“Television needs more understanding, flexible employers!” says Peter Bazalgette, with characteristic gusto. “If you want great people to work for you when they’re bringing up kids then it can be easily done, but employers need to be understanding and flexible, and that needs to be a part of company culture.”  It’s a shift that needs to come from within, not be legislated for, Baz thinks.  “The media is what it is – flexibility is less a matter of law, and more about the culture – you can’t establish a culture with a law.”  So the choice to be flexible employers is very much in our hands, and within our capabilities, writes Amy Walker.

I’ve known Peter Bazalgette since 1996 when he gave me my first job in TV as his assistant at Bazal, and then Endemol.  Baz, like many influential TV execs, has been a staunchly reassuring supporter of Media Parents since its inception. He has seen the need for and the benefits of, cultural change in TV.  Being a parent to two children didn’t affect his media career, but his wife Hilary gave up her career as a sollicitor to bring up their family.  The Bazalgette children haven’t followed their parents’ career paths though, “I don’t get this thing about following in your parents’ footsteps – my father was in the City and I never wanted to do that.  Children who follow their parents never find their own feet.”

Like or not the way he’s influenced television, Peter Bazalgette’s career has been flexible in its variety, as the biog below demonstrates, and now he’s branching out again with a book about Egon Ronay, the late gastronome.  “I met him when I was producing Food and Drink… we went for a fairly unimpressive lunch on Park Lane somewhere and I commissioned him to do a series of films for us… He was a human dynamo, a duellist by nature, always fighting a cause” recalls Baz.  They became friends:  “The Sunday Times described him as ‘a small Hungarian with a hairstyle like a budgerigar’”, he laughs.  “Twelve of us who knew the old devil [amongst them Michael Winner and Nick Ross] contributed essays about his life… There is brilliant early 20^th century testimony on what it was like to grow up in Hungary before the war, the story of his secret marriage to a Catholic heiress, life as a Jew under the Nazi occupation of Germany – more than a lifetime lived before he came to the UK at 31 and started again over here.”

Whilst Baz may never have needed to start again, he has always moved on from what went before, and acknowledges that there is always something to learn.  “Learning how to publish has been an education for an old fart like me, ‘Egon Ronay – The Man Who Taught Britain How to Eat’ has taken eight months to publish.”

I ask him what his greatest achievement has been and am gently ticked off for pushing him to be self-regarding. “Making facts as entertaining as possible,” he says grudgingly, “Changing Rooms is my favourite programme of all of them – it was revolutionary in its content and form, and became a hit in the US where it’s still on.  It was only on here for six years but was getting 12 million viewers in its peak – extraordinary”.

So what of the future?  “The next big thing for television – and it is a revolution – is connected TV. Nearly every TV set currently being sold can be connected to the net.  Anything else that you’re consuming online through your computer will soon be consumed through your TV set, and what will that mean for established channels and the business of TV? My greatest concern is that there should still be business models that continue to put money into premium content, which we currently fund through advertisements, the BBC licence fee or subscription models.   Looking ahead ten years we may lose these.”

Technological developments over the next few years — advances that promise an exciting and challenging time for TV companies — need to be accompanied by a parallel shift in the attitudes of executives to their staff. Skilled media professionals with a wealth of experience are leaving TV because of the difficulties of balancing work and family life. The TV industry needs to make sure this valuable resource and variety is not lost. After all, companies are going to need all the help they can get as the digital revolution increases competition within the sector. Thankfully diversity has always been good for survival.

Baz is taking part in a BAFTA debate ‘My BBC in Ten Years’ Time’ to discuss this issue further.  The event takes place at BAFTA this evening, Monday 21^st November, so if your name’s not on the list for tonight’s Media Parents CV Tear-Up, use this link to book a ticket:

www.bafta.org/event.html?Pevent=com.othermedia.bafta.model.BaftaEvent-L-6199458

To purchase a copy of ‘Egon Ronay – The Man Who Taught Britain How to Eat’ please go to www.sparkledirect.com Egon Ronay Flyer & Order Form

Peter Bazalgette is in the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

Peter Bazalgette is a media consultant and digital media investor. He is Chairman of MirriAd and a non-executive director of Base79, Nutopia, YouGov and DCMS. He advises two of Sony’s UK television divisions and is also a member of BBH’s Advisory Board.

