Recently I was asked by Funny Women https://funnywomen.com/ to share my tips for making Comedy, Entertainment, and ‘Funny Fact Ent’ TV with a room full of people. But how to condense a 20-year career into a tight half hour, that’s remotely useful to the audience, without sounding like Alan Partridge reading aloud from his autobiography? Tough gig, writes Series Producer, Series Edit Producer, and Writer Anna Coane…

Comedy Producer Anna Coane, right, with Nic Lamont c/o Funny Women

I’ve been a comedy geek since I was a kid (my best mate and I would perform our ‘sketches’ in school assembly, under the shared delusion that we were French & Saunders). As a TV freelancer I’ve produced and developed scripted and unscripted comedy in many guises -  sketches, stand up, sitcoms, hidden camera pranks, travelogues, chat shows, panel shows, and archive formats. For shows including The Graham Norton Show, Frank Skinner On Demand, The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, Tonight With Omid, Julian Clary’s Greatest Xmas Adverts, The Comedy Bus, and The TNT Show. I’ve also been brought on board to ‘find the funny’ in factual formats too.

So on a cold, dark, windy evening in November, I found myself in a quirky board games café in Rochester, in front of an expectant audience, and host Nic Lamont – a brilliant actor and writer I’d last worked with 12 years ago on BBC3’s comedy newcomer vehicle Live At The Electric.

I eased in with a few anecdotes – that time in my pre-kids 20s I had to find a doula for Olivia Colman and her newborn on the set of Peep Show, that other time money was saved on extras by casting me in a speaking part opposite Paul Kaye in Strutter. But then onto perhaps more useful take home from my TV journey…

Anna Coane on the Media Parents Back to Work scheme at Edinburgh TV Festival

With Nic and I reconnecting this time as mums, and because in addition to making comedy for grown-ups I’ve recently made children’s TV (Big Fat Like, Meet The McQueens, I Can Do It You Can Too, for CBBC/CBeebies), I decided to share some headlines from my experiences of writing comedy for young kids, as a genre that the aspiring writers and stand ups in the audience might turn their pens to. Kids laugh at different things to adults, and children’s TV comes with constraints, and a whole load of compliance, so it’s a creative challenge that can really focus the comedy mind and exercise those writing muscles.

anna’s comedy writing tips

First up I suggested watching what your kids/nephews/nieces laugh at when watching films, TV or online content.

I found that visual and physical comedy lands better than wordy dialogue, so use props, mime techniques, slapstick and prat falls – adults/authority figures getting things wrong or falling over is hilarious.

But tone is key – on the shows I’ve made we were required to make sure young viewers weren’t left believing the presenter/performer had genuinely hurt themselves or others.

And always beware imitative behaviour (featuring activities or actions that might be dangerous if kids copy them at home).

It’s also important to know the target age group (3-year-olds being different from 10-year-olds), and pitch any dialogue and references accordingly.

Sketches about school life might not resonate with pre-schoolers. Likewise gags that rely on cool on-screen text or written graphics won’t mean much to younger kids who don’t read yet.

Silly or scatological sound effects were always a winner (kids find farts funny, who knew?!).

And you can’t rely on swear words to get laughs. Shit.

I’ve been asked back to be a guest speaker at a Funny Women workshop for female /non-binary comedy writers – Stand Up To Stand Out Winter Warm Up at London’s Groucho Club on Saturday 1^st February 2025. I’m delighted that it’s with Nic Lamont again, and Funny Women founder Lynne Parker. There’ll be techniques on writing, performing, and creating comedy, and using humour in everyday interactions, at work or play. Media Parents subscribers who those who identify as female or non binary can get a 50% discount (email info@funnywomen.com for details). So if you want to supercharge your comedy, get a confidence boost, or are just comedy curious, come along and get some tips in a friendly, supportive environment. I promise no anecdotes this time.

Anna’s writing agent is:

https://www.gloriousmanagement.com/artists/anna-coane

Log in to view Anna’s Media Parents profile here:

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/2251/anna-coane

Our next event is on Jan 30th. Scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers, join here:https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/signup/?t=freelancer

Media Parents was delighted to hold January Drinks on Thursday 30th Jan, hosted by Film + TV Charity in their glorious Central London building. The wine sponsors for this event were https://storytailors.tv/ – thank you!

