On May 3rd Media Parents is joining forces to host a marvellous evening in conjunction with The Finish Line at the glamorous Hospital Club in Covent Garden. Attended by experienced professionals working in post production from across the industry including Media Parents, ITV Studios, Crook Productions, TwentyTwenty Television,  MSV Post, Boundless Productions, Blast! Films, Raw TV, Windfall Films, Endemol Shine, Blink Films, RDF, Buccaneer Media, Waddell Media, Bookhouse TV, Raw Cut TV, Vaudeville Post Production and The Finish Line, this event will be hugely useful for anyone who uses, or books for, the edit.

Our next event is on May 3rd at The Hospital Club, see our site emails and watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk to obtain tickets. Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training, read further on this blog for details.

This Media Parents event is an opportunity for everyone working in the edit to meet at the glamorous Hospital Club. The event is kindly hosted by The Finish Line, a company with an innovative and flexible approach to post production. The Finish Line team create pop-up post, inside or within close proximity to your production office. They offer solutions that work for your time and budget. This means they have more flexibility to make the shows you deliver look and sound as good as they possibly can.

As Zeb Chadfield, Founder of The Finish Line says “Our talent, systems and workflows are like no other. By using the latest, greatest tools and the most experienced operators, we can complete final post on site with minimal set up, which also removes the need to run around town for viewings.”

Here follow biogs for attendees from The Finish Line, we will also be joined by a host of execs working across post at a range of brilliant indies including Blast! films, Zodiak Media, Raw TV, Endemol Shine, Twenty Twenty Television, Buccaneer Media, MSV Post, RDF Media, Crook Productions and more.

Zeb chadfield, founder, The Finish Line

Zeb started linear editing at age sixteen and has worked full time since. In his early career he was a jack of all trades, doing everything from running on-set graphics, cutting and compositing title sequences to designing and building edit suits and machine rooms. His true passion however has always been Colour Grading and Online Editing which led him to work in post houses all over the world. Zeb has now settled in London where he set up The Finish Line to provide an alternative to traditional Post Production. His credits cover everything from Vicious and Hollyoaks Later to Hunted and The Island with Bear Grylls.

David Grewal, director, The Finish Line

David is a multi talented online editor with a wealth of experience on all grading and non-linear edit systems. He started his career at Resolution where he had risen from Runner to Online Editor as well as supervising the machine room before moving on to Clear Cut Pictures where he worked as Senior Online Editor. He has worked on many of the biggest factual shows of the past decade including ‘Top Gear’, ‘Wife Swap’ and ‘Big Brother’. His flexibility and calm demeanour have won him many fans all over the UK.

Jonathan Blessley, MD, The Finish Line

Jonathan’s introduction to the industry took shape at a leading post house many moons ago where he quickly ascended through the ranks, starting at entry level as a Runner and ending up as Senior Post Producer, whereby he was responsible for overseeing countless high profile series from ingest to delivery, including Stephen Fry’s Planet Word, Jungle Gold, The Charisma of Hitler, Brazil with Michael Palin to name but a few. Having being asked to run the The Finish Line at the beginning of 2015 has proven to be a most rewarding endeavour.

THE GUESTLIST

Alexandra Riverol-Brown Production Manager ITV

Alison Hunt Editor Thirty Media Ltd

Allison Dore Line Producer Crook Productions

Amy Walker Director Media Parents / Head of Talent, TwentyTwenty Television

Ann Booth-Clibborn Executive Producer freelance

Cate Duffy Assistant Editor Platform Post

Dafydd O’Connor Producer Silent Movies

Dan Jones MD Vaudeville Post Production

Daren Tiley Editor Freelance

David Grewal Partner The Finish Line

Dermot O’Brien Film Editor Freelance

Ed Bengoa Head of Production MSV Post

Elliot McCaffrey PD-Edit Producer Freelance

Esther Johnson Head of Production Boundless Productions

Farrah Drabu Editor DNR Films

Fiona Caldwell Executive Producer Boundless Productions

Gaby Koppel Series/ Edit Producer freelance

Gyles Neville Executive Producer TwoFour

Hana Canter Head of Production TwentyTwenty Television

Harriet Brady Resourcing Manager ITV Studios

Harriet Scott Series Editor Blast! Films

Harry Connolly Edit producer freelance

Ian Greaves Producer / Cameraman BigBlueWorld

Ian Hunt Series Director Thirty Media Ltd

Ian Paul Garland Editor A Light in the Dark Films

Isa Suarez Composer Freelance

Jane Bevan Production Exec Raw TV

Jason Hendriksen Line Producer Windfall Films

Jo MacGregor Edit Producer Liquid Films Ltd

Jon Nicholls Composer

Jonathan Blessley MD The Finish Line

Kate Hampel Edit Director Freelance

Katy Ferguson Series / Edit Producer Freelance

Kerry Jones Client Liaison Media Parents

Kim Duke Producer/Director + Series Producer Freelance

Lee Butterwick Avid Editor Frozen North Films Ltd

Leisa Fisicaro Edit Producer Freelance

Lucy Butler Production Manager Boundless Productions

Lynda Hall DoP Freelance

Mandy Thomson Executive Producer October Films

Matt Holden Executive Producer Endemol Shine

Matt Norman Composer Silverscore Productions

Megan Gerrie Series Producer Freelance

Miranda Peters Executive Producer Blink Films

Miranda Simmons Line Producer Firecracker Films / Freelancer

Nadia Jaynes Head of Production Buccaneer Media

Nick Singfield-Strank Head of Technical Production RDF

Nicola Waddell Executive Producer-SP Waddell Media

Paul Golding Series Producer and Location Director Freelance

Paul Tasker Series Editor Freelance

Rita Kaye Video Editor Golden Age Films

Romesh Aluwihare Editor

Ros Edwards Series Director / Series Producer freelance

Sabine Pusch edit producer freelance

Simon Myers Editor Garden Shears Editing Ltd

Soul Nazemi Editor freelance

Steve Warr Executive Producer Raw Cut TV

Tina Lohmann Head of Production Bookhouse Media

Tom Heycock Editor Self Employed

Zeb Chadfield Founder The Finish Line

Our next event is on May 3rd at The Hospital Club, see our site emails and watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk to obtain tickets. Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details.

