Media Parents

SOLD OUT: Join us for a spot of networking and to hear Channel 4’s Rowena Cordrey and Fiona McAllister deliver their hour long ‘Ultimate Legal & Compliance Masterclass’ for Media Parents on Tuesday 21st July. 4′s legal team will be helping you to navigate the tricky world of legal and compliance and giving you their dos and don’ts for staying on the right side of the law.

Join Media Parents for Channel 4's How Not to Get Sued session, see link below for zoom details

Rowena Cordrey

Ro is a Senior Lawyer in Channel 4’s Legal & Compliance team, which is renowned for its enabling advice as part of the Channel’s unique risk-taking remit.  She provides legal, compliance and ethical advice on all aspects of television programming – broadcast and online – before and after broadcast, including its promotion and marketing.

Ro trained and then qualified as a media law solicitor at Farrer & Co in 2009, principally advising tabloid newspaper clients as well as magazines and regional publishers.  She worked for the BBC in their Litigation team before first joining Channel 4 for just over 4 years.  Ro was Deputy Head of Compliance at ITN (which produces the news for Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5) working across news and on a number of high-profile undercover investigations, including the award-winning Cambridge Analytica (C4 News) and ‘Gay Conversion’ Therapy (ITV News) investigations.  Ro then worked at Viacom before returning to Channel 4 this year.

Fiona McAllister

Fiona is an experienced media lawyer currently advising production companies and Channel 4 both pre and post-publication on legal, regulatory compliance and ethical issues which arise in the making and broadcast of programmes, online content and marketing campaigns on all Channel 4 platforms. Fiona focuses on all content-related matters, including defamation, privacy, contempt and fairness issues.

Prior to joining Channel 4 she spent around 12 years in private practice – based at leading media firm, Simkins LLP, generally advising Claimants (individual and companies) on media related issues and acting against the media. Prior to that Fiona was with a Scottish firm, Burness Paull LLP where she advised BBC Scotland and regularly provided programme legal advice on all aspects of media law affecting BBC output. She is dual qualified and admitted to practise in England & Wales as well as Scotland.

Amy Walker

Amy will be hosting the Channel 4 session on behalf of Media Parenst. She champions diverse creative talent, and set up Media Parents ten years ago to facilitate that. She is a factual TV Series Producer and Talent Exec and has just completed a 2-year EMBA sponsored by Channel 4. Her most recent series for Channel 4 was BAFTA-nominated. She lives in Hastings. https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/

This event is now SOLD OUT. To support Media Parents and join our future events please join us here.

Join us for Media Parents events, jobs and training at www.mediaparents.co.uk

Huge thanks to everyone who attended Sunday’s IWD event and made it such a great success. Event organiser Lisa Harmer curated a programme of 10 films by female filmmakers in the Hastings area, which were screened to a full house at Kino-Teatr. BBC England Head of Commissioning Aisling O’Connor shared her thoughts on content she’d commission and flexible working in TV which will be summarised for this blog shortly.

With thanks to Lisa Harmer (left) and the BBC's Aisling O'Connor

It was a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women on International Women’s Day, and to connect with people in the different spaces of the atmospheric cinema.

Director Bindu De Stoppani screened trailers of her two most recent feature films

Films ranged in length from 1 to 15 minutes, and included shorts, art pieces and trailers. The youngest filmmaker, Calypso Cragg, was just 15 years old. Media Parents’ next event will be a negotiating masterclass on April 29th, run by video conference so that people from all round the UK can join, virus or no virus. Please keep an eye on the blog and site emails for details.

Money was raised for women's refuge Turner House. If you would like to donate, or are in need of refuge in Hastings please contact the organisation here: https://saha.org.uk/

Join us for Media Parents events, jobs and training at www.mediaparents.co.uk

On March 8th Media Parents will be celebrating International Women’s Day by supporting a festival of short films made by local women at the Kino-Teatr in St. Leonard’s on Sea, Sussex. Click here for the IWD Media Parents Event Film Programme, and see below for biogs. Click here for tickets.

Lisa Harmer

Writer / Actor Lisa Harmer has curated this collection of films by women filmmakers for IWD.

Lisa has curated the films for Sunday’s event. She has worked as an actor since her late teens, having trained at The Anna Scher Theatre and Actors Centre, London.  She has appeared in various continual dramas such as EastEnders, Casualty, The Bill and can also be seen on All4’s repeat showing of the iconic drama Metrosexuality, playing Peggy.