Heads of Production from Raw Cut and Strawberry Blond, Tina Lohmann and Jess Hamilton meeting Media Parents freelancers in the crowd

What happens at Media Parents drinks? There’s no agenda! We are keen to get TV companies, freelancers and organisations in a room to catch up. If it’s your first time at an event we make an effort to meet you, and introduce you to other people who could be useful to you to know. If it’s not your first time at a Media Parents event, we are pretty confident you loved it the first time!

PD Sam Lang with Comedy Producer Anna Coane

Curve Media's Head of Production Ruth Cody and Exec Claire Simpson worked the room

Story Films Production Exec Donna Blackburn introduced the company's slate

Strawberry Blond MD Steve Wynne made it back from Leeds

PM Amy Swan successfully navigated a career move from editorial into PMing global series, seen catching up here with Media Parents Line Producers Flo Crum and Katy Southwood

New contacts made and swapped between PD Kasia Uscinska and Editor Liz Convey

Film + TV Charity Community Development Manager Lucy Maxwell introduced the space, counselling and financial support that is offered, see below...

January Guest List

(log in to click through on profile links)

Michele Kimber: PM

Read Michele’s latest blog

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18138/michele-kimber

Anna Coane: SP / S Edit Producer

Read Anna’s latest blog

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/2251/anna-coane

Anika Pilnei: EP / PD

Read Anika’s latest blog

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18539/anika-pilnei

Daren Tiley: offline editor

Read Daren’s latest blog

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/9614/daren-tiley

Flo Crum : Production Exec

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/5245/floury-crum

Katy Southwood: Line Producer/Production Executive

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18573/katy-southwood

Richard Hughes: Shooting PD and DOP

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6200/richard-hughes

Tom Colvile: Shooting PD https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/7749/tom-colvile

Anthony Willis: PD / Writer / Editor

Read Anthony’s latest blog

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18343/anthony-willis

Claire McMahon Brown: Snr Producer / Edit Producer

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/15530/claire-mcmahon-brown

Jules Seymour: SP

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/126/jules-seymour

Kasia Uscinska: PD / Edit Producer https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1582/kasia-uscinska

Katie Rice: PD

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/10020/katie-rice

Liz Convey: returning offline editor

Stephen Mizelas: Director / SP

Sam Lang: PD https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/917/samuel-lang

Matt Currington: S/PD

Avigail Cenci di Bello: Producer / Writer

Hannah Bairsto: Researcher

Gaby Koppel: SP

Tom Ranson: Director

Quinton Smith: Editor

Barney Snow: S/PD

Janet Awe: Development/ Producer

The Film and TV Charity supports everyone working behind the scenes in film, TV, and cinema, including full-time staff, freelancers, writers, production teams, and more. It offers a 24/7 confidential support line, legal and financial guidance, Stop-Gap Grants, a Bullying Advice Service, and free counselling. The Charity is also working to change the culture of our industry,  providing resources like the Whole Picture Toolkit for mentally health productions, financial guidance and wellbeing advice, as well as promoting equity and inclusion across the industry. For more information, visit its website or call 0800 054 0000. You can also sign up for its monthly newsletter for updates on services, events, and opportunities. Every day at Storytailors is a thrilling ride—we’ve set up Keanu Reeves to race through the Slovenian countryside, transformed a Romanian salt mine into a playground for MrBeast, and ensured Ford’s latest EV glides effortlessly through Bhutan for Amazon Prime. With a network of over 1,500 vetted media professionals across 150+ countries, we deliver everything from full production to local access, film permits, crew hire, and logistics for entertainment, documentaries, and drama. Our clients include leading indies like the BBC, Plimsoll, Nutopia, and Box To Box, as well as major streamers like Netflix and Disney. https://storytailors.tv/work-with-us/

At Media Parents we’ll do anything we can to help TV  freelancers work, and TV companies find great freelancers. Join us! Message via our contact button for returns for this event.

Scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers, join here: https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/signup/?t=freelancer

“How did you get into Branded Content?” is the question I am often asked these days. With British (and global) TV facing a grim decline, short-form content seems to have become the industry’s golden ticket, writes PD & Edit Producer Anika Pilnei.