Zeb Chadfield, Founder of  The Finish Line, sponsors of Media Parents‘ next event on May 3rd, writes here about the age-old conundrum of needing experience to get a job in TV, and discusses his own early career before launching a global post production business.

Zeb Chadfield working the fishing boat in New Zealand with his dad.

How do you get experience if no one will give you a job to get it? From my point of view there are two major misconceptions here, the first is that the request is a request for experience in the industry you are trying to get into. The second is that you need to have a job in said industry to get experience in it.

I never went to university, actually that is a massive understatement, I hardly even went to school. I was out on my own at 15 and had no experience in anything… My dad was a fisherman when I was young and he had to get up around 3am and head out to sea. Whenever I could, I would go with him, so I was very good at getting up in the morning. When I was around 9 or 10 my dad moved from fishing into tourism, and there I worked as crew on the boat when school was out. I was speaking to tourists every day, helping them to put on lifejackets and pull in fish. When a little older I started answering the phones, taking bookings and handling payments. I also had to feed penguins before school every day, so when I was 15 and I was looking for a job I had loads of experience but I just didn’t know it.

Zeb Chadfield fuelled his passion for editing with tape to tape edits of The Young Ones - he now runs a global post production outfit.

Looking back at my childhood, I also had learned something very important for my future that I had no idea was going to be so valuable, I had learned to edit! This started with Young Ones episodes that were on TV really late. I would sneak out and set the VHS to record and then run off back to bed. I would then have the episode on video, but with all the adverts. So I would setup two VHS recorders and dub the raw recording to another tape but would have to do it really quickly so there wasn’t a big dropout when you started rerecording. If you wanted smooth edits you would go through this process of playing the tape, hitting record at the right time, then pausing the recorder just as the adverts started, fast forward the player, then un-pause the recorder at the moment the player started to play the next part. This simple practice planted the editing seed.

Next was door-to-door sales. This was the most life changing experience I have had and it has honestly made me who I am today. At the time I didn’t think much of it, I was just happy to have a job and as it had nothing to do with post production you could be forgiven for thinking it was of little benefit to my future, but you would be very wrong. If you have had a job where you get doors slammed in your face and told to “fuck off” all day every day you can do anything! This job taught me so much about communicating clearly, sales, goal setting and most importantly getting knocked down and getting back up again. In any job these skills are very valuable. Communication is key when you are in a high pressure environment with tight deadlines. Being able to sell your ideas is massively beneficial and setting goals to push yourself will help you achieve things you never thought possible. You will get knocked down throughout your life so being able to take it on the chin and keep moving forward is integral if you want to achieve great things.

Zeb’s article continues here. Zeb and The Finish Line team will be hosting Media Parents’ Post Spectacular Event at The Hospital Club on May 3rd. For tickets please see site emails and the watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk further details will be published on this blog shortly.

Our next event is on May 3rd at The Hospital Club, see our site emails for details. Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details.

Huge thanks to Danny Dawson and the Alias Hire team for an enjoyable and informative tech evening at Endemol. Danny and his team are offering attendees a spectacular £100 off kit hire, so to take up that offer please email Danny c/o www.aliashire.co.uk ASAP. Here are some photos of the event, thanks to Media Parents members for taking them!

Still our favourite snap of the night - Alias Hire MD Danny Dawson rocking the timecode headband look.

Raw TV Production Executive Jane Bevan networks with some the ladies from The Garden Productions.

Executive Producer Ann Booth-Clibborn lost no time meeting people at her first Media Parents event.

Alias Hire's demo and Q&A was hailed as "brilliant" by a hundred freelancers and company members from Media Parents.

Endemol Shine Exec Producer Matt Holden helps out with some event photos.

Getting hands-on with the kit. (Photo : Matt Holden)

Huge thanks to the Alias Hire team for sponsoring and running a brilliant evening. (Photo : Michelle Reynolds)

Thanks to Janet Midian for taking this photo at her first Media Parents event. Good to know she was too engrossed to take any more! (Photo : Janet Midian)

Good to see Media Parents' Amy Walker brought all her teeth to the event. (Photo : Matt Holden)

Director Ben Lawrie shooting the action. (Photo : Michelle Reynolds)

Suits you madam! PD Sabine Pusch, currently working as an Edit Producer through Media Parents, tries the kit for size. (Photo : Ben Lawrie)

The Raw TV crew in full swing. (Photo : Matt Holden)

Photo : Michelle Reynolds

Photo : Matt Holden

Contact Danny Dawson at www.aliashire.co.uk for details of great kit hire.

Our next event is on May 3rd at The Hospital Club, see our site emails for details. Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details.

Ann Booth-Clibborn is an Executive Producer and runs her own business helping companies to tell their stories. Here she shares some of her secrets for Media Parents.