From 2004-2007 Peter was Chief Creative Officer of Endemol. He has personally devised several internationally successful TV formats, such as Ready Steady Cook, Changing Rooms and Ground Force – he also brought Big Brother to the UK. Peter’s book about the business of TV formats, Billion Dollar Game, was published in 2005 and he is a former board member of Channel 4.

He also serves as Deputy Chairman of the English National Opera, President of the Royal Television Society and is a Trustee of Debate Mate. Peter studied at Fitzwilliam College Cambridge and graduated from Cambridge University.

See www.mediaparents.co.uk for great networking, talent, jobs and information. to join us please go to www.mediaparents.co.uk

Thanks to all those taking part in this latest Media Parents event. See www.mediaparents.co.uk for great networking, talent, jobs and information. to join us please go to www.mediaparents.co.uk

The Media Parents CV Tear-Up is a great opportunity for freelancers to discuss with employers what’s working and what could work better on their production CVs.  This time we’re also joined by Channel 4′s Glynn Ryland and Nina Bhagwat who can advise on CVs generally, and altering a CV to get work beyond production.  Here are biogs for some of the employers attending the event, CV tips from these employers will be posted here after the event, and more can be found here : https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2011/11/media-parents-cv-tear-up-in-brighton/  Many thanks to all those who are giving their time for this event, and to Prime Focus for hosting.

Glynn Ryland, Industry Talent Advisor, Channel 4

Glynn is an award winning media professional with a broad film and television career of 17 years.  Glynn has worked predominantly in international roles for Universal Studios Networks (Worldwide Creative Manager) and NBC (Creative Director) launching and branding TV channels globally as well as producing promotional campaigns for many UK broadcasters, including ITV, MTV and BBC.

Glynn created a media support scheme for disadvantaged young talent while working for the trade charity of the UK film and TV industry: The Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund. Glynn set up and ran the BBC’s volunteering scheme, placing BBC staff with charities on media-related projects, and now works as an Industry Talent Advisor for Channel 4, working with young people across the 4Talent portfolio.

Outside his media career Glynn is a property developer, film producer and a qualified NLP coach.

Naomi Carter, Head of Production, Mentorn Media

Naomi is Head of Production, Factual Entertainment and oversees projects from early budgeting stage through to delivery.

Naomi started her career as a production manager and worked extensively across the industry on a variety of genres including early reality series Survivor, before becoming a Head of Production for Planet 24 looking after The Big Breakfast.

Naomi was also a long serving Production Executive for Endemol UK where she was involved in the production of reality series such as The Salon, Celebrity Safari School and Big Brother before coming to work for Mentorn in 2009.

Steve Wynne, Joint MD, Rival Media

Steve Wynne is an award winning executive producer with over 15 years of production experience in television, radio and emerging technologies.

Steve’s career in the media started at the age of 15, when he became a presenter for his local ILR station in Wrexham, UK. His move from radio to television came in 1994 when he joined Orbit in Italy, where he produced over 200 hours of original music, kids and entertainment programming.

On return to the UK, Steve worked at Channel 5 and Buena Vista Television. In 1999 he became a producer of the phenomenally successful series  SMTVand CD:UK, hosted by Ant & Dec and Cat Deeley. That year, the show won a RTS Award & two BAFTAs, setting a new standard for Saturday morning television.