PD Anika Pilnei on a shoot https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18539/anika-pilnei

To be honest – I stumbled into Branded Content by pure chance – and quickly fell in love with it, having worked primarily in TV before. I have produced and directed across Specialist Factual, Factual Entertainment, and Documentary, focusing primarily on History & Archaeology, True Crime, and Travel, Adventure & Food. My work spans both retrospective and observational storytelling, often featuring in-depth master interviews across multi-episode series.

My journey in the world of Branded Content began as Creative Producer [Middle East & Asia] for an international De Beers Jewellery campaign celebrating women in the Arts. The success of that campaign led to more projects, including campaigns for Earth Day, Destination Canada, Canon, Barclays, Amex and Meta, where I worked as both Director and Producer/Director.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18539/anika-pilnei

My language skills and cross-cultural expertise, which had previously opened doors in TV, proved invaluable in Branded Content as well. And, I am genuinely fascinated by people, their life stories, their perspectives, fears and aspirations.

The key to creating authentic stories, whether it is 30”, 5’ or 60’, is to listen and observe without judgment. Understand your story and your subjects, get close, but always respect their personal boundaries. Know when to push and when to pull back. It works in TV and basically everywhere else – a truly ‘transferable skill’!

Creating short-form content is just as fun and demanding as long-form. The core principle remains the same: story is everything. But with short-form, you have to make every second count. You have to deliver a powerful message with greater precision, be visually bold and creative, and push boundaries. C Suite contributors are equally high-maintenance as major TV personalities, social media influencers throw the same anxious temper tantrums as your already famous TV Chef.

Anika Pilnei across a crowded room at Media Parents Autumn Drinks. To see more pics from the event go here:https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2024/10/media-parents-autumn-drinks-gallery/

Over the past decade, I’ve successfully navigated both the TV and Branded Content worlds (with TV being my longer-standing home), refining skills such as multi-camera directing, shooting across various aspect ratios, crafting “insta-worthy” visuals, and adapting to the nuances of corporate environments. While I’ve grown to appreciate the unique challenges of working within the “belly of the corporate beast”, my passion for TV and the art of classic, long-form documentaries remains as strong as ever.

In TV, favourite projects include sensitive access-driven works such as Manson: The Lost Tapes (ITV) and the award-winning landmark series Jerusalem 24 (ARTE). I love working with archive —  be it historical, personal, or extensive law enforcement footage, and in the past, I have dipped my toes into producing dramatic recon as well.

While my professional work is very ‘peopley’ as Snoopy would say, I am increasingly dedicating my time to environmental initiatives and (animal) charities, hoping to work with Foundations and Initiatives beyond TV and Corporate to utilise my storytelling skills to drive meaningful and lasting change in an increasingly challenging and sometimes upside-down feeling world.

To book Anika for branded content or TV work please go here: https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18539/anika-pilnei

Carlee Davis has recently joined the Media Parents team, covering jobs and talent throughout the UK.

Carlee Davis, pictured at the Wildscreen Awards, will be working on the Media Parents team - welcome!

Having worked in media production for the past 20 years, Carlee decided to take an extended maternity leave after having her third child 2 years ago to enjoy time with her husband and children. With a busy home life looking after three little people, plus an excitable Labrador (by the name of Audrey), Carlee is excited to be helping parents to juggle the logistics of childcare and parenting with TV – especially as she has first hand experience of doing so.
To contact Carlee re posting a job or about Media Parents talent search just hit the contact tab above.

From her first media job at Endemol West back in 2004 Carlee has worked on a variety of entertainment programmes before moving to BBC Bristol to work on The One Show inserts, and three series of Wanted Down Under.

Carlee also spent a number of years working as a Production Co-ordinator on BBC dramas such as Casualty and Bonekickers with Hugh Bonneville. However it was when Carlee moved into the world of natural history in 2011 that she discovered her love for working on landmark series such as BBC’s David Attenborough’s Life Story, Thailand:Earth’s Tropical Paradise and most recently National Geographic/Disney+ award-winning Queens.

When Carlee gets any spare time she likes to raise money for various charities close to her heart – usually by running. The trainers need a little dusting off since running her second half marathon back in May but she hopes to pick this up again in the new year.

Welcome to Media Parents Carlee!

