have ample production costs are also extravagant.

They even prepare yakiniku bento (barbeque boxed lunches) from epicurean restaurants,” he said. This is one of the reasons why many staff members are more interested in doing TV and Internet programs than in terrestrial programs.

It is also important to grab the stomachs of the audience.

From the August 9, 2024 issue of FRIDAY