Ann Booth-Clibborn speaks at a storytelling conference. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/12497/ann-booth-clibborn

Stories are our life-blood and our obsession but can you articulate to anyone else, the story you feel instinctively in your soul? writes Ann Booth-Clibborn. Here are three storytelling tips that might help next time you are sat in an edit or production meeting, needing to get that story out in the open.

What world are you trying to create in this show?

What does it feel, look, smell like? What are the rules?

What question is your story trying to answer?

Defining this question will help refine what this story is about and define your end point.

What is the jeopardy in your story?

What is at risk? What is at stake? When you have this down to one line you will know you have passed on the essence of the story.

I am really interested in story mechanics. I currently work as a trouble-shooter and writer for Discovery, and I have my own company helping businesses tell their story. As an Exec Producer for Channel 4 features I felt I had a pretty good grasp of how to make a good show but when I went on the BBC Academy story telling course, it changed my mind and ultimately it changed my career path. I had always been obsessed with commentary, from my early training when I launched Changing Rooms, through being an SP and Exec, but my real immersion into writing was re-versioning. I had just had a baby and I have to say at the time I felt I’d gone back about 10 years in my career, but I realise now it gave me the opportunity to write.

"I had just had a baby and I have to say at the time I felt I’d gone back about 10 years in my career, but I realise now it gave me the opportunity to write."

I got the feeling for the length of a line (7 seconds for two thoughts, 11 seconds for three thoughts), and an understanding of how a script could rescue a show. Later, working on Great British Menu, I was shocked at the variety in quality of the writing and I wrote to the BBC Academy to call for a commentary course. They invited me to the Academy to help develop one. The story telling course was part of my induction. What it gave me was a language to talk about story principles to other producers and even to people who didn’t work in TV. My skill that had been entirely instinctive was now out and proud! I set up my training company, storycoach.london to help businesses tell their story well. Then an exec from Discovery called me, she had a doc in a terrible state which needed a complete restructure and rewrite. Could I help? It was like giving a cleaner a dirty house to work on – I loved it. When the show transmitted on Discovery in Russia, it was their highest rated show of the day. I then reworked a 6-part doc, Zoltan the Wolfman, for Animal Planet.

At the end of last year I remotely exec produced The Primeval Forest with a Russian production team and I found using story principles as a basis for discussion and planning really successful for me, and the Russian director. I am looking to take on another part time exec producer role now where planning stories and weaving them together is key; specialist factual, features or a doc series.  My feeling is every genre can benefit from some rock solid story telling and I can help a team deliver that. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/12497/ann-booth-clibborn

Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details. Join us at our next event on March 15th.

Media Parents is once again proud to partner with Alias Hire for our Camera Workshop on Tuesday 15th March. Please join us for a fun and informative evening which is free to members. See who is attending below.

The Alias Hire Team will be out in force to answer your questions.

Alias will be giving demos on the most contemporary shooting kit of the Sony FS7 and the Canon C300 mkII. You want to use them and Alias Hire will show you how! Alias Hire taff will be on-hand to demonstrate how to…

Shoot – Framing, colour balancing, Checking Audio levels etc

Guides and Techniques – Learn quick and easy techniques to make sure your shoot is as good as it can be

Manage Media  – How best to back up media and have it ready for ingest

Every year it seems there’s a new ‘Must Have’ camera and now you can beat the rush and learn how to use them BEFORE you have to use them!

To sign up for tickets please use the link below, in conjunction with the password on our watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk and in our site email.

http://mediaparentsaliashiretechcatchup.eventbrite.co.uk

This event is free to Media Parents subscribers. Non members are asked to pay £15 to attend, redeemable against your first month’s subscription.

Alias Hire’s Alias Academy is also offering FREE training to Media Parents members. Please see our watercooler for details.