Our next event is on Dec 5th, scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers go here: https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk

Tinopolis talent exec Katie McAfee won our hearts at Media Parents Autumn Drinks! First by being there and being fun, meeting people irl and via our zoom link up – and secondly by offering this brilliant December CV Surgery!

Katie McAfee zooms with remote Media Parents members at our Autumn Drinks. Get your CV in front of her this December

Twelve lucky Media Parents members will have the chance to send in their CVs to Katie via Media Parents by the end of November. Then on December 5th Katie will offer each person five minutes of tailored advice on zoom. If you would like to take up this amazing offer please join Media Parents and see the watercooler for event details. Sign up quick!

tinopolis

Katie McAfee the Talent Exec for Tinopolis Factual which includes the production companies Mentorn Media, Firecracker Films and Pioneer Productions – all making content across the factual spectrum for UK and US broadcasters. Some of our productions include:

Traffic Cops, Inside the Force, Question Time, Emma Willis Delivering Babies, Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, Open House the Great Sex Experiment, Mother Undercover, Gold: a journey with Idris Elba….

To find out more about the event and book in, see the watercooler at https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/

Our next event is on Dec 5th, scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers go here: https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk

Writer Mel Melvin shares a piece from Doon Mackichan's Loch Rannoch writing and wild swimming retreat

UNWRITTEN

Blacken the pages
Take down the books from the shelves
Remove the pen from every scribe
Stand by the gravestone and utter not a word

I can’t write without you

I learnt to form my letters on your knee
I herded ink into squares
Only to delight you,
To lie down in the ‘C’ of your thin-lipped smile

I can’t write without you

At primary school I wrote a pearly sentence to hang around your neck and learnt how to disappear
into a book.

As a teenager, you drew out novels for me from your high shelves
Like an apothecary dispensing a vial of medicine
Heyer, Trollope, Mitford, Shreve

You could spot the past imperfect subjunctive from a mile off,
you taught me how to place an adjective and turn a phrase
You were my grammar,
My exclamation mark,
My full stop.

Finally I wrote my first novel and you kept it beside you during your final chapter,
At the hospice I read you Keats and left gaps for you to mouth the words – Alien corn.

I can’t write without you.

So let’s stand at the graveside,
may the inscription I ordered be my final words:

CICELY KNOWLES
1940-2023
BELOVED MATRIARCH

To join Mel’s Brighton Yoga retreat on Saturday December 7th click here.

Our next event is on Nov 6th, scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers go here: https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk

Doon Mackichan has written (hilariously and often painfully) in her memoir about her principled career choices and where they’ve got her as a staunch feminist. You can imagine. Now motherhood is shaping her decisions, Mackichan is a lonely voice in this looks-obsessed industry calling out botox, writes Media Parents Director Amy Walker.

Doon Mackichan on the banks of Loch Rannoch with Media Parents Amy Walker

“I don’t want to shame women who want to do things to their faces because it’s completely their face and they can do what they like. I think what we have to be responsible for, is the legacy we’re giving to younger girls. So if you’re a mum and if you are like ‘Oh I just hate that line’ – when your daughter sees her first line, she’s going to hate that line. So we’re just teaching our daughters that we are not happy with our faces, so we’re basically under the tools of the patriarchy…”

We’re sitting on a bench beside Loch Rannoch in the Scottish Highlands, where Doon is running her creative writing and wild swimming retreat. I privately wonder if she is carrying the black marker pen she famously uses to deface cosmetic surgery ads, but I guess there won’t be too many billboards around here.

“Plastic surgery has never been so massive – the blue circles of shame made us hate ourselves – so beautiful young women hate themselves and their bodies” Doon continues, “So if we’re just going – ‘oh it’s just a little freshener’ – that’s actually very insidious because that’s bleeding into a culture that says ‘I don’t want to see an older face’. We are role models. It’s everywhere now, even some of our favourite actresses are succumbing to it. They have work done to keep working…”

Personally, I’m relieved to hear this opposition to botox from Doon – it’s refreshing and inspiring to have an unbotoxed public figure unrepentantly sticking two fingers up at the cosmetic industry. We need more feminist icons like her to be open and honest and lead a separate path, loudly. Reflecting on the conversation later, I realise I feel a pressure lifted that has sat on me for at least a year, and I’m not even on screen. My close friends are pretty much divided down the middle in terms of botoxers and notoxers. They talk to me about it – the procedures or the resistance – and those who are resisting are frequently told by other women that they need work.