In 2000 Steve was appointed Executive Producer at The Disney Channel.  During his time at Disney, Steve produced the BAFTA Award winning show,The Disney Channel Kids Awards 2000 and the BAFTA Award winning seriesStar Ticket Active in 2003. In 2004 he was executive producer of another BAFTA nominated show, Madabout. He also notched up three further New York Festival Finalist Awards and was named a Broadcast ‘Hot Shot’.

In 2005, Steve joined Warner Brothers International Television as Director of Production. Whilst at Warner Brothers, he was responsible for the development, production and supervision of all Warner television formats created outside the US. He rolled out ABC’s The Bachelor internationally and was at the forefront of WB’s move into scripted formats such as Perfect Stranger’s, Suddenly Susan and Full House.  He is now joint MD of Rival Media.

Nina Bhagwat, Training Manager, Think Bigger

Nina is an experienced Talent and Training Manager, with over ten
years’ experience in TV production. She is currently Training Manager
for thinkBIGGER!, working across Channel 4’s Production Trainee Scheme
and other career development initiatives.

With a background in
factual, she has experience of working across a broad range of
programmes and genres, from serious social documentary to
factual-entertainment.  Since leaving production, Nina has worked as a Training / Talent Manager.

Helen Matthews, HR Consultant & Trainer

Helen Matthews is an accredited coach in career and management coaching, working independently as an HR Consultant and Trainer.

Helen was HR Director at Tiger Aspect from 2007 – 11, with overall responsibility for Tiger Aspect HR.  She had previously worked at the BBC in various HR roles, leading the HR recruitment and freelance contracting teams across London programme making departments, including Drama, Entertainment, Children’s, Radio & Music, Television and Sport.

Prior to the BBC, Helen had worked at various independent companies and broadcasters, including Planet 24, ITN and deckchair.com in early 2000.

Sara Hill, Commercial Director of UK Broadcast, Prime Focus

Based at the Broadcast facility in London, Sara is responsible for bringing business into the company. Sara is an expert in the area of post production for longform television programmes and has a loyal and ever expanding network of clients built up over 18 years in the industry. As part of the senior management team, she works with her colleagues to ensure that the Prime Focus Broadcast division’s finishing solutions remain of the highest creative and technical quality. She also advises on sales and commercial strategy for the UK businesses and globally with the Prime Focus international facilities.

Amy Walker, Site Director, Media Parents

Amy Walker is an award-winning factual producer / director, series producer and development exec who runs Media Parents and continues to work in production.

Amy has developed, written and produced programmes for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and the major non-terrestrial channels for nearly 15 years. Her production career began at Channel 4 on Right to Reply, and since then Amy has worked across a variety of TV genres in five continents.

In 2010 Amy set up www.mediaparents.co.uk and believes that flexible working is the future of television.

Media Parents would like to thank Prime Focus for generously hosting the Media Parents CV Tear-Up.

Thanks to all those who came along to this evening’s CV tear-up at Madame Geisha’s in Brighton, what a lovely group of people swapping some great advice.  Here’s some of it…

Media Parents Director Amy Walker talks to Corinna Gallop. Corinna is a Producer in the TALENT section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

CV TIP #1: Make sure your CV is on two clearly laid out pages, with the most impressive jobs on page 1.  Select your best jobs / credits and prune vigorously if necessary.

CV TIP #2: If there are gaps in your employment DON’T take the dates off your CV, demonstrate the skills you’ve learnt in your breaks.

Carl Simons, MWTV MD talks to Sue Hutton. For more CV advice please use the search function at the top right hand corner of this page.

Carl Simons’ CV TIP #3 : DON’T let your CV be a dull read – if it’s too dense and too detailed it’s a bore!

Carl Simons’ CV TIP #4 : You should research and tailor your CV for each job, not be too generic.

Carl Simons’ CV TIP #5 : Keep the dates on your CV, in reverse date order – without dates you just see a load of paragraphs.

Juliet Tzabar, MD Plug-In Media, talks to Corinna Gallop at the Media Parents CV event.