GUEST LIST

Aaro Akin Journalist/producer Freelance Alex Bottomley Production Runner Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Alison Mee Producer Director (self shooting) UBM Alison Rooper Executive Producer In Focus Productions Amy Walker Director Media Parents Andrew Evans Editor Aceditor@aol.com Andrew Fineberg Freelance Edit Assistant Fremantle Media Ann Booth-Clibborn Executive producer freelance Ann Hawker producer freelance Anne Monnehay Editor Freelance Annie Arnold Shooting producer freelancer Ben Flower Production Exec Endemol Shine Ben Lawrie Director Freelance Brigitta Szaszfai Development researcher Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Carolina Bodmer Production Coordinator Scripps Networks International Caroline Law caroline@cloudedits.com Cloud Edits Ltd Cath Longbottom director, self shooter Flying Duck Limited Catherine Fox-Kirk Production Manager Raw TV Chris Purcell director/camera Right Angle Films Ltd Clare Burns Producer Freelance Claudia Hodes Researcher The Garden Productions Daniella Byrne Production Runner Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd DAREN TILEY EDITOR DT EDITING SERVICES LTD David Coward Producer Director Pathfinder Diana Hinshelwood Producer Freelance Donna Harry Shooting AP/Producer Freelance Ed Booth Series producer C5 Elizabeth Lawal Runner Raw TV Elli Josephs Producer Freelance Fiona Calvert PRODUCER / DIRECTOR FREELANCE (BBC) Fionna Moore Researcher Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd FRED HEPBURN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER NUTOPIA Gaby Koppel Edit/Series Producer Freelance George Bland Editor – Director Fire Rabbit LTD Gilberte Phanor Producer Sky News GINA mahoney Edit Producer Freelance GINNY BING PRODUCER/DIRECTOR FREELANCE Graciela Watson Edit Producer / SP Freelance Harriet Scott Series Editor Remarkable Television Harry Connolly Film Editor Harry Connolly Hayley Smith Series Producer Director Freelance Hazel Palmer Cameraman freelance Helen Walker Editor freelance Hermina Campbell Shooting PD Passionate Productions Ian Greaves Producer / Cameraman BigBlueWorld Jane Bevan Production Executive Raw TV Janet Midian Producer freelance at Discovery Jeannine Dowling-Jones PA/EA/Office Manager Mettle Jeff Bannis freelance freelance Jens Wikholm General Manager eva – the video social network Jessica Northcott Raw TV Runner Jo Azzopardi Production Exec Endemol Shine Joan Cuffy Production Manager Freelance Joanna Gretton Producer Freelance Jody Collins Production Exec Endemol Shine Jules Seymour Series Producer C5 / freelance Kate Dooley PD The Garden Kate Hampel Edit Director Freelance Kim Duke Producer/director; series producer Freelance Lara Oheimer Production Assistant Wild Pictures lauren Pollock Researcher Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Leisa Fisicaro Producer / Director / Edit Producer Freelance Lina Caicedo Researcher Raw TV Lorraine Molloy Producer/director freelancer Louise Orton Producer/Director Freelance Lucie Kon Executive Producer Blakeway Productions Maria Vazquez-Medina Video editor/ Self-shooter Director freelance Martha Baileu production assistant in focus productions Matt Currington PD freelance Matt Holden Executive Producer Endemol Shine Meriel Beale Exec/SP Freelance Michelle Brooks Producer Show patrol Michelle Reynolds Producer / Director Freelance Miriam Ryan Producer Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Morgan Phillips Producer/Director Freelance Nicki Stoker Producer/Director Freelance Nicola Asamoa Talent Manager Endemol Shine UK Nicola Waddell Series Editor Boxty Films-Waddell Media Octavia Landy Line producer MTV Paola Vera Digital Media Freelancer patricia emery producer/director sole trader Pauline Roenisch Production Manager Freelance Petet Demetris Producer/Director Freelance Phil Stein P/D, SP, Edit Producer freelance Rebecca McAllen ITV Recruitment ITV Richard Warburton Exec Producer MTV Rita Kaye Video Editor Golden Age Films Robert Cranham Casting Researcher/Researcher Freelance Rocio Cano PD PepaLtd Rosemary Laryea Producer/Presenter Rosemary Laryea Productions Ryker Mitchell Jr Researcher Freelance S Charlton Director-Editor Fudge Tiger Design Agency Sabine Pusch edit producer freelance Samuel Lumley Researcher Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Sandra Smith HoP Endemol Shine SHANY STEPHANY PRODUCER NEWSPROMEDIA Sharron Ward Producer/Director Katalyst Productions Ltd Silvia Galeazzi Assistant Producer Freelancer Stephanie Stafford Runner Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Steven Brown Freelance Video Producer Freelance Video Producer Suki Javle AP Knickerbockerglory TV Ltd Suna Yokes Journalist/Runner – Tamsin Curry Producer Freelance Tom Heycock Editor Camden Television Training William Shaylor Shaylor PM Freelance ZOE BROOKS Promo Producer freelance Zoe Popham Producer Freelance

Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details. Join us at our next event on March 15th.

It’s 3am, I’m alone, and it is pitch black. The battery in my head torch just went flat and I’m trudging through knee-deep mud. All I can hear is the sound of the Costa Rican jungle. My finger stings from a spider bite on the knuckle, and I’m holding a bottle full of Dame Kelly Holmes’ piss. It can mean only one thing: I was back in TV and I was grinning from ear to ear. The last time I smiled this intensely was when my kids were born.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/8221/luke-lovell

Six years previously I was often on location for months, and, as any parent will tell you, it’s not conducive to the early years of marriage and children. I moved to Devon, began lecturing at a university and started a company making TV-style content for a few well-known brands. It fitted perfectly; I had regular hours, and could be there to pick my wife off the floor, or vice versa, when the exhaustion from having two young kids really kicked in (although she’s tougher than me; she worked on Kilroy). But there was something about the camaraderie, the challenge, and the pace of TV that I missed.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/8221/luke-lovell

It was time to return. The kids were older now and my wife was very supportive, we were much less sleep-deprived. I was excited, but I’d been naïve; several score of applications later I was getting nowhere. I applied for the Media Parents Back to Work scheme and didn’t get a place. What was going on? I had to keep going. I was still the same guy who had been praised for his TV work. To cut a long story short, after setting up meetings and making friends with the M4, an SP friend of mine recommended me for a new series. I met the show’s SP who, and hats off to him for taking a bit of a risk with me, hired me as story producer.

It was on that shoot that, with a little convincing, Dame Kelly Holmes passed me her warm bottle in preparation for the infamous urine drinking scene in that show. It’s a year or so on from that night in the jungle and I’ve just finished working on the second series; and more work has followed through word of mouth. I’ve also had interviews and an offer of work through Media Parents which I couldn’t accept because I was booked.

It’s largely down to those I had worked with in the past, who knew what I was capable of, that I’m back in the game. Forgive me for quoting Meet the Parents, but there is a circle of trust within TV, a network of experienced EPs, SPs and PDs whose recommendation adds real weight to any CV or showreel I can put together. You can add these recommendations to your Media Parents profile page too. I know from crewing up my own commercial productions that the perceived glamour of the industry, and so the onslaught of applications, makes it harder for employers to take a chance on someone they don’t know.

