'Gold bludgeoned him with charm' - Sunday Times
I'm Andrew Gold, of the On the Edge with Andrew Gold podcast. I'm a journalist and TV presenter who speaks 5 languages & lived in 6 countries, producing docs on bizarre and controversial subcultures. I battled an abusive exorcist, duelled with the Crazy Baby Lady and hunted UFOs. Working on a book and TV doc on paedophilia and spoke to a teen school head boy paedophile for pod episode six.
FUN FACTS
Viggo Mortensen made fun of me on live Argentine TV.
After a joke went wrong, I became known there as The Last English Virgin.
I represented England in beer-pong (also on live TV) and lost to a 12-year-old Panamanian girl.
I was tear-gassed and water-canoned while filming a doc about abortion.
Studied English at Leeds Uni, hold an NCTJ in journalism and know shorthand.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Best International Documentary - Thin Line Festival (Texas): Exorcism: The Battle for Young Minds
Best Documentary - London Film Awards: Exorcism: The Battle for Young Minds
BBC 3's Best of 2018 list and Monthly Editor's Pick, Sunday Times' Pick of the Week
Apple New and Noteworthy: On the Edge with Andrew Gold Podcast
Castbox Editor's Pick and Banner slot. Editor's Picks on Stitcher & Acast, and top place on Listen Notes.
Showreel
Find my Portfolio and Photos Below
My Gallery
A Strange Career in Photos
Best International Documentary
Thin Line Festival
Before selling the exorcism film to the BBC, director David Hayes and I sent it off to a few festivals. We didn't have a big budget, and it costs to send them out, so we were picky about the festivals we contacted. Thin Line is a moderate-to-large fest in Denton, Texas. They flew me out there from Argentina, and we were shocked to win the award!
My Big Head on the Silver Screen
Thin Line Festival
I had the strange privilege of watching myself on the big screen at two showing before we won the award. The cinema was packed, and it was one of those luxury ones where you get served food and have posh reclining seats. We also won the Best Documentary at the London Film Awards, before selling to the BBC.
Hunting for UFOs
HBO
I'd just started really trying to make it as a freelance TV presenter and documentary maker. At the first time of trying, I got a call from Fusion, who paid me and Studio Baires incredible amounts of cash to go hunt for UFOs in the suburbs of Córdoba, Argentina. I thought this career would be easy. I quickly realised how wrong (and lucky) I'd been!
UFO fun
Larking about with the head of the UFO museum
Luz actually had a really sweet and tragic story. She'd moved down to Argentina from Colombia, where she'd dreamed of the tiny village of Capilla del Monte (she'd never heard of it). She moved down and fell in love with the museum owner, but he passed away. Now she runs the museum and gets word of him from the aliens she encounters.
Ringing the Bells to Ward off Satan
BBC 3
It's a shame it hasn't cropped properly, because this is my favourite ever image. It's me literally taking part in an exorcism and looking either utterly scared or a little suspicious of the Padre, who we came to expose a little at the end of the film. Natalia is the 'patient', and she felt better after, before unfortunately declining again.
Top Pick
BBC 3
For a few weeks after the exorcism film came out, it stayed top of the BBC 3 website and TV platform, which made my mum very proud. It went on to place in the channel's Best of 2018 list, while also coming out on the BBC's YouTube page, where it has more than half a million views at the time of writing. The comments are mostly horrible!
The Crazy Baby Lady
Doing my best Theroux impression
Right after the exorcism film came out, I went back to Argentina to shoot a doc following the so-called Crazy Baby Lady - the face of the pro-Life campaign. I'm Pro-Choice myself, but was fascinated to get into her head, and try to understand why she thinks the way she does. You'll find a trailer here, and it's still available to sell.
Behind the Scenes
Pro-Choice Rally in the Rain
I like this photo because it's one of the rare ones I have of the reality of filming. We stood in the freezing rain for about 20 hours, so credit to my team (even if they do get to hold umbrellas!) That's Lucy D'Cruz on camera and Zeynep Elif Tarkan on sound - you can just see her boom getting drenched.
The Last English Virgin
It's a long story
So, I'd been on a radio show while shooting a doc for HBO about infidelity in Buenos Aires. Viggo Mortensen happened to be on, and he ripped into me about a few things in Spanish. Next thing, I'm invited on a million TV shows. On one show, I joked about being a virgin - it was taken seriously, and the name stuck!
Representing England for Beer-Pong
Live Argentine TV
Having become known as the Last English Virgin in Argentina, I was often asked to do ridiculous things on TV whenever they needed an English guy. This channel put on a beer pong tournament with representatives from each group in the football World Cup. I lost to a 12-year-old girl from Panama. They didn't let me keep the t-shirt.
First time on live TV
A Baptism of Fire on Duro de Domar
I had only been in Argentina for about six months of my eventual six years there, so was still getting to grips with their bizarre variety of Spanish. The panelists ripped me apart for my documentary about cheating in Argentina, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life - I just about kept it together - you can watch here.
My TV Journalism Debut
The Sun
The less said about this, the better. Suffice it to say the video I made wouldn't hold up to today's #MeToo standards. I was 22 and was desperate to make an impression. My editor at The Sun (a job's a job, and no one else was hiring, and certainly not offering their salary!) asked me not to do this. I did anyway. It was bad.
My Brother's Wedding
With two of my favourite people in the world
I talk a lot on the podcast about my girlfriend Juli - who I met in Argentina about seven years ago, and my brother Michael. Well, here they are at the latter's wedding. He's since gotten divorced but I do love this photo; it's possibly the only one I have with both of them around me! They've both been immeasurably supportive of my career.
Law Graduate
'I'm the boyfriend of the lawyer'
Juli's dad got us all matching t-shirts (except mine was in English) for her graduation ceremony. In Argentina, they go beserk with paint and silly string, so she was a mess. It's a great way for someone to mark the day she became a lawyer, and I was very proud. She deserved a day like that after seven years of studies!