Her film Lady What Does, co-written and directed by Sara Jordan, is a dark-comedy short exploring the great bond of two Women in their 50s who, despite their differences, share a dark secret and share the load when things get messy. Lisa continues to write and act and is currently developing Lady What Does as a TV series.  https://www.lisaharmer.com/

Aisling O’Connor

BBC England's Head of TV Commissioning, Aisling O'Connor (picture EdTVFest 2019)

Aisling is Commissioner for all BBC England-funded non-news TV which includes regional current affairs, and a slate of network and online content for the four BBC channels. Aisling has been a BBC Daytime Commissioner, a Music and Arts Commissioning Executive for BBC Two and BBC Four. She Executive Produced the BBC’s flagship investigative current affairs programme Panorama, and was a Senior News and Current Affairs Adviser in BBC Editorial Policy. She lives in Hastings.

Amy Walker

Media Parents Director and Founder Amy Walker

Amy champions diverse creative talent, and set up Media Parents to facilitate that. She is a factual TV Series Producer and Talent Exec and has just completed a 2-year EMBA sponsored by Channel 4. Her most recent series for Channel 4 was BAFTA-nominated. She lives in Hastings. https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/

Bindu de Stoppani

Bindu wrote and directed her first short film in 2000, THINGS I NOTICE, THINGS YOU SEE starring Michael Fassbender, followed by three other shorts including GESUNDHEIT!, THREE, and THE KISS. In 2012 she wrote and directed her first feature film JUMP (Hugofilm/Manmade Films/RSI) which won five BIFFs at the 2012 festival including Best Director and Best Feature Film. Bindu’s second feature FINDING CAMILLE premiered at the Rome Film Festival in 2017 to great acclaim and she is in now in the early stages of development on her next feature 40 AND CLIMBING (Hugofilm) which is set to shoot in 2020. http://www.bindudestoppani.com/

Calypso Cragg

Calypso is a fifteen-year-old actress, director, writer and clothing designer.  She is home educated, and lives in the South East of England. Calypso has recently released a short film called What I Saw, which she wrote, directed, edited and performed in. It has received a highly commended laurel by the Black Country Horror Shorts Film Festival and has been selected for the Lift-Off Sessions Festival.

Cheryl White

Cheryl White is a multi-award winning Writer/Director whose films have screened around the world. Her most recent film, A Lighthouse in Breaking Waves is a part-animated short which won the Fan Award 2018 at the White Whale festival (USA), and Best Sussex Short 2017 at the Crossing the Screen festival (UK).

Cheryl was a recipient of Arts Council funding for her full length play Highly Inflammable which ran as part of the Hastings Fringe Festival 2017. She is currently co-directing a feature documentary about a 92 year-old rebel and his coffin.

Claudia Kappenberg

Claudia is a performance and media artist with a background in dance, and Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton, UK. Her work has been shown internationally across Europe, the US and the Middle East in the form of screen-based work, participatory events and site-specific performance. At the heart of her practice is an interrogation into that which makes us human. Her film Honey Hat features in the IWD Making Moving Images collection.

Recent writing has been published in Performing Process: Sharing Dance and Choreographic Practice (2018), Syncope in Performing and Visual Arts (2017), The Oxford Handbook of Screendance Studies (2016), and Art in Motion: Current Research in Screendance (2015).

Helen Jacey

Helen is a screenwriter, author and story consultant and the Founder and Creative Director of Shedunnit Productions, which develops female gaze content across film, TV and fiction. Shedunnit also sponsors the Women Over Fifty Film Festival Best Script Award.

Helen has worked extensively as a story consultant, working on projects with leading talent including Julia Roberts, Ben Elton, and Emma Watson. Among her many writing projects, Helen’s BBC Radio 4 Play for Today Miracle Postponed about Jean Rhys was nominated for a Mental Health in the Media Award.

Helen is the creator of Elvira Slate Investigations, featuring the first feminist 1940s detective. Jailbird Detective (which features in the Making Moving Images collection) and Chipped Pearls have been recently published by Shedunnit, and Helen is currently adapting the series for TV. www.shedunnit.com

www.shedunnit.com

Jody Sabral

Jody is an international best-selling author (I Never Lie, June 2018), award-winning crime writer (CWA Debut Dagger, 2014) and recently turned film director with her short film The Wrong Car (Oct 2018) featuring Sinead Matthews (Black Mirror, Jellyfish, The Crown) and Bill Fellows (Broadchurch, Alan Partridge, Vera).