So my advice for Media Parents readers is go to events, meet the employers, talk to the people who know your capabilities and ask them to spread the word; personal recommendations are much easier to swallow. Your own urine, it turns out, is not.

Back home from location and with the kids.

[Keep an eye on site emails for details of Media Parents next event.]

Luke Lovell, PD

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/8221/luke-lovell

Luke is a freelance shooting story producer/PD for TV but also produces video content marketing the commercial world.

He shoots, directs and produces factual and factual entertainment TV programmes mostly, but has also worked on obs doc and consumer affairs shows for the major channels and independent production companies.

Having worked on shows including DIY SOS (BBC1 Primetime), Bear Grylls Man v Wild (channel 4 and discovery), Bear Grylls mission survive (ITV Primetime), and Seaside Rescue (BBC1 Primetime), Luke has a wealth of experience with different major channels and programme formats.

Last years series of Bear Grylls Mission Survive was recently a finalist for an NTA. Luke is currently looking for a filler job before his next series starts in late April.

Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details.

How many of you dress for success? I don’t mean eighties powersuit, Joan Collins shoulder pad style, I mean matching your clothes to suit or alter your mood, asks Emma Hyman, a Development Producer who’s worked through Media Parents.

Media Parents members Emma Hyman (right) networking with Michaela Hennessy-Vass and Sir Ian McKellen in 2012 http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1927/emma-hyman

Let’s say for example, I’m knackered – I have a choice, I can wear grey and brown so everyone will know and stay away or I can wear bright pink and turquoise to brighten my mood and lift my spirits. Let’s be honest here, nobody really wants to see a morose development producer beiging around. Taupe is not the colour that will inspire Fact Ent hits or a sunshine-filled kids’ format or even a meaty factual series. Taupe is the colour of accountants and tax advisors, taupe can be left in the grown-up corner of John Lewis – I’m heading to the sale section, turns out yellow shoes are always going cheap in January!? Borrowing the words from my first TV mentor, the great Sir Peter Bazalgette “I’m not afraid of colour!”

Sir Peter Bazalgette "not afraid of colour".

I had a baby not so long ago. My hair and back were often covered in a vomitus slime that only parents can appreciate. My eye bags were so heavy that I looked like I’d been carrying my Tesco shop…on my face. But pass me the red lippy and hey presto, I felt a million dollars (well, more like ten quid but you know what I mean!).

Developing ideas when on mat leave : "We meet at BAFTA every few weeks"

I’ve been working from home for a while now, bashing out kids’ formats for Cbeebies and CBBC (taking advantage of my current brain zone) with my lovely work partner Christopher Pilkington – even getting a funded pilot commissioned. We meet at Bafta every few weeks so I can play at being a grown-up. There is obviously much wardrobe deliberation pre-meet. “Does this look ok?” I ask nervously to my over-honest 9 year old, “Hmm,” she says in a Wintouresque tone, “lose the belt!”

The focus has been fantastic, a sanity saver for those more tedious moments of parenting. Don’t get me wrong, looking after kids is extremely rewarding but so is using my brain for something even more creative than what to make from Playdoh today. On those rare mornings when I actually had a chunk of time to write, I would really think about what to wear for the office (my kitchen table). As shallow as it sounds, I found that if I made a bit of an effort: clean clothes, brushed hair, a bit of the Barry M, then I felt more grown-up, more empowered, more creative! I’m in fine company, apparently Magritte used to put on a suit, walk around the block and enter his own front door every morning to get himself into work mode. And he did alright, didn’t he?!

The last few weeks I’ve been challenging myself to get back into the work place. No more working at home, developing ideas in between shovelling rice cakes into my little ones mouth and dragging my big ones to swimming, art etc etc. I need a break. (Just to clarify in case any future employees are reading this – I don’t mean a slacking break, I mean a break from the domestic.) I was lucky enough to find work through a Media Parents networking event so I need to relaunch again, jumping into something other than the local swimming baths. A new challenge. To think in a team, and write with an end and dress to impress someone other than a one year old. I need a new makeup that isn’t left over from my wedding over ten years ago and most of all I need a new wardrobe. To sum up, I’d love a job – a hectic, pressured, fun-packed, brain-turning, worth-dressing-up-for job.

emma hyman development producer

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1927/emma-hyman

Having been trained as an Endemol Creative Intern, I spent years developing all sorts of shows for various Indies. I have worked at massive corporations and as part of a two-man team in new companies. I’ve developed everything from fact-ent and factual to quiz shows, Saturday night entertainment, day-time, kids’ shows and everything in between. I get a buzz from sparking off an idea but also love the challenge of cracking a tricky format. I’m a great team-player and really enjoy a good brainstorm but I can also work hard by myself if needs be. I have some big ideas in my head that I’d love to share with a company that is willing to invest in me.

Media Parents is brilliant for jobs, networking and training - see www.mediaparents.co.uk for details.

Media Parents Series Producer / Editor Ceri Rowlands on How to survive and thrive as a Freelancer outside London. Since writing this Ceri has landed a long contract as a Series Editor at Off The Fence Productions.

BBC Commissioning Exec Adrian Padmore holds Media Parents' first Skype meeting with SP / EP Ceri Rowlands from Cardiff. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6763/ceri-rowlands

I’ve always loved a challenge and TV Series Producing, with it’s competing editorial, budgetary and relationship building demands, provides me with that in spades, writes Ceri Rowlands.  My current challenge is my biggest to date: to keep up a regular flow of work in the South West, outside London where 95% of freelance jobs are located. When my children were babies, I was still free to work away. But now, with a 5 and 9 year old who take a dim and vociferous view of me absenting myself, and a husband who’s patiently sucked up the childcare for way too many years, the days of working Monday to Friday a two-hour train ride or one-hour flight away for months on end, are no longer an option.