Juliet Tzabar’s CV TIP #6 : Men say what they can do, women dwell on what they can’t!  Have the confidence to sell your skills and experience!

Journalist Flemmich Webb talks to Plug-In Media MD Juliet Tzabar at the www.mediaparents.co.uk CV event in Brighton.

Juliet Tzabar’s CV TIP #7 : Production CVs can be a list, so write a short mission statement.

Juliet Tzabar’s CV TIP #8 : Read the job description!  We’ve just advertised a job (soon to be on Media Parents) and nobody read the job spec or responded to it!

Susan Tunstall from BTV Post talks to freelancers at the Media Parents CV Tear-Up in Brighton.

Susan Tunstall’s CV TIP #9 : If you want to change roles your mission statement is really important.  Make sure your mission statement is clear about where your experience lies or what your ideal job is.  Use it to define your skillset.

Susan Tunstall from BTV Post and Carl Simons from MWTV network at the Media Parents CV Tear-Up in Brighton.

Susan Tunstall CV TIP #10 : If you’re new to TV, don’t claim you have more experience than you do.

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Brighton event, let us know your feedback or questions for the next tear-up via www.mediaparents.co.uk

MWTV's Carl Simons

Plug-In Media MD Juliet Tzabar.

Freelancer Sue Hutton.

Execs and Talent Managers from the Endemol group met talent from www.mediaparents.co.uk in October.  Here are some photos from the event, thank you to everyone who took part, all those from Endemol who gave their time and helped to organise the event, and to Hannah Smiles for taking these photographs.

Tim Hincks, Chief Executive Officer of Endemol UK addressed the floor at the Endemol meets Media Parents event. Bella Lambourne, Global Head of HR for Endemol (left) and Media Parents Director Amy Walker (right) look on.

50 members of the Media Parents TALENT section attended the event.

Sue King, Head of Production for Remarkable Television is in the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

Nick Metcalfe, Executive Producer at Darlow Smithson Productions holds a speednetworking appointment at Endemol Meets Media Parents

Tiger Aspect's Head of Factual and Features Jo McGrath at the Media Parents event

Initial's Head of Production, Sandra Smith

PD Zoe Fryer is in the Media Parents TALENT section

Ulla Streib, Head of Operations at Darlow Smithson Productions

Colette Foster, MD Remarkable Television met freelancers through www.mediaparents.co.uk

Initial's Head of Development, Cat Lynch

Tiger Aspect's HR Manager Maria Keaveney martialled the troops with Endemol's Nyree Clarke

Chloe Samwell-Smith, Endemol's Production Talent Manager is in the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

more photos to follow.

Hannah Smiles is a London-based freelance photographer who recently shot the Endemol Meets Media Parents event.  Hannah is an events photographer covering conferences and parties in and around London, and specialises in men’s fashion and portraiture. Hannah can be found in the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

Hannah Smiles photography for Vivienne Westwood. To contact Hannah please use the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

Self-taught, Hannah has been taking photographs for five years and has worked for a variety of clients, including, Jaguar Magazine, Redwood Publishing, Royal Mail, InLondon magazine, Pepsico and De Beers.

Hannah Smiles photography for Rankin

Hannah Smiles : The Horrors

Daisy Dares You by Hannah Smiles

Mr Hudson by Hannah Smiles

Endemol Director of HR Bella Lambourne at the Endemol Meets Media Parents event. Photographed by Hannah Smiles.

www.hannahsmiles.co.uk

www.mediaparents.co.uk for great networking, talent, jobs and information. to join us please go to www.mediaparents.co.uk

click on the above image to hear the BBC podcast about juggling motherhood and a TV career featuring Media Parents Director Amy Walker. www.mediaparents.co.uk for great networking, talent, jobs and information. to join us please go to www.mediaparents.co.uk

Here are some thoughts gleaned from more than a year’s work on www.mediaparents.co.uk on how to be a working parent in TV.