The Wrong Car picked up second prize at the Los Angeles Television, Script and Film Festival this June 2019 and was also selected and screened at Pinewood Studios as part of LIFT OFF festival (March 2019). Jody has since written and directed her second short Helpline (June 2019). Jody is also a BBC News Editor.

Kate Grey

Writer & Director Kate Grey graduated from the London College of Printing with a BA (Hons) in Film & Video and from Goldsmiths University College with an MA in Feature Film.

Whistle…I’ll come to You is the first film in a series of short films shot in East Sussex that will form a portmanteau feature film; When Kate adapted the story for Whistle…, Kate changed all the characters to female, who, in the original short story by MR James, were men. She is currently in pre-production for the second film in this series Charlie Mawkins shooting in July 2020.

Lisa Clifford

Lisa Clifford is a British journalist and documentary filmmaker. Her film Militia Man about a Congolese warlord and his flawed trial at the International Criminal Court has screened around the world. Lisa’s latest documentary, Dad’s Coffin, is a joyful look at one unique man’s joyful stroll towards the inevitable.

https://www.facebook.com/militiamanfilm/

Nadene Ghouri

Nadene is a screenwriter, award-winning journalist and author, with two New York Times bestsellers under her belt.

When Sky Was Sea won a total of 12 festival awards including two for best drama. Https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8523740/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt

Olga Mamonova

Olga is the creative director of Kino-Teatr and has lived in St. Leonard’s for over twenty years. She set up the cinema in 2015 with artist husband Russell Baker, and their twin daughters Dounya and Antonia are now also involved in Kino-Teatr work. A former 1913 cinema, it is now a local cultural hub.

As Kino-Teatr’s Artistic Director Olga programmes films, Documentary Festivals, Irish Film weeks, classical concerts and live theatre. A published author, Olga is also a documentary maker, and made the first documentary on the work of Russian/British artist Oleg Prokofiev, son of composer Sergei Prokofiev.

Sara Jordan

Sara has now returned to her love of the arts and is concentrating on writing and directing as well as acting after giving up a career as an actress to have a family and get a proper job.Sara co-wrote and directed Lady What Does with Lisa Harmer, and they are currently developing this film into a TV series.

Her films Pic N Mix, Planning The Funeral and The Tea Break have won awards at festivals including Best Short at the Welsh International Film Festival. The latest, Jitters, covering a woman’s struggle with anxiety, is about to hit the festivals.

https://www.flintsparkproductions.com/

Join us for Media Parents events, jobs and training at www.mediaparents.co.uk

Here’s wishing you and yours a Happy and Healthy Christmas, and a Prosperous 2020. We look forward to working with you next year, and hope to see you at one of our brilliant events. Here are some photos from this year’s Media Parents Drinks, and some highlights from the year too.

Back to Work Winner Scripted Director Candida Scott Knight celebrates her return to directing with PD Julia Rooke at the RGS drinks

In true Media Parents style, PD Clare Richards brought her mum along to Christmas Drinks - cheers!

Got to love this one! https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/collaborator/3533/sunita-shroff

The lovely team at www.take1.tv invited Media Parents freelancers along to Christmas Drinks in soho. Back to Work Winners PM Hannah Williams Lovell and PC Jenny Madalura are pictured here with Take1 Founder Dom Bourne - cheers Take1!

Hannah & Jenny with Take1 CEO Louise Tapia - cheers ladies!

Take 1's Marketing Manager Emma Kemp is hoping to run an event with Media Parents in the new year!

january 2019

Petal Felix (pictured here with Media Parents' Joanna Gretton at Back to Work Drinks) wrote for the blog asking TV to be more diverse in 2019: https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/01/5-minutes-with-petal-felix-on-diversity-in-tv/

January event: Maverick TV's HoP Maria French (pictured here with the jobsharing Edit Producer she employed through Media Parents) and Spelthorne TV's Jude Winstanley joined Media Parents' Amy Walker for a masterclass in Negotiating

February 2019

Ginny Bing, PD blogged about juggling TV, kids and property developing https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/02/5-minutes-with-ginny-bing-producer-directoredit-producer/

march 2019

We celebrated International Women's Day with a flexible working survey - we all want it and there are many ways we are doing it! We're delighted that flexible working has made it into the 2019 Queen's Speech

April 2019

Easter break.

