Media Parents

Media Parents is three!! And we’re delighted to be celebrating on the roof of Prime Focus thanks to Sara Hill’s generous hosting, and sponsorship from Take1 Transcription and Chipotle.

A bevvy of lovelies at last year's Media Parents Summer Party...

Here are a few companies attending the party on July 17th:

The guestlist is now closed, but please do join www.mediaparents.co.uk for more excellent networking opportunities and amazing jobs!

Media Parents' next event is our 3rd birthday party on July 17th. Yeehah! For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

Please tune in next week for this new series, series produced and directed by Media Parents talent Jules Seymour:

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/126/jules-seymour

Media Parents' next event is our 3rd birthday party on July 17th. Details will be released soon. For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

Shooting PD / Series Director Clare Richards’ new doc for Rare Day TXes tonight on Channel 4 at 10pm, please watch.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4/clare-richards

Media Parents' next event is our 3rd birthday party on July 17th. Details will be released soon. For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

Jayne Edwards, Head of Development at Off the Fence Productions writes about the production of Confessions of an Alien Abductee, 9pm tonight on Channel 4.

Confessions of an Alien Abductee, 9pm, Thursday 13th June, Channel4

Jayne Edwards has an extensive track record in making shows for all the major UK broadcasters and has been with Off The Fence since 2009. She series produced Off The Fence’s successful Stan Lee’s Superhumans and is now heading up the development team to further expand and develop the company’s production slate.

Has anyone been able to work flexibly on this production / within the company?

As Head of Development I am usually office based with the rest of the team.  But with this production, as I had a strong relationship with the contributors we felt it was a good idea for me to go on the road and be an integral part of the production.

There are number of us who worked on Confessions of an Alien Abductee who have children so we found a way to make it work between us. Those of us on location filming have not been able to work particularly flexibly – when a shoot is planned, you have to do it. Having said that, this particular production was made easier for us as it was a UK only shoot.

I was able to make sure that I never spent more than three nights away from home at any one time, and I often drove home between shoots rather than spend another night away from my family. My director also has children, so we understood each other’s position and shared the load.

We were very fortunate with Confessions of an Alien Abductee that we only did one weekend shoot the entire time – our contributors were flexible so we were able to make it work for us, to a certain extent.

Jayne Edwards, Head of Development at Off The Fence, Bristol

Off the Fence is a flexible company generally, it’s very friendly and allows for flexibility for its employees to take time out whether you have young children or a sick parent. I was offered the job as Head of Development when I was six months pregnant – something not many employers would have been prepared to do. After six months maternity leave, I came back to work three days a week. However, I quickly realised that I couldn’t do the job properly in that amount of time, so I went four days a week after eight weeks. Then, I went full time within a year, and I prefer doing that. Off the Fence didn’t enforce anything on me, I decided I wanted to do more, they were very, supportive and accommodating and trusted me to make the right decision to do whatever I felt I needed to do to do my job.

Off the Fence has a number of senior women with children so they are very understanding to your needs – and at the same time they are very good examples of how to manage the balance. They work incredibly hard whilst making it work around their families.

Any interesting ways of making production and childcare work?

I have a good support network, my three year old daughter goes to a great nursery and I have a very tolerant partner, which makes it work. On the days that I’m in the office, I often get into the office mega early so that I can get everything done and pick my daughter up from nursery.

If you choose to work in production then you have to deal with the long hours that involves. It’s not a 9-5 job. You have to set quite strict boundaries as to what you’re prepared to sacrifice, and on a case by case basis decide if a project is exciting enough to spend time away from your family. You have to make sure it’s known that you won’t shy away from projects because you have a child.

Ultimately, it’s your choice to work in a demanding industry. If you don’t feel that you can manage to juggle your career and your children, then don’t work in that industry.

How have you made your career work alongside having a family?

As I said, I have a great support network which helps. In addition, I try not to be away for more than three nights at a time. I come home from work, spend time with my little girl, then I work again when she’s in bed. That works for me.

Juggling my child and my career has made me more productive. I don’t procrastinate anymore – I used to take work home with me at the weekend, but now I get my work done during the week, so the weekends are my own to spend with my family.

Any inspiring stories of this from within your company?

Allison Bean, MD of Off the Fence Productions, has a rule that she will travel anywhere in the world but never for more than 10 days.  Both Allison and Ellen Windemuth (CEO) work very hard – I can speak to them at any time, and we all have the technology to work from home at any time. There is never a time when I can’t communicate with Allison – wherever she is in the world she will always respond.

There’s an even split at Off the Fence of people with and without kids, it’s a friendly company whether you have kids or not, and working in a place like this really helps me to manage my commitments to my job and to my daughter.