Flexible working :

If you don’t ask – you won’t get, but what have you got to lose?  Ask for flexible work that suits you and your family – but come with a strategy.  Flexible working is often MORE attractive if an employer can’t afford a full time employee.

If you’re asking for flexible working come up with a plan, and pick your project.

Helen Veale, Outline : Be proactive about it. Come with a strategy that works for us both – tell me how you will be able to deliver what the production needs in the way that works for your family responsibilities.

Present yourself as half of a job share – you can find people to job share with, and indicate that you’d jobs share on Media Parents.

Pick your project – don’t ask for flexible work on a new series – ask for it on long running series which has a well-oiled schedule in place.

Do ask for a schedule (in advance of an interview if you can) and explain how you could manage your time.  Freelance Series Producer Suzie Marsh has successfully done this with companies she has never worked with before.

It’s possible to jobs share in creative and production roles – Media Parents Director Amy Walker has jobs shared as a PD with Media Parents PD Laura Leigh – it’s all about communication – contact us through the Media Parents network and ask us how.  It’s about communication, trust, talking about working practices, looking at footage or getting into the edit early if you can and constantly communicating.

The Heads of Production at Hat Trick job share. Laura Djanogly & Jessica Sharkey had worked together before job sharing and felt that two brains and two sets of experience were better than one.:

“It’s not my job, it’s our job”. They have only one email inbox, as they both believe they have to be “one person” to lessen impact on others.  They didn’t want anyone to have to repeat themselves, and believe things have to continue to move forwards. Handover notes are crucial and can be onerous, but serve as a good log and checklist.

Naomi Carter Head of Production at Mentorn spoke up for part time PMs and part time PDs at one of our meetings.  You can look at many of the companies who support flexible working on the Media Parents website here http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/employers/ and contact them through our network http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/network/ with your proposals for making it work for you.

Networking :

Work out who’s in your network, create an action plan, and a date by which you’ll implement it.

Get out of the house.  Media Parents often runs events where you can bring your baby!!

Network from home.  Use online networking – media parents, facebook, linked in, twitter – you can do it all from home – and it works.

Have a plan – work out who would be useful for you to know, make contact with them and keep in contact without being overpowering.

Suggest a coffee with people you have worked with to get back into the saddle.  If all the people you know at a company have moved on, seeing that company’s productions on your CV will still help you – just try them.

Applying for jobs :

Target your CV – contact companies who make programmes that are relevant to your experience.

Use a job-specific CV and covering letter.

CVs :

Sell yourself!

Don’t leave the dates off your CV, show that you’ve learnt skills in the gaps: volunteer work, local community work, book keeping, written a blog / book etc.

Keep your CV to 2 pages with the most relevant experience at the top of the first page – don’t take the credits off, name the shows, no matter how old they are.

Target the job you want :

Write to companies on media parents and present them with a solution.

If you want to job share suggest someone / a few people, include their CVs too and outline how it could work.

Ask for a schedule ahead of the interview then structure a plan as to how you could deliver if you worked part time / condensed hours etc.

DON’T GIVE UP – use the Media Parents site and events to network with people in a similar position.

Feel free to email us through the Media Parents site with questions.

We are running a session on Monday October 17th at C4 called “How Do I….Get That All Important Break?”
There will be 3 panel discussions with insiders’ tips on how toprogress up the TV career ladder. It’s for those looking to move upto: PD, SP & HOP level.
We have a few spaces left for this. Please do let me know if you haveany takers.
We are running weekly How Do I? sessions at C4 throughout October andNovember. Workshops cover negotiation skills, management/leadershipskills, pitching and presenting,    interview skills, CVworkshops….to name a few.
There are still spaces for these workshops….and people can checkthem and and apply at:

http://4talent.channel4.com/extra/hdi0

Many thanks to all of the Execs from the Endemol companies who met talent from Media Parents this evening.  Here are some photos by Rosie Bowen-Jones, more by Hannah Smiles to follow.  To network with Media Parents please go to www.mediaparents.co.uk

Tim Hincks, Chief Executive Officer of Endemol UK, welcomed everyone to the Endemol Meets Media Parents event.