May 2019

Thank you to sponsors Outline Productions and Films at 59, Christopher Hutchins, Rob and Jasmine at BBC Bristol Club, and Clare Adams for all their help at the Media Parents Bristol Flexible working event in May

June 2019

At our summer party BBC Scripted Head of Talent Jacqui Taunton Fenton (now at ScreenSkills) had a good laugh with BBC Children's Exec Ros Attille and freelancers https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/06/media-parents-summer-party-photos/ Thanks to ClearCut for hosting!

Hannah Williams, one of 2018's Media Parents Back to Work Scheme winners blogged about her successful return to work at Merman https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/06/5-minutes-with-returning-pm-hannah-williams/ and PM Natalie Brook-Reynolds crossed over from theatre to TV https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/06/5-minutes-with-pm-natalie-brook-reynolds/

july 2019

Media Parents Back to Work Scheme applications opened. West Digital hosted Media Parents' job share event which resulted in Media Parents' Back to Work Winner Joanna Gretton finding a job share partner - and ultimately getting back to work as a job share!

August 2019

Media Parents five Back to Work Scheme Winners 2019 announced and head to Edinburgh. https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/08/ Thanks to Hat Trick and Raw TV for sponsoring the scheme this year.

Media Parents Back to Work Scheme Winners Laura Martin-Robinson, Candida Scott Knight and Joanna Gretton

PC Kirsti Davidson returned to work on BBC2's Gone Fishing at Owl Power

Jess Farrow returned to work as a JPM at Wild Blue Media

Employers, returners and freelancers celebrated with Back to Work Drinks in September. Thanks to S+O Media for sponsoring, and ENVY for hosting.

october 2019

Mentoring for the Back to Work Scheme began in October. Media Parents would like to thank BBC Docs Commissioning Editor Emma Loach for mentoring Cardiff-based PD Laura Martin-Robinson; Piers Vellacott, MD at Raw TV for mentoring PC Kirsti Davidson; Jessica Sharkey, Hat Trick Director of Production for mentoring JPM Jess Farrow; Endemol Shine’s Director of Factual Kim Shillinglaw for mentoring Casting Producer Joanna Gretton; Exec Coach Sam Jukes-Adams for mentoring Scripted Director Candida Scott Knight.

BBC Commissioning Editor Emma Loach is kindly mentoring for Media Parents Back to Work Scheme

november 2019

Media Parents would like to thank Fremantle’s talent team Emily Gale and Jenny Spader for hosting a returners lunch supported by ITV, the BBC, The Garden Productions, Nutopia and Multistory. Click here to see more.

december 2019

Romesh Ranganathan & Celebrity Island Composer Stefan Fletcher wrote for Media Parents blog, as did PM Helen Landeau.

If you are a company or freelancer who would like to blog for Media Parents, or a company who would like to sponsor a Media Parents event in 2020 please contact us via the contact button above. Many thanks to everyone who has supported Media Parents in 2019 by attending or sponsoring events, and employing great Media Parents talent. We look forward to working with you in 2020.

Presenter Sunita Shroff with Media Parents Director Amy Walker, Scripted Director Peter Chipping and Editor Daren Tiley at YouCanFreeUs drinks at the RGS

Join us for Media Parents events, jobs and training at www.mediaparents.co.uk

I’m excited to invite you to a screening of my Oscar and BAFTA shortlisted film Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl) – it’s finally here in London! writes Media Parents PD Elena Andreicheva. Please join us this Friday, December 20th at 6pm, at The Cinema Museum in Kennington. There’ll be drinks and an informal reception, please RSVP as below, mentioning Media Parents.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4966/elena-andreicheva

PD Elena Andreicheva (left) at Media Parents Summer Party

Elena will be available in February 2020: https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4966/elena-andreicheva

Join us for Media Parents events, jobs and training at www.mediaparents.co.uk

In November, Emily Gale and Jenny Spader, Fremantle’s talent team, hosted a lunch for Media Parents factual returners which was supported by talent managers from the BBC, ITV and Multistory, Nutopia and The Garden Productions. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet, to get on the radar of different companies and to share experience of returning. Meet our returners…

Elena Mourey, Producer / EP

Back to Work Winner 2018

Elena Mourey PD (left) with ITV Multistory's TMs Ros Malthouse and Nikki Ryan at Fremantle's Media Parents Returners Lunch.

I’m an experienced producer, writes Elena Mourey, who has worked on important and emotional series like the RTS award-winning Hospital for BBC2, C4′s The Job Interview, People Like Us for BBC3 and The Undateables, C4.

