Media Parents

I was directing some actors on a large day-for-night fight scene near the seaside, writes Editor-turned-Director Peter Chipping. There was a problem. It was midday in summer, and not remotely dark.

Peter Chipping directing a real blue screen scene at Pinewood

One of the giveaways of shooting this style is revealing the sky. You need to disguise the horizon. In many old cowboy films you see clouds floating in a dark blue sky. A dead giveaway. It was going to be hard to convince an audience I was shooting at night. On a camera monitor the blue sky just looked like a big blue screen. Maybe a chroma-key screen? I figured I could key in another colour – like black – and suddenly my actors would look like they were lit by the “moon” running against a night sky. It worked too. The knowledge had been acquired many years previously as I had been an editor and knew some editing trickery.

Editors often muse on how to get out of being shackled to their edit suites.  One skill editors often learn is making a story out of hundreds of hours of footage. It’s a lot of organisation. With a bit of know-how, that organisation can be applied to crews and productions.

I had learnt to operate cameras at college and after various diversions into multi camera studio directing, I gravitated towards factual. My camera and editing skills would come in handy, as what I shot actually made it through the edit. One thing that’s not taught to editors is writing. So I attended lots of courses, but what I learnt were beat sheets, inciting incidents, act breaks, inner and outer arcs. I discovered most writing is aimed at drama, not factual, but a class from the Exec Producer of The Apprentice, Patrick Uden, plus much trial and error, paid off.

I also discovered the structure of factual is often similar to drama. You still need protagonists and they still need a challenge, something to affect them and a battle to the end. It needs to be interesting with lots of “surprises”, otherwise known as: being “dramatic”. Quite often the act breaks became commercial breaks, but all those funky things such as themes, motifs etc can be used too. I learnt many mainstream directors start in factual and cross over, and have crossed back too. The biggest obstacle was convincing execs I could do it. So I wrote and shot a bundle of short dramas films. That lead to some police re-enactment videos being commissioned for The Police Federation and eventually a TV commission of documentary flanked by some drama. Fortunately, the American style drama/docs had budgets that dictated people with multi skills. The police films led to true crime that led to serial killers (In the USA, UK & Germany) and eventually war, which included another major serial killer: Adolf Hitler.

I found dealing with actors was not taught to editors either, so I took the plunge and did an actor’s class and even a stand-up comedy class. The former was helpful for more drama-centric productions, while the latter allowed me to see the funny side of my journey.

Peter Chipping’s drama can be seen this year (2020) in 4 episodes of “Nazi Megastructures: America’s War” on Channel 4, plus two episodes of “Autopsy, the last hours of..” for Potato/ITV which airs in America on REELZ.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/15880/peter-chipping

Join us for Media Parents events, jobs and training at www.mediaparents.co.uk Media Parents' January event is a CV seminar in Bristol - see our watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk for details

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

Sam Jukes-Adams, Coach & NED, Emergence Films

Ex-scripted HOP and Coach Sam Jukes-Adams has been mentoring returning Director Candida Scott Knight, Winner of the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme 2019, and we are delighted to announce that Candida has secured a place on the BBC Continuing Drama Directors’ Scheme 2019, and will be directing a block on EastEnders next year. After 13 years out, and two years working with Media Parents to get back in.

Leadership, Executive and Organisational Coach Sam is a Tavistock Consulting trained, senior practitioner accredited Coach (EMCC). Sam works systemically, helping individual and organisational clients gain insight into, and address, the personal and organisational dynamics that contribute to their professional effectiveness, working one to one, in groups, and through workshops. Sam’s work spans all sectors, including Charity, Finance, Creative Industries, Property, Start Ups, Entrepreneurs and Tech, from Manager level to Senior Leaders and Business Owners. Sam works with Corporations, SMEs and Self funding clients on Integration programmes, professional effectiveness, and leadership. Sam enjoys working with people around the world, both face to face and online.

Prior to Coaching, Sam spent 20 yrs in TV Production. She has worked at the BBC, was Head of Production for Impossible Pictures, and latterly SVP Scripted Production, NBCUniversal International Studios. Working on and across development, financing, production and delivery of award winning content for both domestic and international networks (US NBC/AUS/CAN) and companies, ranging from science, (Horizon) CGI heavy Specialist Factual (Walking with Dinosaurs, Space Odyssey:Voyage to the Planets, Project Earth) and Drama (Primeval, Quacks, Camp, London Spy, Yonderland, You, Me and the Apocalypse, Glitch, Deadline Gallipoli).

