Join Media Parents at BECTU Freelancers fair on Friday 29th June.  Get free CV advice from us and take part in the seminars on offer below.  Entry costs 10 pounds for non BECTU members.

Seminars:

Starting with one that I’ve taken part in on the BBC/TRC Media Series Producer Programme, so I know it’s good!  Media Parents Editor Leo Carlyon also went to this session at the FastTrain event this week and thought it was great:

14.30 – 15.30 Combining Words and Pictures … Scripting for Factual TV presented by Frank Ash, courtesy of the BBC Academy

This session is for anyone who wants to improve the quality of their commentary writing.  Principally aimed at those in factual, but relevant to all. Writing effective commentary is one of the most challenging aspects of programme-making. This session will offer participants an insight into the essential ingredients of writing to complement and enhance pictures and sync, including the type of language to use, and the importance of rhythm and finding the appropriate style for your film. As well as practical tools and tips, the session will look at a number of case studies from different factual TV genres.

10.00 – 11.15 Back to the Future: What lies ahead for British Film? We debate film policy and key recommendations from the Film Policy Review and the BFI’s Forward Plan. Our panel will include Maggie Ellis (head of production & talent development at Film London), Roy Button OBE (senior VP and managing director of Warner Bros Productions), celebrated film director, Ken Loach and Martin Spence (assistant general secretary, BECTU).

11.45 – 13.00 Budget Blues: Making shows on a shoestring Investment, or lack of it, governs the range and quality of what we see on our screens and impacts on the way we work. Join John McVay from PACT and Kate Townsend from Storyville.

14.00 – 15.15 Data Wrangling: How to master this key technical challenge Managing your digital workflow and backing up what you’ve filmed securely is one of the most fraught – and potentially fiddly – aspects of shooting tapelessly. This taster session will help answer your questions, and show you how to handle your digital footage simply, safely and reliably.

15.45– 17.00 Get Your Career on the Right Track with top tips from the expertsEveryone knows that competition for jobs in film and tv is fierce and never more so than in the current recession. How do you get that all-important first break? Join this session for top tips on how to make your talent shine through, from our panel of industry experts: Caroline Carter, BBC talent executive; Colin Campbell-Austin, people development manager, Channel 4; Alison Small, director of the Skillset Film Industry Craft and Skills Academy; Carys Morgan, Broadcast Hotshot and head of development at Minnow Films.  The session will be chaired by documentary film-maker, Marc Sigsworth.

60 Minute Talks

11.30 – 12.30 Accountancy Question Time, chaired by Steve Sykes, Blue Skies Partnership

Steve Sykes will provide a briefing on key accountancy issues for freelances and then the floor will be yours! PAYE, Schedule D, VAT registered or not, Limited Co or sole trader? Submit your questions for our guest panel in advance to selliott@bectu.org.uk or bring them along to the discussion.

13.00 –14.00 New entrants: is it possible to avoid exploitation?

New entrants are caught in a double bind: they need experience but there is a severe shortage of paid entry opportunities. The national minimum wage exists to protect the vulnerable from exploitation but sadly some employers in our industry are willing to break the law. Join us to find out about your rights, how you can enforce them and what you can do to get paid. Our speakers will include, Martin Spence, BECTU assistant general secretary, Michelle Wyer, assistant director, National Minimum Wage Compliance Unit and a representative from Intern Aware.

16.00 – 17.00 Cast, Direct, Produce: The Importance of Collaboration in the Making of Quality TV Drama

The success of Downton Abbey, Titanic, The Tudors and others suggests that a new era has dawned for British drama. Lyn Burgess, top personal and business coach to the entertainment industry, will chair a conversation on the ins and outs of television drama casting, directing and producing.  Join Lyn, producer Madonna Baptiste (Margaret Thatcher:The Long Walk To Finchley), director, Diarmuid Lawrence (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Jill Trevellick (Merlin) to discuss the importance of team collaboration, creativity, and imaginative casting to ensure success in quality TV drama. The session will be followed by an opportunity to network. PLEASE NOTE: This particular session is aimed solely at casting directors, TV directors and producers.

Advance booking for all sessions is strongly advised. Please avoid booking sessions where the times conflict.