So, I find myself in the position where I’m turning down cracking offers of London-based jobs with no certainty of securing a job locally. The solution, I’ve found, is to be flexible. So, in the gaps between Series Editor and Series Producer jobs in Cardiff and Bristol, I’ve taken Development, Casting and Edit Director roles.

Ceri Rowlands networking at Media Parents event in Cardiff. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6763/ceri-rowlands

Companies and individuals can sometimes take some persuading to take you on in a ‘less demanding’ role (not that they are though).  The key is to communicate to the company, often best in person, that all your experience will make for a better production and ensure that their are lives easier.  And at the end of the day, that’s what we all want.

When it comes to negotiating my rate, I adjust it according to the job, just as I did when I lived in London and moved between international, network and digital productions.  My advice is to keep abreast of the ‘going rate’ for different production roles – you can ask questions about this, anonymously if you like, on the Media Parents watercooler.  Also, be sure to communicate to a potential employer what additional skills and experience you can bring to the production. You may find yourself covering several roles and, if so, you’ll need to negotiate a fair rate.

Outside London it’s also far more acceptable to cross genres.  So my time in Cardiff has seen me swing from Film, to Features to Specialist Factual. Other friends in the same boat have built up parallel careers as Web Producers. One turned to writing and is now a Costa Book Awards nominee.

The other challenge that life outside London brings is that, if you want to stay here, you simply can’t rely on talent websites alone to provide you with your next job. Most local companies recruit by word of mouth or through personal introductions.  You have to network. Media Parents regularly organise Freelancer/Employer events in Bristol and Cardiff, where you can make new contacts as well as possibly securing your next job. I find them very helpful. And don’t worry if you can’t make it to their London events, there’s always SKYPE.  This is how I connected with BBC Comm Ed Adrian Padmore last year; me in my kitchen in Cardiff, him in Broadcasting House (see photo above, it is me). Seek out any local Freelancer groups, social media or otherwise.  Attend every networking event you can.

Ceri Rowlands networking at the BBC with Media Parents in Cardiff http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6763/ceri-rowlands

Having recently stepped up to the role of Series Editor, I’m now working towards securing an Exec role locally and have reached the stage where I’m also trying to generate my own work.  Having successfully developed both a CBBC and S4C living history series for Indus TV, and worked up a makeover format for BBC Wales, which was then successfully re-commissioned, I’ve recently started developing my own programme ideas.

I’m used to diversifying – in my early twenties I swapped my career path in Law for one in TV. One year later I relocated from Cardiff to London, and then, via a stint in BSB and Channel 4’s Presentation Departments, became a Studio Director; first at Channel One TV and then ITN. Three years later I moved into Single Camera Directing and Producing. Eight years later I became a Series Producer and, more recently, I’ve been Series Editing. There were plenty of obstacles along the line, but with a lot of hard work and more than a fair helping of blind optimism and sheer bloody mindedness, I always found a way through.

As a result of this will to survive in TV, my CV of late may not look like the London ‘norm’ but it’s been an enjoyable ride so far. I’ve zoned my CV by job and have several tailored CVs so I send out the most relevant one to the job in hand. This life is certainly not nine to five, the days are long and if anything, I’m working harder than ever. But the big bonus is, I get to see my children. And you can’t say fairer than that.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6763/ceri-rowlands

Resolved to do some voluntary work this year? This piece by PD Kasia Uscinska on filmmakers’ charity Dreamflight is bound to inspire you in 2016.

Kasia is a specialist factual PD currently looking for work : http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1582/kasia-uscinska

I never set out to volunteer or donate my time to a good cause writes Kasia Uscinska. It kind of just happened.  But if an opportunity doesn’t come your way may I suggest you seek one out.  I work as a PD in history, arts and science programming but some of my most fulfilling projects have been outside of the TV world.  There are some amazing experiences to be had, I know I’ve had my share.  If you have been thinking about giving of your time and skills maybe my story will inspire you.

Back in 1999 I got a call from a very suave-voiced Concorde pilot inviting me to Florida. How could a girl refuse?  But we wouldn’t be going alone.  In fact the holiday wasn’t for us at all but for 192 sick and disabled children.  My services were required to film the trip and produce a 2-hour video for the kids.  That first trip blew me away.   Never had I met so many incredible children or generous volunteers.   What I didn’t realize at the time is that 17 years later I would still be involved with this charity.

So what’s it all about?

Dreamflight is the charity; its mission is to change lives by giving deserving children the experience of a lifetime.  Every October dozens of kids arrive at a hotel near Heathrow airport for the start of an amazing 10 day trip.  There are tearful goodbyes as parents hand over their precious wards to the charity guardians.  This is strictly a holiday for the kids.  Families get some well earned respite from care duties while the children get to experience life beyond the confines of serious illness.  Cancer, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, heart problems, kidney failure, birth defects…the list of conditions these kids are battling is astounding.  An army of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other non-medical volunteers provide the 24 hour care needed during the trip.