Media Parents' next event is our 3rd birthday party on July 17th. Details will be released soon. For networking, jobs and great events please see www.mediaparents.co.uk

Join our FREE tech catch up on June 13th with Pro Motion Hire and learn about data management and 4K, this is ideal for mums coming back into the workplace or busy PMs. Email us by 5pm on June 12th to get a place.

Promotion Hire's Caroline Bingham. Media Parents' next event is a Technical Catch Up in London on June 13th. Please email events@mediaparents.co.uk to reserve a place.

Duncan Martin, Pro Motion Hire MD writes: “Our event will de-mystify the latest hot topic which is 4K production and also give you a bit of a taster for Data Management. We think that for too long, new technology has been viewed as a scary subject that only very technical minds can approach. We want to break down these ideas and make subjects such as 4K and Data Management accessible to everyone. We know from our own experience and client feedback the main issues and pitfalls that can occur and we have used all this to create training that gives real life practical advice whilst providing a great theoretical foundation to the topic. After the success of our Back To Work seminar and networking event in January we are very excited to be offering this follow up session and look forward to seeing you on the 13^th June.”

HOW TO APPLY:

To book a place on this amazing training course please email events@mediaparents.co.uk NOW! The course takes place on the morning of June 13th in South East London, and everyone is welcome to attend. We already have a great turn out from HoPs and employers, and would like to see freelancers who need to know about data management and kit attending this user-friendly catch up course. The response to the last course we ran was brilliant, you can get an idea of it here:

https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2013/02/media-parents-technical-catch-up/

Pro Mo Hire's Alain took questions from the floor throughout the demonstrations. Here ITN's Bella Barr interjects on the tech spec she is asked to deliver at

This course is completely FREE to Media Parents freelancers and networkers. We ask anyone else attending to pay £15 which is redeemable against a networker sub or a monthly talent sub. Brilliant! To get on the list now please email events@mediaparents.co.uk

Director / Producer Paul Leyshon writes about his move from S4C to network TV, and some CV tips he got at the Media Parents networking evening in Bristol, sponsored by BBC Bristol and RDF Television West.

Freelancers and employers, including Paul Leyshon, in the crowd at the Media Parents networking in Bristol.

There are times in life when we all need that little bit of parental guidance. That little tightening of the scarf, and the dreaded spit on the hanky and wipe across our chops before jumping on the school bus.

As a Director / Producer with ten years experience working for S4C in Wales, despite being top of the class and one of the big fish in my little pond, I can’t help but feel like the new Kid on his first day at Big school when it comes to applying for network jobs.

Bob Pugh – The ‘Game of Thrones’ actor not fully appreciating director Paul Leyshon's ‘photo bomb’.

For S4C in Wales I’m one of the channel’s main Lifestyle and Reality TV Directors. I’ll go so far as to say I’m probably the main Children’s Director having been UK and Welsh Bafta nominated in the past six years and annually responsible for delivering the most popular shows.

However with the big local companies almost becoming ‘closed shops’ due to recent budget constraints, the freelance landscape is that little bit harder.  In my first two years as a freelancer I worked relying only on my reputation and word of mouth. I now have to ‘chase’ work much more. With a spoon full of sugar to help the ‘pride’ go down it is something I have found pretty difficult up until now.

During the past 18 months I have been sending off my CV to a whole range of companies in England. 200+ jobs applied for through other recognized media websites with little or no luck.

For a reasonable £700 I had my show reel and website up and running and with references and clips from the likes of Alex Jones (The One Show) and Matt Johnson (This Morning) it is money well spent. However, hoping to break into London and Bristol, I still wasn’t getting a sniff of a job. When I did the replies were usually “you’re over qualified”, “you’re a jack of all trades” or “you haven’t worked outside Wales”.

Having recently joined ‘Media Parents’, I’ve received some useful feedback from Amy Walker. And this week I had the opportunity of coming to the Media Parents networking event in BBC Bristol.

I was very fortunate to speak to Jennie Macdiarmid, BBC Talent Manager, Richard Bowron, Exec Producer at Love Productions, and Emma Dowley, Production Executive at RDF West. All three gave great advice on where I was going wrong with the layout of my CV and plenty of hints and tips as to how I should be applying. In addition to this the evening was a good opportunity to chat to other talented freelancers and meet some interesting people.

Here are some of the CV tips I was given at the Media Parents event:

• “Say at the top what ‘I’ am looking for and want to do. Use present not past tense to say what I want and can bring to the table / what my ambitions are.”
• “All the content and experience is there – just not dynamic enough in presentation – grab attention in the first few lines”.
• “Too many credits – better to choose the main ones and stick to 2 rather than three pages.”
• I was told also it may even be worth having 3 CV’s tailored toward a certain genre / job that I’m going for.

I had reservations about S4C stuff not being seen as major broadcast credit but Richard Bowron quashed that straight away.