photo credit : Doon Mackichan

Don’t be mistaken – Doon does have physical advantages over many of us. She is beautiful, tall, built like a greyhound, clever, funny. She has been cast opposite Jon Hamm, say no more: “I have to have a word with myself when I see myself on screen – because you see yourself in high definition – that was a terrible, terrible invention” she says, her eyes crinkling with laughter. “HD is every thread vein – imagine you think ‘I don’t like that photo because I don’t like my neck’ – imagine you’re just a moving photo which is effectively what that is… I want to be someone whose face moves and whose face is her history. I don’t like looking at faces that have been “done” – I can’t bear watching them. I feel very passionate about botox because it’s filtering down an image of self-hatred” says Mackichan.

But touched up faces are undoubtedly the majority of faces on screen these days, and Doon is likely making a decision that could cost her roles. Nonetheless, she is insistent that her career choices haven’t been solely financially motivated, and has been open about using Universal Credit to keep herself and her family afloat during lockdown. It’s surprising to learn that a performer of her standing was in that position, and yet in the Guardian long read publicising Doon Mackichan’s book and career, amongst many things, she reflects regretfully on being “a little bit poor”.

Like many creative freelancers at the moment, Doon may well get poorer if the government doesn’t step up its efforts to jumpstart TV and the creative arts. Despite her recent BAFTA nomination, the future of the BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, in which she plays “foul-mouthed, half cut and self-centred” alcoholic Glaswegian housewife Cathy, is uncertain after the sudden death of writer and friend, Simon Carlyle. The team behind the show bravely and subtly put alcoholism at the centre of a Christmas special – if you haven’t seen it is remarkable, funny, authentic. Production of Season 3 of her Amazon show Good Omens also looked uncertain for while. Most of us it seems are walking this precipice of talent, luck, contacts, persistence.

photo credit : Morag Jamieson

Even so, Doon is principled about the work she will and won’t take – she enters into everything with best feminist intentions and on her own terms. She has written in her book about holding out against the advances of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity – a line she won’t cross. I do think she could clean up in the jungle – I’m convinced she would massively increase the devoted following her character Cathy has in Scotland (we dine in a private room at the highland hotel so she is not continuously mobbed), her earnings from that alone would likely buy a London flat. But it’s not an argument I’m going to win. “I would lose my integrity if I went into the jungle – my whole career has been about trying to guard that” says Mackichan firmly. Likewise her face. “Hopefully it’s going to pass, this [botox] fad, but I’ve got a feeling it’s embedding. The only way to stop it is to show girls botox is not the only way.”

photo credit : Morag Jamieson

Doon’s way is generally not the easy way. In her book she is creative, determined, battling her demons. In front of me at the lochside she tells me she is often described in interviews as cold, but she definitely sees herself as a sister. And the sisterhood has brought us here, to surprisingly sunny Loch Rannoch, on the swimming and writing retreat.

“I started a cold water swimming group through the pandemic. Three of us started in Hastings, socially distanced… and by the end it had swelled to 103… Coming out of the water I would just feel ‘Wow! My mental health is recovered’. When I got back to London I just remember thinking ‘I want to give this to more women’”. And so she has. Along with Travel Matters, Doon runs this annual retreat. The one I attend is an interesting mix of people who have never cold water swum before, alongside women with a compulsion to hurl themselves into freezing water daily; published writers, women who have not enjoyed creative writing since school, and quite a few in between.

https://www.travelmatters.co.uk/scotland-wild-swimming-writing

“Cold water swimming is a quick fitness fix” Doon tells one of the women as she emerges from the water, energy renewed. “Fitness in three minutes!” And who would deny this busy, determined career woman and divorced mother a quick fix? She has seen a path to taking others along on her ride. After three days, everyone on the retreat is embracing the water and the writing at their own level of comfort, some beyond. There are writers who arrived blocked, one cold water swimmer who slammed on the brakes when the water reached her ankles on day one – she is now up to her goosepimpled knees. I’ve used the cold swim part of things to get into gear for October’s #Dipaday, which has inspired me to take part in the November 3^rd https://marchforcleanwater.org. As for the writing side of things, you’re reading some of it.