With over a decade’s experience, I’ve developed the skills needed to draw the best out of sensitive contributors at extremely difficult times in their lives, in places hard to access. I have directed, shot and edited BBC one hour (People Like Us), filmed and conducted master interviews, managed teams to find the best cast and stories, filmed with contributors with complex compliance issues and gained access to hospitals, schools and council estates. In my future roles, I’m looking for more edit experience and my eventual goal is to SP.  https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/13955/elena-mourey

Fazeena Abduraman, Production Coordinator

PC Fazeena Abduraman (centre) with The Garden's Debbie Hartley and Elsa Sharp from the BBC.

I am an experienced co-ordinator, writes Fazeena Abduraman,  and have recently returned to work at the BBC after a break.  I have worked mainly in factual/ factual entertainment programmes as well worked on both live and recorded shows. I am available in the New Year. https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/10952/fazeena-abdurahman

Jenny Madalura, PC / Researcher

Back to Work Winner 2018

Jenny Madalura, PC (right) with ITV's Jessica Wilson

Since working with the BBC as a researcher I have been out of media work for nearly 10 years due to having a family. In the meantime I’ve studied for a law degree and worked part-time as a LexisNexis copywriter, whilst being a full-time parent to two kids.

I am eager to return to media work and given the opportunity I can offer a wealth of transferrable skills and life experience, together with legal, writing, business and media skills that would be an asset and benefit to any media company.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/15655/jenny-madalura

Joanna Gretton, Casting Producer

Back to Work Winner 2019

Casting Producer Joanna Gretton with Nutopia's Natalie Spanier.

My extensive media production career across Factual, Docs and Daytime has meant I can deliver the best possible contributors that the programme requires, writes Joanna Gretton. I fully appreciate the sensitivity of a story and have direct experience of working with people from all walks of life.

I am absolutely thrilled at being selected as a WINNER of the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme from a large pool of talent. I am excited about re-entering production as a job-sharing casting producer. I’ve found two potential partners and I’m approaching companies who are sympathetic to a job share opportunities – so if this sounds like you please get in touch. You will be getting two talented brains for the price of one!

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/11382/joanna-gretton

Katie Walmsley (Luckes), PM / Prod Exec

Back to Work Winner 2018

Katie Walmsley with Fremantle's Head of Talent Emily Gale.

I am a Production Executive with 25 years of television experience under my belt, writes Katie Walmsley. Before my career break I worked my way up from Coordinating for the Natural History Unit in Bristol to production managing, to the role of Production Executive at STV, running and overseeing a team of Production Managers across a diverse range of programming, and setting up and dealing with major budgets and series.

Having relocated from Glasgow I took the decision to put my TV career on hold and bring up my two young daughters, however I have always missed the cut and thrust of television and am itching to get back to work. With the girls now settled and happy, my ambition is to forge new contacts and find a great company and that will recognize and bolster my skills whilst supporting my return to work part-time. Ideally I’m looking for a flexible role that can be office and home based. I am realistic and would be happy to come back as a Production Manager to show a new team just what I can do.

Laura Martin-Robinson, Shooting PD

Back to Work Winner 2019

Laura Martin-Robinson PD (centre, rear) with talent and talent managers at Fremantle Media Parents Returners Lunch in November.

I’m a documentary self-shooting P/D with 15 years experience in observational and immersive presenter-led docs, writes Laura Martin-Robinson. I worked in London in BBC Arts, then Docs and then freelanced before moving to Wales 5 years ago – where I’ve been working with companies like Indus/Folk, Twofour and now ie ie (yeah yeah) productions.

Last year I won 2 Welsh BAFTAs (Best Doc and Best Director) for a BBC1 film I made with Welsh actor Richard Mylan and his son Jaco about autism. More recently I’ve made a 3×30 obs series for BBC Wales about the Welsh Women’s Homeless football team. As well as shooting and directing these films, I also developed and got them to a commission. I’ve also worked at Blast! Films, Betty, Plum Pictures, Raw and Rare Day as a development producer/DV director.

I’d like to continue making documentaries for BBC Wales and broaden out to network commissions. I’m also happy to work on funded developments, making tasters, writing pitches and casting – especially if it’s on the film I’m then hired to direct!

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/9887/laura-martin-robinson

Melissa Bishop, (Shooting) AP / Researcher

Back to Work Winner 2018

AP Melissa Newbury with The Garden's Debbie Hartley.