Global Head of HR for Endemol, Bella Lambourne who is in the Media Parents NETWORK, and Amy Walker, Media Parents Director, look on at Tim Hincks' unfeasibly long legs.

Execs from Endemol met 50 Media Parents members

Annette Clarke, Executive Producer, Remarkable, meets Media Parents talent.

Jo McGrath, Head of Factual and Features for Tiger Aspect supports www.mediaparents.co.uk

Susan King, Head of Production for Remarkable, is in the NETWORK at www.mediaparents.co.uk

PM Sarah Holt represented Endemol's development department, meeting Media Parents shooters and development people

Head of Production for Initial, Sandra Smith, is in the Media Parents NETWORK section at www.mediaparents.co.uk

Ulla Streib, Director of Operations for Darlow Smithson met Media Parents talentExecutive Producer for Darlow Smithson Productions, Nick Metcalfe networked with talent from www.mediaparents.co.uk

To network with Media Parents please see http://www.mediaparents.co.uk

Chloe Samwell-Smith, Production Talent Manager for Endemol is in the Media Parents NETWORK

Media Parents would like to thank everyone who attended this event and made it a great success

www.mediaparents.co.uk for great networking, talent, jobs and information. to join us please go to www.mediaparents.co.uk

Tim Hincks, Endemol's Chief Creative Officer will be at the Endemol Meets Media Parents event on October 11th

On Tuesday 11th October, Endemol, Darlow Smithson, Remarkable, Initial etc will open their doors to Media Parents talent.  Here are some of the Execs and Talent Managers from Endemol who will be attending:

Tim Hincks: Chief Executive Officer

Tim Hincks is Chief Executive officer of Endemol UK. Endemol UK is one of the largest independent production companies in Britain and annually produces over 2,000 hours of output. It incorporates a number of production brands including – Remarkable Television, Intial and Zeppotron.Credits include BBC One’s new hit series Total Wipeout, popular factual entertainment series Supersize vs Superskinny (Channel 4); Gok’s Fashion Fix (Channel 4); Coleen’s Real Women (ITV2); and The Sex Education Show (Channel 4) horror series Dead Set (E4, Channel 4); hit game shows Deal Or No Deal (Channel 4); Golden Balls (ITV1) and 1 vs100 (BBC One); reality blockbuster Big Brother (Channel 4; E4); and comedy series  8 Out of 10 Cats (Channel 4); Would I Lie to You? (BBC One); and Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe (BBC Four; BBC Two)

Tim began his television career in 1990 when he divided his time between producing BBC Two’s Food and Drink programme for Bazal (now a part of Remarkable Television) and working on current affairs programmes such as Newsnight and BBC Westminster.Tim became Creative Director of Endemol UK in 2002 and stepped up to become Chief Creative Officer in January 2005. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2008.Tim sits on the Endemol International board; He is also the Executive Chair of Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Bella Lambourne is Global Head of Human Resources at Endemol, and can be found in the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

Bella Lambourne: Global Head of Human Resources

Bella Lambourne originally joined Endemol UK in 1993 and took responsibility as group Head of Human Resources in 1997. Bella was promoted to Human Resources Director for Endemol UK in 2002 and working with the Director of Operations also oversees the administrative functions of the group.In addition to her UK role, Bella was promoted to Global Head of Human Resources at Endemol Group in March 2011.Bella is a member of PACT Council, chair of the PACT Diversity Committee and she also sits on the Industrial Relations Committee.

Colette Foster, MD, Remarkable

Colette Foster joined Endemol UK in 2007 to executive produce Channel 4’s hit factual entertainment series Supersize vs Superskinny (Channel 4).  She went on to oversee production on the company’s immensely popular run of features series including Gok’s Fashion Fix (Channel 4);  The Sex Education Show (Channel 4) and Extreme Male Beauty (Channel 4).As Joint Managing Director of Remarkable Television, Colette continues to executive produce series as well as developing and overseeing many other factual programmes.