Freelance Toolkit Workshop

Two sessions of the Freelance Toolkit will be delivered by the much-lauded David Thomas of David Thomas Media. 16 places per session. Advance booking essential.

CV/Showreel Clinic

Courtesy of the Crewing Company (which is also exhibiting along with its sister company Alias Hire) visitors can book in advance for a 15 minute One to One to review their promo material. Advance booking essential; places are limited. Prepare to subject your promo material in advance to make the most of the opportunity.

Accountancy Corner

Visitors will also be able to meet with a team of tax experts for advice and information. Arrive early to book a one-to-one.

BECTU members free, non members use this address to book your place:

http://www.bectu.org.uk/events/2012/06/29/713

Not everyone on Media Parents is a parent.  (The only restriction on the site is that people must have three or more years TV experience).  Media Parents lists all kinds of jobs, so often the freelancers who aren’t parents fill jobs which otherwise wouldn’t be filled by the parents on the site.  Here Shooting PD Jim Shreim and AP/Producer Ginita Jiminez share photos and experiences from their latest overseas gig through Media Parents.  World’s Scariest Drivers TXes TONIGHT on Channel 5 at 8pm.

We took 14 flights in 12 days for the World’s Scariest series, writes Ginita Jimenez. We landed in New York and worked our way westwards through North Carolina, across 5 States and 3 time zones, touching on a Texas-Mexico border town, the Arizona Desert, the Rocky Mountains, the Tornado wrecked town of Joplin and San Diego’s beach metropolis, ending up in the Hollywood Hills, before returning back to the UK.  This was one of two US shoots for World’s Scariest Series 2, now showing on Channel 5.

I’m an experienced bi-lingual Spanish-speaking Assistant Producer, writes Ginita Jimenez. For the last five years I’ve worked on a wide range of fast turnaround factual programming in hostile environments in Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. I’ve interviewed a myriad of extraordinary people the most notable being, Mauritanian Nomads, Bangladeshi and Soweto School Children, Welsh Male Choristers who made the fastest selling classical album of all time and a Spanish ex drug dependant who completely turned his life around. Most recently for Discovery, I interviewed engineers at the Alma Observatory in the Atacama Desert, whose mission is to move millions of pounds worth of antenna receptors at a height of 16,000ft above sea level under the duress of oxygen starvation and in wind chills of -25°. Their office is the second highest in the world, the first being somewhere in China.

Interviewing contributors is one of the most enjoyable parts of my role and I continue to marvel at the walks of life I’ve crossed thanks to working in the media.  So I was delighted when my first job through Media Parents was working on Mentorn’s World’s Scariest Series. A production company I thoroughly admire and a themed series built on the mighty perspective of raw amateur video and emotional witness testimony.

I was assigned to work on World’s Scariest Drivers, the concluding episode in a series of four, starting with World’s Scariest Flights followed by Scariest Weather and Scariest Animal Encounters. PD Jim Shreim returned to work on Drivers as he’d already PD’d on Greatest Dare Devils (and had done an American shoot too) so he was familiar with the editorial parameters set by Series 1.

In addition to producing our Drivers programme Jim and I were assigned to pick up the lion share of Scariest’s US interviews. Due to the extreme nature of these stories, we’re talking dust storms, landslides, tornados and extreme animal and driving incidents, those involved lived in relatively remote areas making the flight path quite a challenge. Additionally, the schedule was fluid in parts at the point of our departure, which is not unusual for a production of this scale.

Two factors made this prospect a little less daunting. Bar our 2 brilliant floating researchers, one PD and AP worked in partnership on their programme throughout the research and contributor finding stages but when it actually came to the shooting phase, due to the multiplicity of several happening at once or PD’s needing to start their edits etc, we were prepped to pick up shoots for each other’s programmes. This meant keeping to the show’s editorial and visual shooting style whilst upping the bar already set by Series 1.

This was no more relevant than to Jim and I, who were essentially picking up a quarter of the series in the US. So the first factor was that communication channels between teams and between the PD and AP regarding story, contributors, scripts and logistics, had to be fluent and precise. And it was. Credit to our SP, Amy Walker for configuring such a resilient and dedicated team (thanks to Media Parents and Mentorn Media’s talent) and for setting the pace.