The kids, aged between 8 and 12, come from every corner of the UK and Northern Ireland and are placed into 12 regional groups: ‘The Marvels’ (the West of Scotland), ‘Shrek’ (Wales), ‘The Simpsons’ (the East of England), ‘Goofy’ (the Midlands) you get the picture.  Each group has their own camera operator.  Our job is to document the kids’ every moment, first off is a big party hosted by Dick and Dom.  It’s wonderful to see how many kids are keen to strut their stuff on the dance-floor, particularly those that might be in wheelchairs or have other physical impairments. Some, of course, are nervous and anxious, this is their first time away from families and home.  However hard you try to engage them they sit quietly in the corner refusing to join the party.  But after years of experience I know that by the final night those same kids will be performing in front of crowds, cracking jokes and have a renewed self-confidence.

Equipment and filming

The 12 camera crew have a wide variety of experience. We have everyone from DOPs (Jon Boast is a long-term supporter too) to kit-room assistants.   The requirements are being able to shoot and edit and importantly interact with the kids in a genuine and sensitive manner.  Riding rollercoasters and wearing fancy dress is non-negotiable.  Everyone is equipped with Canon XF105s.  The charity owns 6, the rest are lent by The London Camera Company and ProCam.  We have top-lights, CF cards, mono-pods, rain-covers – everything that’s necessary.  Every evening we download our footage onto hard-drives before backing it all up onto a specially built NAS drive. That way not a frame will be lost.  I generally film the trip in an observational style catching things as they happen.  I want the kids’ reactions, the fear as they face something new and the resulting joy and excitement when they conquer it.  Because there are 16 children in each group it is important to ensure equal coverage.  It can be easy to focus on the loud characters or those that play up to camera but we’re not here to make TV.  Our purpose is to follow every child’s journey and the relationships they forge with both other children and the adults.   I get little pieces to camera with the kids about what they’re doing, they enjoy having their 5 minutes of presenter stardom.  I remember one boy who insisted on doing a David Attenborough and popping out from the bushes to talk about dolphins.  However I also shoot proper interviews with each child and adult.  This way the parents get to know exactly who these people are that their kids come home talking about.

What’s it like to film so many kids?  Most are intrigued by the camera and want to have a go.  I always explain how it works and let them try their hand at filming.  They love to copy and often film little interviews.  Sometimes they come back with golden moments like mini weather reports for the folks back home.  There’s usually a child or two who hates the camera and runs when I turn it in their direction.  It can be tricky winning them round, but not impossible.  Over the years I’ve discovered there are a several of things I can do.  One is simply to chat and get to know them without turning the camera on.  Another is give them a one-on-one camera training session, letting them explore all the strange knobs and buttons makes it all less scary.  The other is to pass the camera to one of the keener kids and ask them to film their friend.  A child who normally avoids the camera tends to engage more when someone their age is doing the filming.  Soon enough even big old camera-op me is not that intimidating and I have a new friend.

The trip

Everything about the trip is meant to make the kids feel like VIPs.  The morning after the Dick n Dom party a police escort takes everyone directly airside at Heathrow to a huge hangar where Dreamflight’s very own 747 is waiting.  BA set up a mobile check-in at the hotel the day before, so passports have already been checked and bags scanned.  The kids are escorted onto the plane by a marching band where the crazily dressed crew are waiting for them.  This crew have all volunteered to fly the plane out, stay for the trip to look after the kids and fly everyone back at the end.

The flight is 8 hours of fun and games with silly string fights, face-painting and general chaos.  We fly at a much lower altitude than normal to keep cabin pressure as high as possible for kids with breathing difficulties.  First class in the nose of the plane is turned into a mobile hospital where kids can get physiotherapy, dialysis and other treatments.  Upon landing the kids are greeted by a team of US volunteers who whisk them away in a convoy of buses flanked by police outriders.  The main motorway to the hotel is specially closed off for the Dreamflight VIPs.

You can imagine the organization something like this takes but also how much fun it is to be film it all.  The whole of Dreamflight takes over a Holiday Inn and what follows is 7 days of fantastic theme-park adventures.  Each day the charity visits a different theme park: DisneyWorld, Universal Studios, Discovery Cove, Islands of Adventure…we invade them all.  The evenings have parties, visits from NASA astronauts, opportunities for getting up on stage to sing, dance or tell jokes and more.

Kasia with the Dreamflight team http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1582/kasia-uscinska

Apart from being enormous fun exactly how might such a holiday change lives as the charity suggests?  A lot of these children have gone through incredible physical and mental pain.  Some are depressed and despondent about their situation, understandable particularly if they’re suffering from a terminal or degenerative condition.  Imagine being 10 years old knowing your muscles are wasting away so that soon enough you won’t even be able to swallow.  Or what if you’re in remission from a brain tumour but worry constantly that it may return?  Maybe you have a feeding tube constantly attached to your stomach and feel self-conscious. Life can seem bleak and unfair.  These are just some of the things these kids face.  But by treating them as much as possible as ordinary children, letting them do things the average kid does, they can conquer their fears and learn that they can attempt so much more than they previously thought.

Simple things like doing the log flume ride Splash Mountain or the Hulk rollercoaster may normally be out of reach for a wheelchair-bound kid but Dreamflight make it happen.  For a child with severe cerebral palsy and little upper body strength it might mean stopping a ride and carrying her on.  Adults will then sit behind and either side of the child holding her upright throughout just so that she can experience the thrills and sensations others take for granted.  This is something their parents would never dare do but with medics on hand the group know what can be undertaken safely.  Often the more disabled the child the more important such physical experiences are. This is why there is great emphasis on using the hotel swimming pool where kids are even taught to swim.  There is also a visit to a waterpark and on the last day every child gets to swim with a dolphin.  Water is the only place where physically disabled kids feel truly free and in control. They aren’t strapped into a wheelchair, the water supports them naturally.  The charity has 12 Gopros as well as other waterproof cameras so we as camera crew can be right alongside the kids capturing these important events.