Doon is a charming facilitator, offering writing prompts, and sparse but strict rules for the daily two-hour creative period: no laptops and complete silence. The only water regs are to listen to the health and safety briefing and to make some noise on entry. The group is fairly socially diverse, and expertly curated by Doon, who definitely earns her whack by hosting nightly drinks and dinners with the retreatants, where we largely laugh and laugh. [There is booze, it’s not that kind of retreat].

For Doon’s part, cold water swimming helped her write her memoir “My Lady Parts: A Life Fighting Stereotypes”. She wrote it during the pandemic. “It wasn’t written for publication, I just sat down and wrote a chapter each day, working backwards from the present… What a cold dip does is it just blasts out all those voices that tell you what’s the point in doing that? Not sure I would have done it without the swimming, not sure I would have been quite as alive.”

As for so many of us, lockdown was not an easy time, we are still coming out of its shadows, and many of us with or without domestic responsibilities are grappling its legacy in creative terms. “Our focus is completely punctured by so many things in our day – admin, life, children, partners, parents – ageing parents – it’s ridiculous” says Mackichan. “You don’t have to do that all day, you can set aside two hours – two hours is a long time, you can get a lot done.”

Wild swimmers at Loch Rannock. Just do it. Join some of us at marchforcleanwater.org London Nov 3rd

Media Parents will be publishing short pieces of work from the retreat drawn from family life. If you would like to write for the Media Parents blog, please get in touch.  For more information about Doon Mackichan’s retreat click here.

Our next event is on Nov 6th, scroll down the blog for more info www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media

I’ve been a Production Manager for 24 years and one thing I enjoy most is nurturing my teams, writes Michele Kimber. Attending Media Parents Autumn Drinks has inspired me to blog for the first time about my career.

PM Michele Kimber, left, not wanted by Interpol at the Media Parents Autumn Drinks https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18138/michele-kimber

My job is not just making the budget and schedules work, it’s to ensure that everyone on the team know that they can talk to me regardless of the situation; being able to notice if someone is not happy, getting them to tell me why, and then finding a solution which is best for them and the team. It’s also making sure that you are on the same side as Editorial, so when they come up with a ‘must have’ item, it’s being able to say yes but then asking what they could do without. This ‘must have’ generally goes away!

Every time you think you’ve seen it all, something else happens that you really couldn’t have predicted.   During my 5 years working on Wife Swap (7 series back to back) we had a contributor who decided she wanted to go home before filming completed, the problem was she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to fly back North or go by train; as it was a Bank Holiday, this was causing considerable problems. Whilst she was changing her mind for the umpteenth time she managed to run away from the team into a swanky London hotel and straight into a wedding party having photos taken in the lobby; she then passed a note to a very bemused window cleaner saying she had been kidnapped by Channel 4.  That took some unpicking!

On Made in Chelsea (series 4 BAFTA award winning!)  we were filming a Christmas special in a country house and we had a very specific get out time, otherwise we were going to be heavily fined.  MIC was notorious for not adhering to timings so my job was even more stressful on that day.    I managed to get everyone out with 5 minutes to spare, when the house-keeper announced that the men’s toilet was blocked and I needed to deal with it.  With nothing to use other than my bare hands, the toilet was cleared but I was unable to wash my hand as I had to leave, only to see about ten cleaners standing at the door waiting to come in. My journey home was spent with my hand out of the car window, arriving back home at 3 in the morning.  I laughed about it eventually.

At Blast! Films, the one genre I said I would not be happy with was animals, especially if they were injured.  How they laughed, saying I’d just finished 26 episodes of 999: What’s Your Emergency?  During the first series of The Supervet onlines, I made the Online Editor turn the surgeries into black and white; by the second series I was much more comfortable with the formerly distressing material.  I went on to do not one, but three series of The Supervet!