Secondly, our kit was compact. We always carried the XF305 on board with us and the rest of the kit piled safely (one light, stands, boom, tripod, batteries), just about made 1 trolley, leaving a pair of hands to deal with our personal luggage.

This sounds terribly mundane but small disciplines like this matter when you’re dealing with the physical and mental demands of foreign shoots as intense as this, and when days, nights and flights blend into each other.

We flew and filmed and flew and filmed, so much so that we had airport security searches and pocket emptying speeds off to a fine art like a scene out of Up in the Air.

We had a great Production Co-ordinator, Marco Calabrese, and Production Manager, Tina Lohmann, who worked around the clock (due to the time differences) to ensure our movement timings were as kind as logistically possible, allowing us to get to the location quickly and get the best possible emotional delivery from our contributors.

On one particular early morning, we set off on a two-flight journey from Phoenix’s desert terrain to the sleepy snow covered town of Granby, Colorado at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. We had three interviews to shoot for Drivers that day followed by a two-hour drive which would get us into Louisville for a shark attack interview the following day. Granby however, was host to the extraordinary story of Marvin Heemeyer, who in 2004 took a bulldozer he’d spent 9 months customising on a 2hour rampage through this picturesque Rocky Mountain town.

All three of our contributors, a now Chief of Police, a Senior Investigator and the ex editor of Granby’s newspaper were senior figures at the forefront of Heemeyer’s rampage in 2004. They were nothing but flexible with our schedule, fully cooperative and willing to open up about their experiences on camera.

Three factors made this shoot a stand out experience for me. The first, Jim and I have the same work ethic, love of people and adhere religiously to the principle of teamwork. Secondly, the people we interviewed told remarkable, jaw dropping stories. Tales of heroism and human kindness, witness accounts of the worst and best side of human behaviour and encounters with animals and weather phenomena most of us couldn’t conjure up in our worst nightmare.

Thirdly, I witnessed a very different side of America. Several times Jim and I would marvel at how people perceived our English accents based on their own perceptions of England and the English. Oh that English charm, it opened doors for us!

Talking of which, thank you Media Parents for opening your door to my work with Mentorn Media and for a truly memorable experience, if not for the record amount of flights taken in 12 days, for crossing my path with exceptional contributors and a brilliant series.

Media Parents PD Evy Barry writes about her experience of pitching at the BBC’s FastTrain Event, a free training day for freelancers on May 16th. Plus top five pitching tips from the speakers at the event listed at the bottom of Evy’s post.

If you’re a freelancer or talent manager attending FastTrain please stop by and say hello to us on the Media Parents stand. #FastTrain @mediaparents if you’re on Twitter.

Amy Walker, Series Producer and Media Parents Director will be at FastTrain, accompanied by Claire Brown, Media Parents Employer Liaison, and Claire Seeber, a Writer Director on the Media Parents site – please scroll down this page to read Claire’s brilliant blog piece.

If you miss us at FastTrain please join us for a drink on Thursday 17th May from 6:30pm in central London – details of the venue for this can be found on the Media Parents watercooler or you can contact us through www.mediaparents.co.uk for more info.

Media Parents PD Zoe Fryer writes about returning to directing as a working mum, and her new production World’s Scariest Animal Attacks TONIGHT on Channel 5 at 9pm. #worldsscariest

I have been working in television for 14 years on a variety of different productions that have taken me all over the world and given me privileged access into many people’s lives, for which I am honoured, and always grateful to experience.

I took almost a year out of work after having my daughter Amber Rose (now 2) and at first was very daunted about returning to production and being able to balance television contracts and bringing up a child.

Media Parents has been invaluable in making that transition easier, just the fact that an organisation like this exists to support us all and raise awareness that different ways of working are possible really helps. Having a family doesn’t mean you have to leave the job you love.

While this will always be a juggling act with its tough moments, I have found that if you talk to production companies, they can actually be a lot more accommodating than you might think.

My first job back was for Rockabox Media on a series called First Homes with Gaby Roslin. It was meant to be a full time post, but when I looked at the schedule and their budget limitations, I proposed working on a part time flexible basis, which turned out to suit us all. Ok, some weeks I might have been working six days all over the country, but some weeks were only two days so I had all that extra time at home with Amber Rose.