I am an experienced AP / Researcher with a good knowledge of the production process and an appreciation of high production values, writes Melissa Bishop. I have excellent editorial skills and have worked across a wide variety of programmes, in various roles, and as a producer for Legal Television Network.

I am particularly strong with contributors. Creating trust and negotiating with people from any background, some vulnerable and in difficult circumstances. I can shoot sequences well and understand what is needed for the edit. I recently studied for a Masters degree in Documentary and Factual Programming to deepen my understanding and programme making skills.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/14397/melissa-bishop

Sheela Banerjee, PD

Sheela Banerjee, PD.

I am a highly experienced producer/director, with a 14-year track record in making programmes for the BBC and Channel 4, writes Sheela Banerjee. I took a career break from television after having my daughter and have been working as a part time lecturer and freelance journalist while she’s been young. I would love to return to work full time now and am looking for edit producing or development roles.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/14512/sheela-banerjee

Huge thanks to Fremantle’s Emily Gale and Jenny Spader for hosting this event. Our next event is our Christmas Event on December 3rd – see you there!

Join us for Media Parents' Christmas Event with YouCanFreeUs on December 3rd at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/11/media-parents-christmas-event/

We’re delighted to announce the Winners of this year’s Media Parents Back to Work Scheme, sponsored by Raw TV and Hat Trick Productions. Thank you to everyone who applied, it was an exceptional line-up this year and we look forward to having a drink with all applicants, sponsors, alumni and supporters at our Back to Work Drinks on September 25^th (see watercooler for details).

Media Parents Back to Work Scheme Winner Returning Director Candida Scott Knight waving (not drowning) in the crowd at Media Parents Summer Drinks

Something unusual happened this year, in that we opened up applications to people who were unable to attend the Edinburgh TV Festival as well as those that were. And our sponsors chose people who were not able to attend, in addition to people who could. For a company that promotes job sharing this is an ideal result, meaning we have five people on the scheme this year, from Wales and Brighton as well as London. Here they are – if you would like to meet Laura, Joanna and Candida at the festival please drop us a line via the site or @mediaparents on twitter.

JPM Jess Farrow (nee Garland), London mentored by Hat Trick Productions.

Congratulation to JPM Jess Farrow who will be mentored by Hat Trick. Cheers Jess!

JPM Jess Farrow returned from mat leave in Feb 2019 and felt pushed out of the industry because she could not find flexible work. She took a flexible job in events before picking up a flexible post PM contract. She is using the scheme and support from Hat Trick to try to find flexible PC or JPM work, and to try to retain her JPM status rather than seeing her career go backwards after having a child.

PC Kirsti Davidson, Brighton mentored by Raw TV.

PC Kirsti Davidson will be mentored by Raw TV

After 10 years in TV as an AP Kirsti took a break to have a family and subsequently found it was extremely difficult to get production work that fitted with family life. So after a few false starts she forged a new career as an illustrator where she could work from home. Now Kirsti’s children are older and she is able to work longer hours and travel, it’s become clear to her that illustration is more of a hobby than a career, and she misses working in production and being part of a team. After 12 years out Kirsti is planning to retrain and re-enter the industry as a Production Coordinator, supported by Raw TV.

PD Laura Martin-Robinson, Cardiff supported by Hat Trick Productions.

Cardiff PD Laura Martin-Robinson will be attending Edinburgh TV Festival

On the face of it Laura has it all – two BAFTAs and a great relationship with a production company ie ie productions (pronounced yeah yeah) that enables her to work flexibly. But she has three kids, and working part time on Welsh regional productions barely covers her childcare costs. She wants her career to be self-sufficient, full time and has network ambitions.

Director Candida Scott Knight, London supported by Media Parents

Returning Director Candida Scott Knight will be attending Edinburgh TV Festival alongside PD Laura Martin-Robinson and Casting Producer Joanna Gretton as part of the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme

Since working at Channel 4 and directing Hollyoaks, award-winning short film director Candida has raised a family and moved to L.A. and back. For the past two years she has been building her skills and her intention is to work her way back up to directing drama again.

Casting Producer Joanna Gretton, London supported by Raw TV

Joanna Gretton (right) with Amy Walker at Media Parents Summer Party 2017

Joanna has been working with Media Parents for three years, helping other talent find gigs and return to TV so now it’s her time. Prior to working for Media Parents Joanna was a PD, and caster on documentaries and cast celebrities for royal obituaries. Thanks to Media Parents Flexible Working Event Joanna has met one job share partner and is looking for more potential job shares as she makes her way back into part time work.