Sam has always been a passionate advocate for the development of talent and teams, and is a visiting Lecturer on the Producer’s MA at MetFilm, London, and served as the Chair of the High End TV Levy Council, and on the board of Creative Skillset from 2016-2018. Sam brings this wealth of professional and commercial experience and knowledge to her coaching practice, and is constantly developing her practice, including currently completing Hogan Level 1 certification. https://www.sjaassociates.co.uk/

Media Parents Back to Work Scheme Winners Candida Scott Knight (right) and Returning Casting Producer Joanna Gretton

Candida Scott Knight, B2W Scripted Director

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 direct drama again. After winning her place on the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme 2019 and attending Edinburgh TV Festival, Candida recently completed the BBC Continuing Drama Directors’ Scheme 2019 on EastEnders, and will be directing episodes in 2020.

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/14731/candida-scott-knight

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

Emma Loach, Commissioning Editor BBC Documentaries

We are delighted that BBC Docs Commissioning Editor Emma Loach has agreed to mentor returning PD Laura Martin-Robinson, Media Parents Back to Work Scheme Winner from Cardiff, who is being sponsored on the scheme by Hat Trick Productions.

Emma joined the BBC documentary commissioning team in January 2017. She is responsible for a large range of output including series and singles across all the channels such as Birth, Ambulance, The Met, Nadiya On Anxiety and Stabbed: Britain’s Knife Crime Crisis on BBC One; The Baby Has Landed, Hospital, The Ethics Committee: A Life and Death Decision, David Harewood On Psychosis and Being Blacker on BBC Two; Hometown, The Left Behind, Acid Attack: My Story on BBC Three and Border Country: When Ireland Was Divided on BBC Four.

As an executive producer, Emma was responsible for helping to originate and deliver the Ambulance brand for BBC1, The Trial for C4 and a diverse range of series and singles across all the channels.

Laura Martin-Robinson, B2W PD

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

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.

Read Laura’s review of Edinburgh TV Festival 2019 here: https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2019/10/5-minutes-with-pd-laura-martin-robinson-world-mental-health-day/

And see her profile here:

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

Join us for Media Parents' Pop Up Christmas Drinks with Take 1 on Tuesday 10th December

Helen Landeau has now found work at South Shore until March 2019.

I’m currently free so if anyone needs a Production Manager? writes Helen Landeau. It’s been five years since my return to tellyland and Media Parents were there to support me back into the cut and thrust of the production office like I’ve just come out of rehab!  Previously, I had done sixteen years at the BBC as Production Co-ordinator and got my parole via redundancy in 2006. I left to join the Filofax clan of the corporate world in the dizzying heights of the concrete jungle that is Canary Wharf but the calling to return home to TV was deafening and so after eight years, I relented. No regrets!

I’m currently free so if anyone needs a Production Manager? writes Helen Landeau. https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/9357/helen-landeau

In my last Media Parents blog, I’d just finished working on the BBC One landmark documentary, ‘Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation’.  To date, an important documentary to me personally and professionally.  Being almost the same age of Stephen, I was there throughout the timeline of events and thought I’d known everything about this tragic event but the forensic research unearthed things that I didn’t even know!  When it was broadcasted in April 2018, me and the production team didn’t expect the reception we’d receive from the viewers and industry peers – it made the hard work so worthwhile.  However, the post production paperwork wasn’t so great but hey, someone’s gotta do it and it was muggins.

Leaving that behind, I went to Emporium Productions (part of Hat Trick) and was Production Manager on ‘Donal MacIntyre’s Murder Files’ for CBS Reality.  This series was green-screen studio with drama recon and about visiting solved murder cases with the lead detective. I finally got to meet Clive Driscoll as I didn’t get the opportunity from the Stephen Lawrence series. I worked with a cracking team especially Nick Kenton, a brilliant Series Producer.  This was the second series and it ran quite smoothly (can’t say that too often these days) and working with a pro like Donal – it was great.