I’m extremely adaptable and, after experience with shows like 999 and Forensics: The Real CSI (and Wife Swap) I am across all compliance and legal too. I am not good at having my photo taken (I’m afraid to say that I generally end up looking like I’m wanted by Interpol in 26 countries) so here is a picture of my trusty calculator which is currently showing my job situation…

Finally, not working, I miss not being able to tell my team that I’m going to join the Foreign Legion if things get a bit sticky.  The last time I said it, a coordinator asked me if they were a girl band he’d never heard of.  Said coordinator is now a very successful Series Producer!

To contact Michele Kimber, log in to Media Parents and click here.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/18138/michele-kimber

www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. Our next event is a hello to new members followed by Jo Woolf's Edit Producing tips - scroll down the blog for more details

Thanks everyone who joined us for our freelancers monthly hello in November. Followed by…

Media Parents members gleaning edit producing tips from Jo Woolf

Edit Producing is one of the more family-friendly roles in TV and one that TV Trainer and Exec, Jo Woolf, decided to move into over 15 years ago when she started her family. Having joined us for Media Parents Autumn Drinks, Jo is offering a free intro to Edit Producing.

Jo Woolf Edit Producer Training

Jo now runs Edit Producer training as well as working on productions and on Wednesday 6th November she is running a special session for Media Parents members with her top tips about Edit Producing, including a Q and A.

If you are new to edit producing, or want a refresher, then this 1 hour free session, hosted by Media Parents Director Amy Walker, is for you. For more info about Jo take a look at her website at jowoolftv.com

Jo Woolf, left at Media Parents Autumn Drinks

www.mediaparents.co.uk - the jobs and social networking site for short term, part time, job share and regular hours jobs in media. For free events for subscribers go here: https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk

Returning to TV as a Producer/Director after my second break in 25 years seems like a bold move when 60% of the industry is still out of work writes Edit Producer Heidi Perry. I’ve tried to reinvent myself as a charity communications manager and PR a few times but I always find I’m longing to do what I do best; collaborating with contributors and finding the gold in hours of rushes to tell a powerful story. Unscripted TV of any kind – I actually love it all – is in my DNA. On a shoot or in the edit, everything makes sense. And I know that the more experience I have of life and of other kinds of work, the more I become a better Producer/Director or Edit Producer. To this end I attended Media Parents Autumn Drinks and had a surprisingly great time, meeting some great hirers and freelancers.

Heidi Perry, centre, was on great form at Media Parents Autumn D. Pictured here with ClearCut MD Rowan Bray, hosting

While travelling with my family last year, I made 5 episodes of Shamba Shape-Up, a popular farm makeover show that goes out to 8 million viewers across East Africa. Filming with a Kenyan crew was an incredible experience and made me want to go back to TV more than ever. So I’m jumping back in! So far I’ve had some feature doc development work with Blackbox Multimedia and I’m putting feelers out for edit producing or directing. The commissioning landscape has changed considerably since I last left, but adaptability is a superpower possessed by anyone working in TV, and I have it in spades. I also have a passion for TV that I can’t shake and valuable experience I know I can put to great use.

Heidi Perry on location in Kenya

The first time I left TV, after a trip to Cameroon undercover filming Crime Scene Wild for Animal Planet, it was because on my return, my two-year old daughter Nina gave me one look and strolled nonchalantly away. It was clearly time to stop going away all the time and luckily, alternatives came along: the first at Immediate Films directing charity fundraising films that would raise £1 million at high-profile events. The second was making films for the Ministry of Justice about the issues faced by vulnerable women in the criminal justice system. Making films with a purpose honed my storytelling fast and I learnt how to impact an audience in different ways.

Heidi Perry shooting in the Cameroon for Animal Planet

When my daughter was older, I tried TV again. I’d missed the camaraderie and collaboration of team-working across a series. I did some development in BBC Specialist Factual, a Hairy Bikers’ food history series, an Antiques Roadshow spin-off obs doc, a few series of Bargain Hunt. Then I fell in love with fixed rig filming as a P/D on One Born Every Minute and The Hotel for C4.

Although bouts of edit producing made TV more compatible with parenting, when my relationship ended, I struggled as a single mum on freelance contracts. So I took an offer of a secure job in a national children’s charity. People asked if I missed TV and I’d call to mind squeezed budgets and crazy hours, trying to convince myself and them that I didn’t, but in truth I missed it unbearably. Now it feels wrong not to be doing what I love so much. So here goes again…fingers crossed!