Huge thanks to Hat Trick and Raw for making the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme possible this year, and for the support from the TV Foundation, which runs The Edinburgh TV Festival. Thanks once again to everyone who applied – if you didn’t win a place this time don’t give up – TV needs you. Join us at our Back to Work Drinks on September 25th at ENVY, see the watercooler for details.

Click image to join Media Parents www.mediaparents.co.uk for great jobs, training and events.

**Experienced SP seeks telly husband/wife for job-share adventures a-plenty!**

Series Producer Karen Richardson at Media Parents Job Share Event

Actually, like a real floozy, writes Series Producer Karen Richardson, I seek as many job share partners as possible. Since discussing job share at the Media Parents Job Share event recently, it’s becoming clear that job-share partnerships can chop and change from one contract to the next depending on the nature of the job; the dates and general life events!  So, the more the merrier I say! If you’re interested in applying for the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme as a jobshare then please contact me through Media Parents too – applications close on Saturday 10th August.

The concept of job-sharing has been an epiphany for me!  It’s the only feasible way for me to do the job I love.   The role of Series Producer is intense so knowing that your job-share buddy is working when you are not (and vice versa) just fills me with utter joy!  It’s fair to say that I have become quite zealous about the idea of job-sharing as a way of staying in a senior role at a time in life when full-time roles are difficult either because of caring responsibilities or because you have other interests which you wish to dedicate time to and which make you a well-rounded, interesting human!

If the Political Editors of The Guardian; the CEOs of the Judicial Studies Board and the Head of Media & Campaigns at Macmillan Cancer Trust, the Series Editors on Unreported World – to name but a few – can job share successfully, in some case for decades, then it sure as hell can be done more in the world of TV.  One just needs a “can do” attitude.  And let’s be honest, if you’ve carved out a successful career in TV then you’ll have that in bucket loads anyway.

SP Karen Richardson in the crowd at Media Parents Job Share Event, sponsored by West Digital

For more job-sharing zealotry you can follow me @tellymumma an account I created to chart my return to the world of TV and the joy of the job-share and to up-skill my incredibly basic understanding of social media!

My skills as a Series Producer are, I promise, far more adept.  I’m an experienced Features, Fact Ent and Popular Factual SP returning to production after a 4-year maternity break and available to work from mid/end October.

I’ve a lot of experience in competition formats and tackling all the compliance and legal issues these generate and have SP’d several first series including The Great Pottery Throw Down for BBC2 and One Born: What Happened Next for More4 – the two series of which I am proudest.

Apply for the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme by August 10th, and join us for Media Parents Back to Work Drinks in September

Pottery was a behemoth of a series and at its peak we had a team of close to 80 on set and in the edits.  One Born on the other hand was a team of 6, with two newbie Shooting PD’s who had never cut an hour show in the edit before.  Completely different series to make but both encapsulate everything I love about TV – the stories of ordinary peoples’ extraordinary lives told with fondness, compassion, humour, warmth, curiosity and honesty.   Be it baking, pottery, property or parenting, I want to know everything about the world we’re entering and the people whose stories we’re telling.  This means I always ensure that my team and myself get out to meet and speak with people as early as possible at the start of a production since I believe this is how the best stories are found and the best TV is made.

Over the past couple of months I’ve spent a lot of time getting back in touch with all my old contacts – and making new ones – as I spread the word about returning to SP’ing in a job-share capacity.  This means I now have lots of people – genuinely interested in the idea of job-sharing SP’s – to e-mail for work once I’ve found my job-share partner.

Inspired by the Media Parents Job Share event, there is a small, but steadily growing WhatsApp group of SPs interested in job-sharing (several of us, myself included, are happy to consider Edit Producer roles to fill gaps in-between SP gigs) so – if you like what you’ve read – please get in touch with me via Media Parents.

Click image to join Media Parents www.mediaparents.co.uk for great jobs, training and events.

Media Parents Back to Work Scheme 2019 has opened for applications – yes it’s back! To get an application form or recommend a friend drop us a line c/o www.mediaparents.co.uk contact button.

I cannot express how much difference the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme made to reigniting both my career and my confidence writes PM Hannah Williams. (Hannah is currently looking to fill a gap before her next contract, so if you need a PM let her know: https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/11460/hannah-williams-lovell)

PM Hannah Williams, 2nd from right top, with the other 2018 Back to Work Scheme Winners at Edinburgh

Since returning last August I was mentored by the wonderful Becky Parkinson at Merman. After a lovely chat and first meeting I suddenly found myself as one of the Merman team managing the Post in the UK for Frayed – an extremely exciting, funny and brilliantly written new comedy drama by Sarah Kendall.