After delivery of the Donal series, I stayed on at Emporium and working with Nick again on a brand-new series called ‘Talking Animals: Tales From The Zoo’ for Channel 5.  This was a bit of a challenge (which I do like) as it included working with voice-over artists and comedy writers.  What’s the problem with that I hear you cry?  Well, as a factual PM, you don’t usually work on a cross-genre programme every day.

We filmed at Jersey Zoo and it was a fantastic opportunity to go on location to visit the island of Jersey, see the animals at Jersey Zoo (created by Gerald Durrell – as in the comedy drama, ‘The Durrells’) and of course, making sure my team were okay.

Working on this production kept me laughing every day and sometimes, I step back and it’s such a privilege to be doing this job.  Keep an eye out as it’s due for TX on Channel 5 early next year!

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/9357/helen-landeau

Join us for great jobs, events 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/

Sometimes life throws a lot of things at you all at once and pushes you into fight or flight mode, making you completely readdress what you want to do writes PC Clare Lawrence. This happened to me last year and, always the fighter, I made the conscious decision to pivot into TV. I have long wanted to work in TV but had told myself that it was too late for me and that I couldn’t afford to begin as a runner with bills to pay and children to feed –  it was time to change the story! Ahead of Media Parents’ Bristol event in November, read about Clare’s success in finding work in Bristol c/o Media Parents.

PC Clare Lawrence has found work through Media Parents https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/15905/clare-lawrence

I’d worked as a freelance stills photographer for nine years with a lot of success and prior to that as a self-shooting researcher for a commercial agency, I knew I had a host of transferable skills with which to enter the industry, but no actual TV experience – yet! After working solo for so long, I also missed being part of a creative team and knew this was the right move to make.

Being a complete outsider and knowing no-one in the industry at the time, I did some research and attended a couple of Bristol networking events, feeling very green and like a fish out of water. I attended a Media Parents networking event and after meeting Amy Walker also began working for Media Parents in January 2019. For Media Parents I look after all the Bristol / Cardiff and more recently London positions that are advertised and manage the social media accounts, as well as helping to run the Bristol events. This has given me a perspective into the different routes in TV and communicate with a lot of Talent Managers and freelancers. Amy also helped me to redo my CV and it wasn’t long before I secured my first role as a Production Coordinator for Mustang Films.

Nine months later I have three good Production Coordinator credits under my belt; a presenter-led arts series for BBC World News ‘China’s Greatest Treasures’, BBC2 series ‘In search of Dracula’ presented by Mark Gatiss and a fun Channel 5 series ‘Driving Mum and Dad Crazy’. As I didn’t start as a runner, I have had to learn a lot of the jargon very quickly and there have been a lot of ‘in at the deep-end’ moments, but very quickly I have immersed myself into the roles and people have been surprised when they have learned I am fairly new to TV. Knowing a lot of the technical side of things has definitely helped me along the way and a nuance for how to run a business, having run my own for so long. Like any good PC – enjoying a colour-coded spreadsheet is a definite plus!

It is encouraging that in my mid-30s it is not too late to change career and that being highly motivated and applying yourself will take you anywhere. Attending networking events has been invaluable as has the mentoring I have received from Media Parents Amy Walker and informally from others in the industry. It is also thanks to production companies willing to think outside the box and be open to my transferable skills that I have come so far, so quickly.

As a single Mum of two children, working in production is the right balance of creativity and logistics within a relatively standard working week. I will always be a creative person and pursue photography in my own time; in production I feel part of a bigger picture and look forward to working my way up the production path. I’m excited to be starting a new PC position in October at Outline Productions for BBC2 until the end of Spring, which I found through Media Parents. I met Outline for the first time at a Media Parents networking event in Bristol, which Isa Snow Campbell also attended, so it pays to get out there…

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/15905/clare-lawrence

Kim Shillinglaw, Director of Factual, Endemol Shine

We are delighted to announce that Kim Shillinglaw will be mentoring returning Casting Producer Joanna Gretton on the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme. Joanna first saw Kim via the Media Parents Back to Work Scheme at Edinburgh TV Festival, we are grateful to Kim and Endemol Shine for their continued support for the scheme. Follow Joanna’s progress on this blog.