The Edit and Premiere

Every member of the camera crew is responsible for editing their own footage into a, at minimum, 90 minute film.  We all know how much work goes into editing and this can definitely put some people off from volunteering.  I remember one year taking 144 hours to edit two 2-hour Dreamflight films.  The films are made into DVDs but before they are sent out to the kids each group has a reunion and a film Premiere at a local cinema.  Both kids and families are invited to see the final product projected in glorious HD.  I like to sit at the front of the auditorium and turn round to look at the kids’ faces as they watch themselves on the giant screen.  That moment is priceless.  All those hours in edit are worth it just to witness the laughter, tears, embarrassment and joy of my audience.  (I’ve never had that kick with a TV show.  Has anyone?)  All the mums and dads, brothers and sisters get to watch how shy and nervous children blossom into confident personalities.  When else do we TV folk ever get to see the true impact of something we have made on the final viewer?

By recording the trip on film the children have a powerful reminder of what they were able to achieve.  They can share the holiday experience with their families who are often curious to understand why their children return home with confident new personalities.  The film can also serve as a memento for those families whose children have terminal illnesses.  I can personally attest to the power of these films.  I remember one father coming to me after watching the footage and saying he now saw why his son had come back with a new lease on life.  He said that before the trip the whole family was despondent but their son came back full of such joy that they were all re-invigorated.  Kids will watch their DVD copies of the film again and again till they wear them out.  These are all such huge compliments as a film-maker and are a welcome boost in the sometimes jaded world of TV.   I can truly say that of the many television programmes I have made over the years this project has brought me the greatest joy and satisfaction.

If you are interested or want to know more then do drop the charity a line to video_team@dreamflight.org

www.dreamflight.org

Kasia at a Media Parents event with Pro Motion Hire

Kasia is a specialist factual PD currently looking for work :

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/1582/kasia-uscinska

Media Parents Series Producer Director Marion Milne writes about the shooting of Blood & Gold: The Making of Spain with Simon Sebag Montefiore. TXing from Tuesday 8 December 9pm for three weeks on BBC Four.

Presenter Simon Sebag Montefiore and Series Producer/Director Marion Milne in Churriana, Spain @MarionMilne @simonmontefiore

“And action” I said. Or rather muttered. We were, after all, in the Royal Chapel of a vast Catholic Cathedral. Not so much bring up the bodies, as bring the crew down to the bodies. “This,” said Simon Sebag Montefiore in a perfectly pitched Attenborough-esque whisper, “is in many ways the secret heart, of Spain itself…”

“Can we stop there?” The gravelly Canadian tones of my sound recordist, one of the best in the business, in my headphones. “False start,” I said, hoping the tension could not be heard in my voice.

“Just collapsing the boom pole. Low ceilings alert. Thirty seconds.” Our recordist would never stop us without good reason.

“Standby to go again,”I said, “and action.” Once more the four of us, half bent double, crept down the stone stairs of the vault. The soft shoe shuffle. “This is the vault, continued Sebag, where the Spanish Kings and Queens are actually buried. It’s usually closed to the public. And they’ve let me in.”

Well not in so many words I thought flattening myself against the chilled, damp walls, to allow our cameraman to follow the action, opening up the iris, as it grew dark and hushed inside the tomb. They didn’t say no to us filming down here. Then again, we didn’t, strictly speaking, ask.

It was a far cry from the bright sunshine outside as Sebag concluded. “Cut,” I said: “Great take everyone. Let’s get out of here.”

Just another day on the road with Simon Sebag Montefiore, shooting the epic series Blood & Gold: The Making of Spain, which airs on BBC Four, from Tuesday December 8th at 9pm. In three hours, in classic Sebag style, this is an entertaining, erudite romp through Spain’s story.

Series Producer/Director Marion Milne meets Nutopia COO Helena Tait at Media Parents November event. http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/8487/marion-milne

It’s a narrative populated with some of the great characters of history: Hannibal, the Carthaginian General, whose family ruled over Southern Spain in the third century BC; El Cid, the legendary medieval warrior who – we found out – turned out to be a ruthless mercenary; Ferdinand and Isabella, whose infamous Spanish Inquisition was the forerunner of a modern terror state; Philip the Second who was once briefly King of England (who knew?) before launching an Armada against us.

The joy of a Simon Sebag Montefiore series is he weaves together all those half remembered bits of history from school into an epic, televisual narrative and then throws in some fabulous new characters and stories as well.

The sweep of the series allowed us to shoot in some of the most cinematic places in Europe: on a fast moving boat in the Bay of Cadiz which opens the series; in Italica, a city of Roman ruins so well preserved they look like a film set; through the narrow streets of Granada’s Albaicin district and inside the exquisite Alhambra at dawn; atop the Giralda, Seville’s bell tower; in the Medina Al Zahara, Cordoba’s forgotten Moslem citadel; in the Valley of the Fallen, Franco’s grandiose memento to Fascism.

It doesn’t get much better than shooting these kind of series, on a sensible in-house BBC budget, with support from the Open University and BBC Worldwide. It’s what British specialist factual TV does best. Proper authoritative and accessible broadcasting. Long may it continue.

Media Parents’ Marion Milne was Series Producer and Director of two episodes of Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new series Blood & Gold The Making of Spain, from Tuesday December 8 at 9pm on BBC Four.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/8487/marion-milne

Simon Ardizzone, also of Media Parents, was editor of two episodes.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/7258/simon-ardizzone