This mainly involved coordinating Australian and UK post to work harmoniously together, as the show was shot (predominantly) in Australia and post was being split between the two countries. It couldn’t have been more perfect as it was almost exclusively home-based, aside from a few meetings or visits to the post facility in Soho.

I split 3 days across 5 which worked perfectly around my 3 children. Working with Australia came in quite handy when my children are creatures of unsociable hours anyway so I could catch up with the team in Melbourne first thing/last thing and still pick up/drop off my children at school. It just required a bit of multi-tasking and careful use of my time.

Hannah Williams gets back up to speed with industry events at Ed TV Fest

In my first few weeks back to work I felt slightly rusty but Becky was inordinately supportive and I knew I could always ask if I needed help. As it turns out, maternity leave hadn’t sapped all traces of experience and I found that I settled back into it quite quickly and loved it. Initially the contract was 6 months but I was kept on for a while longer and am hoping to rejoin them at some point in the future.

Since Merman, I took on some pre-production for a new children’s animation (which was also working exclusively from home) and am now actively looking for my next venture.

I think what this process has taught me is that I may have been out of the industry over enormous changes to tapeless or 4K but technical gaps can be answered by a simple question (or extensive google). Even the people who haven’t left the industry are still asking questions and are learning. Skills will never leave you but new knowledge can always be obtained if you need it.

The invaluable pep talk with Amy at the beginning of this journey, all those months ago in Edinburgh, still rings in my head today. Even if you have been out it does not erase all the hard work you have put in prior to babies. You are still the same person as you were with the same skills and the same talent so never make excuses for yourself.

Back to Work Scheme Winners Hannah Williams and Melissa Bishop at Media Parents Summer Party

The scheme has helped me hold onto that and regain the confidence to still see myself as a valuable asset, even if I have to be more specific about my hours and work schedule. So thank you Amy for calling me from your holiday when I had emailed you in two minds about the scheme. I really appreciated that as the support from Media Parents and the mentors from this scheme has been invaluable.

And to those of you who are a little shaky about going back to work or are thinking about applying for this year’s Back to Work Scheme if it goes ahead – DO IT! The worst that can happen is that you meet some amazing people, gain invaluable networking skills and get to have an incredible mentor and new network to support you. And if that’s the worst that can happen then you have no excuse!

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/11460/hannah-williams-lovell

We’re delighted to announce our summer party on Wednesday June 19th, courtesy of our kind hosts Clearcut Pictures. Media Parents members are cordially invited to join us for an evening in the garden, please sign up to the guestlist on the Media Parents watercooler. After the success of our recent Bristol Media Parents Flexible Working Event we’re also gearing up for our London Media Parents Flexible Working Event on July 24th so save the date and watch out for that guestlist opening following our Summer Party. Here are some photos from last year’s summer party, with thanks again to Rowan Bray and the Clear Cut team.

Media Parents Summer Party last year was a glorious affair on a warm summer evening in Bloomsbury thanks to the Clear Cut team.

Huge thanks to all the companies and freelancers who attended last year's summer party and made it such a good laugh!

ITV's Back to Work Scheme Winner Geoff Dibben with Media Parents' Joanna Gretton

Renegade's Director of Production Ed Nissen with Dragonfly Coordinator Danny Leitch

Baby Cow's Head of Production Judith Bantock with Media Parents freelancers and returners

Clear Cut Pictures MD Rowan Bray with Media Parents members

Maverick's Head of Production Maria French

Tiger Aspect's Comedy and Entertainment Exec Cat Fox

Outline Productions' Production Exec Emily Freshwater with Sister Pictures' Back to Work Scheme Winner Jenny Madalura

BBC Scripted Drama & Comedy Head of Talent Jacqui Taunton-Fenton with Media Parents freelancers

Barcroft Media Exec Jude Parker

Series Producer Gayl Paterson with Katherine Bovey

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us - we look forward to seeing you again this year!

To sign up to the guestlist for the Media Parents Summer Party on June 19th see the link on Media Parents watercooler

To sign up to the guestlist please see the watercooler at https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/

Click image to join Media Parents www.mediaparents.co.uk for great jobs, training and events. Summer Party June 19th; Flexible Working Event July 24th and more...