Kim Shillinglaw became Director of Factual at Endemol Shine in September 2016. She is the strategic lead for factual programming across the group, and has led the growth of production companies Dragonfly, Dragonfly West, DSP, Tigress and Workerbee, producers of award winning programmes for C4, BBC, ITV, Netflix, Quibi, National Geographic and many others.

Prior to joining Endemol Shine, Kim was Controller of BBC Two and BBC Four responsible for bringing younger audiences and a more contemporary flavour to the channels with shows like the award winning Muslims Like Us, Real Marigold Hotel, Exodus, Hospital, Employable Me, Inside The Factory, American Crime Story and The Super Rich Season as well as other acclaimed shows such as Mum, Wolf Hall, and Charles III.

Previously, Kim was in commissioning for many years. As Head of Commissioning for Science and Natural History she significantly increased the number of hours and her output was acclaimed as ‘a golden age for science on television’, with shows including Stargazing Live, Trust Me I’m A Doctor and The Young Ones, dramas such as the RTS-winning Challenger, the BAFTA-winning Frozen Planet, Wonders of the Solar System and Planet Earth II. She also commissioned the acclaimed Blue Planet II.  Prior to this Kim was an Entertainment Commissioner at CBBC, where she created the first series of multi award winning comedy Horrible Histories, and worked as a programme maker in documentaries and current affairs.

She is a trustee of Raspberry PI and former trustee of Nesta, and has served on committees and panels for DCMS, the Royal Society, BBC, Science Museum and many others.

Joanna Gretton, B2W Casting Producer

Returning Casting Producer Joanna Gretton, leftt, with Media Parents Back to Work Scheme Winner Candida Scott Knight

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. Raw TV supported Joanna’s Edinburgh Festival trip, and Endemol Shine will support her mentoring.

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.

Contact Joanna Gretton here: Casting Producer Joanna Gretton

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**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.

I came into production management via a very different route to most people, writes Media Parents’ PM Natalie Brook Reynolds.

PM Natalie Brook Reynolds moved over from theatre where she worked with Sir Charles Dance

I trained as a stage manager in theatre and was a fairly successful Company Stage Manager for 12 years, my last show being Shadowlands with Charles Dance in the West End. More about that later – my career has evolved into PMing for TV and I’ve even set up a virtual PM business where I work from home for smaller companies that need ad hoc PM support. Back to how it all began…

I found that my stage management skills were very transferable and was asked back to again a year later. I was still working as a freelancer stage managing as well, but didn’t want the life of having to go out on tour for weeks/month on end especially as I had met my partner David at around the same time – moving into TV was appealing and slowly I started to move across.

At first, I worked for various production companies as a PC and then moving onto PM, because of my quick problem solving skills I seem to appeal to short form TV companies, although I have done long form, live studio and current affairs.

In 2016 I agreed to take a rolling freelancer PM role with Global Media and Entertainment in the VideoLab team which produced branded content and of course all the video content from their yearly OB events. I ended up staying nearly 2 years as Senior Production Manager with lots of my additional duties encompassing what can be described a hybrid of HOP/Production Accountant strands to my role. I would often be looking after 20 plus cost managers of video projects that were going on, managing up to 6 producers reporting into me, freelance editors and the permanent editor.

Within my time there I also put systems in place including a new cost manager and a 37-page financial management report which allowed business decisions to be made for the department.  I had the most fantastic boss who championed her team’s development and mine. By the time I decided to move on I was extremely proud of what I had done and the difference I had made to the video teams but I wanted new challenges.

I returned to freelancing, however last year I had an accident. I fell on a glass vase cutting the artery and all the tendons to the fingers on my right hand and had a 6 hour op to repair the damage. Over the last year I have had extensive hand therapy and recovered well, in this time I have worked, I was even back freelancing a week after the accident! It has made me reflect on work life balance and now I would love to work more part-time.

Currently I am still freelancing and am holiday covering the PM at Otro until the 9th July full time, but after this I am interested in short term freelance contracts in July and August ideally 4 days a week and am happy to do holiday cover and then ideally from 15th September to do more part-time freelance roles 3-4 days a week. If I can bring my skills to your company please get in touch:

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/413/natalie-brook-reynolds

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