Through Media Parents I then got involved with the ‘Worlds Greatest/ Scariest…’ series at Mentorn Media.  This was full time but in pre-production I was able to come in early and leave earlier in the evenings so as to get back in time for the childcare. This has been incredibly valuable in enabling me to juggle all my commitments and means that my child care ‘team’ are brilliantly flexible and accommodating when I say, ‘Oh by the way I am going to Japan next week for five days, is that OK?’

I have enjoyed working on this series as it’s a new genre for me and I have learnt a great deal. In the first series, I worked on ‘World’s Greatest Heroes’ which was tough for many reasons, but luckily I was working with an amazing and supportive team at Mentorn Media. A great testament to that fact is that the majority of the PDs from series 1 were back for series 2 recently, and I have also been able to learn a lot from their amazing talent. Although I worked on ‘World’s Scariest Animal Attacks’, all of us (Jules Seymore, Jim Shreim and Jamie Matson) worked collaboratively across the series to span the globe and cover the best stories possible.

Fully armed with many lessons learnt from series 1, series 2 has had increased expectations but ‘World’s Scariest Animal Attacks’ has been incredible to work on, I have really loved every minute.

You’ll be pleased to know that these animal attacks are very very rarely unprovoked – people generally end up doing something to put themselves in these situations, so respect wildlife and you should be fine – although I have particularly enjoyed debates about which animal various members of the production team would rather be attacked by… Tune in to channel 5 at 9pm TONIGHT, Sunday 13th May to see what you think.

Media Parents drama director Jill Robertson’s new episode of the series Lip Service TXes on BBC3 TONIGHT at 9pm and next two weeks with series finale on the 25th!

Media Parents networker Gladys San Juan produced this short film on Penge for the MyStreet Film competition.  http://www.mystreetfilms.com/#/films/watch/532 Applications are still open, details are below.

MyStreet is an exciting opportunity for you to tell your story about your area, through film. Share with the world where you are, who you are and how you live. To enter the competition simply upload your video (1 to 10min. long) at www.mystreetfilms.com by 22nd May 2012.

Take inspiration from our brand new trailer http://www.mystreetfilms.com/#/films/watch/462
What will happen next?
1.  We will review your film, send you a submission confirmation and your film will appear on our site.
2. The 10 best documentaries will be screened at Open City Docs Fest from the 21st- 24th June 2012

3.  At the festival the shortlist will be judged by the Open City Grand Jury, chaired by Nicolas Philibert.

First prize this year is £500 cash For our second prize winner there is a set of state-of-the-art Steady Wings as well as the enviable opportunity of a one-on-one film consultation with award-winning film maker and juror Marc Isaacs. Our third prize winner will receive a tour of the ITV Newsroom with ex-Editor and Chief David Mannion as well as an ipod doc made by Soundfreaq http://soundfreaq.com/SFQ-02RB_Features.htm. All three winners will also receive membership of Shooting people and a subscription to Little White Lies magazine.
We’re looking forward to watching your MyStreet film and hearing what you have to say.
More about Open City Docs Fest here: www.opencitylondon.com

Get involved and spread the word.

After directing World’s Scariest Near Misses for Series One,  through Media Parents for Mentorn Media, I was delighted to be invited back to work on Series Two.  The film I made, World’s Scariest Weather, TXes this Thursday 10th May at 8pm on Channel 5.  Making it took me into a world of tornados, dust storms and flash floods.  

Because of the nature of the subject matter - UGC (user generated content) on weather – there was a huge amount of material out there, but getting hold of the combination of footage, interview and story,  proved to be difficult.  Extreme Weather is a competitive area, and finding original stories and footage we could afford wasn’t easy.  Luckily I worked with a very talented team:   Researcher Sophia Lightfoot tirelessly chased clips and stories, AP Faye Gilbert (also from Media Parents) added her shooting and directing skills, and Alison Hunt seamlessly put it all together in the edit. 

We ended up with a set of strong stories and heart stopping footage featuring some of the most visceral and damaging weather events ever captured, plus Japan’s worst natural disaster, last year’s tsunami. 

Sophia managed to track down a fantastic and untold  story of a couple who survived  a devastating Tornado that hit Joplin, U.S.A.  Producer/Director Jim Shreim shot a great interview with the couple involved which brought the drama and horror of the event to life.  It shows how we all had to work well as a team and trust each other in order to complete a demanding world-wide filming schedule in a short space of time.