Prior to joining Endemol UK, Colette was behind some of the UK’s most popular and groundbreaking feature programmes including 10 Years Younger, Embarrassing Illnesses and How to Look Good Naked.

Colette started her career at BBC Birmingham, working on flagship programmes for BBC One and BBC Two including The Clothes Show, Tracks, (which launched the career of Ray Mears), The Chelsea Flower Show and Gardener’s World.

Julian Ware is the joint Creative Director for DSP working closely with top broadcasting commissioners in the UK, US and around the world. Credits include The Falling Man, Rome Wasn’t Built in Day, The Beckoning Silence; Blitz: London’s Firestorm.

Julian joined DSP in 2004 as Head of Special Projects and was appointed as Creative Director in 2011. Previously he was Director of Programmes at ITN Factual.

Ben Bowie, Joint Creative Director at Darlow Smithson productions will be meeting Media Parents talent on Tuesday

Ben Bowie, Joint Creative Director, Darlow Smithson Productions

Ben Bowie is the joint Creative Director for DSP working closely with top broadcasting commissioners in the UK, US and around the world. Credits include Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking; Seconds From Disaster; I Shouldn’t Be Alive.

Ben joined DSP in 2001 as a producer becoming Executive Producer in 2005. He was appointed as Creative Director in 2011.

Ulla Streib, Director of Operations at Darlow Smithson Productions will be meeting Media Parents talent on October 11th

ulla streib, director of operations, darlow smithson productions

Ulla Streib manages DSP’s output. Her expertise is in achieving maximum onscreen value and efficient delivery. Ulla joined DSP in 1997 as part of the production team. She became Head of Production in 1998 and Head of Operations in 2002 and was made Director of Operations in 2011. Prior to DSP, Ulla was Staff Production Manager in charge of TV Production at Uden Associates.

Jo McGrath is Head of Factual and Features at Tiger Aspect

Jo McGrath, Head of Factual and Features, Tiger Aspect

Prior to her move to Tiger Aspect, McGrath was Head of Daytime and Features at Channel 4, where she was responsible for commissioning a number of enduring Channel 4 classic brands including, A Place In The Sun and 10 Years Younger. Since her arrival at Tiger Aspect in 2004 McGrath has created a number of hit formats including, three series of Diet Doctors for FIVE (accompanied by two books) and the popular Cook Yourself Thin for Channel 4 which also became a best selling book and one of the Channel’s most successful on-line brands. A second Cook Yourself Thin book was published in January 2009. The Cook Yourself Thin format has also recently been acquired by Lifetime in the US and 20 episodes are currently in production with a TX scheduled for spring 2009.

McGrath’s remit is to focus on winning returning formatted series with domestic and international appeal.

Chloe Samwell-Smith is the Production Talent Manager at Endemol. She is in the Media Parents NETWORK and will be meeting Media Parents talent on Tuesday.

Nyree Clarke is the HR Manager for Endemol UK, Tigress and Darlow Smithson. Nyree is in the NETWORK section of www.mediaparents.co.uk

Also joining us on Tuesday are Nick Mather, Head of Entertainment for Endemol, Nick Metcalfe, Executive Producer from Darlow Smithson, Jo Kay, Production Exec for Comedy, Kitty Walshe, Series Producer for Fact Ent and Features at Endemol, Maria Keaveney, Tiger Aspect’s HR Manager, Nicky Hughes, Head of Research and Development for Endemol, Cat Lynch and PM Sarah Holt, from Endemol Development, Tom Blakeson, LE and Entertainment, JohnPaul Chapple, Consultant Producer at Endemol, Catherine Welton, Executive Producer for Specialist Factual at Endemol, and Annette Clarke, Executive Producer, Remarkable.