''Money Pit'' is a British television series first broadcast on

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

in 2015. It is presented by Jason Manford and

Dominic Frisby Dominic Frisby (born September 1969) is a British author, comedian and voice actor. He is best known as co-host of television programme '' Money Pit''. Early life Dominic Frisby is the son of the playwright and novelist Terence Frisby, and Chr ...

, and allows investors to support crowdfunded projects.

Background

''Money Pit'' is broadcast on

, presented by comedian Jason Manford and financial pundit Dominic Frisby, and narrated by Elizabeth Carling. The eight-part series explores the idea of

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

, putting prospective investors in contact with those with business ideas. Crow TV was in charge of audio and video post, with production by Liberty Bell Productions, who have previously produced '' Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish'' for Dave. It was commissioned by Richard Watsham and Iain Coyle, with Liberty Bell's Charlie Anderson directing the series, Jamie Isaacs and Michele Carlisle executive producing the show. Filming took place at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

. The music for the series was composed by Kevin Kerrigan. In an interview with ''

Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

'', series producer Pat Doyle described the show as a "legal minefield" due to crowdfunding being heavily regulated by the

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...

, and as such the show had to remain on middle ground.

Format

Sixty prospective investors sit in the audience, with five contenders per episode. Each backer has submitted an amount of money into an escrow account, a communal pot. Each contender is given a couple of minutes to talk, after which a klaxon sounds and the investors are given time to fire questions at the contender, during which they reveal the sought amount followed by the incentive offered; this can be in the form of a percentage of the business, or in the form of rewards, such as "for £500 I offer a tour of the facility". After a while, trading time begins and each investor may submit investment to any contender that has pitched so far, possibly at the expense of investment submitted to other contenders. This process repeats itself five times. At the end of each show, only those contenders which have attained their target amount leave with any money.

References

{{reflist, 30em 2015 British television series debuts Business-related television series in the United Kingdom