After a short break I’m about to embark on something completely different - a  Celebrity Antiques Road Trip for BBC2. Diversity is the spice of life, and in many ways this is what makes production work so attractive, it’s good to be faced with a whole new set of challenges. I’m sure it will be a whirlwind trip and very busy but I’ve worked with some of the team before and feel confident that we’ll be able to pull it off. 

It’ll take me away from home for most of the eight week shoot, but I’ll be back in time for the family summer holiday to Cornwall, where hopefully the Weather won’t be anything like the sort I’ve been witnessing over the last few months!

I’ve been a PD for over twelve years, working on a wide range of different productions from ob-doc to archive, and I’ve filmed in variety of different locations from fishing boats to prison cells.  A personal highlight was following the “puppy police” as they deliver justice to the animal mistreaters of the Bronx.  

After many years as a typical production nomad, with stints in London, new York and Liverpool, 4 years ago I decided with my family to move to west Cornwall. My six year old daughter now wouldn’t want to leave and while maintaining a career in what is a very London centric industry requires a bit of juggling, the promise of good surf and even better pasties makes it all worthwhile.  

I’m relatively new to media parents but the idea of short term contracts and flexible work patterns fits with my own lifestyle.

The first series of World’s Greatest/Scariest was my first job through Media Parents.  I edit produced World’s Greatest Daredevils in series 1 and enjoyed it so much I was very happy to return as PD on World’s Scariest Flights in Series 2 following its immediate recommission.

A second series brings with it a fresh set of challenges.  The format and shape of the series has been bedded down, but the bar has been raised interms of the quality and strength of the stories featured. Several weeks of searching through the archives for just the right content was to follow, searching through hours of aviation accidents as a few themes began to emerge, and if the main message coming though as this stage was to avoid flying on second hand Russian cargo planes in tropical storms then that at least was something…
 
It’s a demanding and complex series, with four episodes shot on three continents, and it requires a large amount of cross over and trust between the teams of PDs and APs.  My own episode featured material shot in Florida, New york, Michigan,  Amsterdam, London and Tokyo by five different PDs (Media Parents talent Zoe Fryer, Jim Shreim, Phil Broadhurst and Jules Seymour)  but, thanks to the close collaboration between teams, it all cut together seamlessly. 

All I had to do now was not to let the material itself turn me into a nervous flyer and all would be well.  The inference of our show is that despite the high drama and jeopardy of the incidents we feature there’s always some chance for survival.  It’s a reassuring message, in amongst the screams and explosions of the material I had been viewing and editing, so I was able to sit back and enjoy my daytrip to Amsterdam to interview the survivors of a hot air balloon crash. Though I did have my camera phone ready, just in case… 
 
It was an enjoyable, and enlightening, series to work on.  I hope you enjoy watching it, and remember, please pay attention to the inflight safety briefing.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/2904/jamie-matson

Phil Broadhurst, PD and Camera Operator writes about his latest job through Media Parents, reversioning a new programme for Discovery and shooting for World’s Scariest Flights which TXes tomorrow night at 8pm on Channel 5.

I have been working as a director/cameraman on specialist factual and natural history documentaries for over 10 years. Always keen to gain more edit experience, my first job with Mentorn Media (via Media Parents) was as PD reversioning World’s Scariest Plane Landings, originally shown on Channel 5, for Discovery USA. (Originally produced and directed by Eoin O’Shea). Already a tight show, crammed full of aviation incidents, the brief was to ramp things up for a US audience – specifically to replace some of the British voices with American contributors, and generally up the jeopardy stakes.

While shooting the replacement interviews in the US, we were able to pick up further stories for World’s Scariest Flights (series 2 – Thurs 3rd May, 8pm, C5), working to brief from the other production team. After taking the reversion through an intense 7 day offline edit, the production team for series 2 asked me back to shoot a further week of interviews for World’s Scariest Flights, Animals and Weather. Another full-on week filming across New York, Michigan and Florida, and again working to briefs from 3 separate production teams.

The whole team at Mentorn were a pleasure to work with and I’m really looking forward to seeing the new shows starting tomorrow. The support I’ve received from Media Parents too has been relentless!!

www.fishfilms.co.uk  http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/327/phil-broadhurst