So having given away my CV (albeit one that needs changing) to several Execs and been given a number of contacts and email addresses, I came away with a lot more confidence and a clearer idea of what roles I should be applying for and the best way of doing so.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6085/paul-leyshon

As good a tool as my website is (and I would recommend the use of a website to anyone as an online show reel / biography), I was lazily hoping that Exec Producers would be taking a leisurely summer stroll through each page, browsing away like a holiday maker in ‘departures’ with way too much time on their hands. Not the case of course, and thanks to some advice from Media Parents I now have direct links to my website and youtube show reels straight from my CV.

Despite thinking I was practically perfect in every way, a Mary Poppins style clean up of my CV and approach is what was needed. And lo and behold on writing this I already have my first interview set up  through Media Parents since joining a couple of weeks ago.

I am more positive in my approach now and hopefully I can sell myself a little better in the big bad world of network television without needing an adult telling me to tie my shoe laces and to pull my socks up.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/6085/paul-leyshon

Media Parents' next event is a Technical Catch Up in London on June 13th. Please email events@mediaparents.co.uk to reserve a place.

What is Media Parents?

www.mediaparents.co.uk is a jobs and social networking website for experienced media people.  The Media Parents site showcases experienced talent, lists flexible and standard TV contracts, it has an open source blog, a chat forum and a thriving network, like a mini LinkedIn for media.

What happens at the event?

Monday’s networking event will take place from at BBC Broadcasting House on Whiteladies Road in Bristol, you must be on the guest list to come along, see end of article for how to apply.  Execs introduce their companies and colleagues, and then station themselves at tables to chat with freelancers for approx 8 minute slots, or free network around the bar.

Freelancers bring CVs to discuss, and without the direct pressure of a job interview it’s a great opportunity to put a face to a name in a relatively informal setting.

June 3rd is your chance to meet BBC Head of Documentaries, and BBC Head of Features, the PAN UK employers for BBC factual, docs, natural history and more, plus the RDF Television West team, as this event is kindly sponsored by both companies. We have an amazing event lining up for the evening at BBC Bristol, with RDF, Icon Films, Tigress and Indus Films attending too. We don’t have a restriction on numbers for this event, so if you are a Media Parents member and you apply you can come along, and we will be opening the event to non-members too. Here’s who’s coming from companies…

Aysha Rafaele, the BBC's Head of Documentaries

Aysha Rafaele, BBC Head of Documentaries

Head of In-House documentaries at the BBC, Ayesha was formerly documentaries commissioner at Channel 4, where her commissions included Coppers, The Hospital and Secret Millionaire. She began her career at the BBC and became an award-winning documentary maker, before taking a break from docs to be the lead director on Channel 4′s flagship drama series Skins.

Nick Patten, Head of In House Features, BBC

Nick Patten, Head of BBC In-house Features

Previously Nick was Head of Bristol and Birmingham Factual. The recently combined department makes a wide range of programmes from Countryfile to Antiques Roadshow, Nigel Slater’s Dish of the Day to DIY SOS: The Big Build, Hairy Bikers to Gardeners’ World, Bargain Hunt to Flog It! In addition to Bristol, Nick’s responsibilities extend to Features output produced in Belfast, where titles include Points Of View and Wanted down Under, Cardiff, home of Crimewatch and Crimewatch Roadshow, and London where Watchdog is based.

Prior to this, Nick was Head of Birmingham Factual where he managed a huge slate of output ranging from Daytime to some of the BBC’s crown jewels including Countryfile, Gardeners’ World, Trawlermen and Coast. Nick introduced the Hairy Bikers to in-house productions. Birmingham Factual made their recent series, Bakeation, and Bristol Factual is in production with Hairy Bikers Best Of British.

Head of Production Talent, Natural History, Features, & Documentaries Genres Christopher Hutchins meets Media Parents talent at a previous event

Christopher Hutchins, BBC Pan UK Head of Production Talent, Natural History, Features, & Documentaries Genres

He is a vocal advocate of flexible working, and spoke in favour of this at the Media Parents flexible working meeting in Bristol here:

https://blog.mediaparents.co.uk/2010/12/media-parents-flexible-working-meeting-bristol-–-who-said-what-1/

Helen Hagelthorn meets a Media Parents freelancer at a previous event

Helen Hagelthorn, Talent Manager, BBC Features Pan UK

Helen has worked as a Talent Manager and Talent Executive at Bristol BBC since 2009, looking after production talent for Factual/Features/Daytime as well as the NHU. Before this Helen worked at RDF West as Production Resources Manager, again hunting out the best freelance talent for productions. She has also worked as a Project Manager at post production house, Films @ 59.  Before Children, Helen was a South West based Assistant Producer working on a variety of output covering all topics : history, cookery, household management, child rearing and football!

Sas’s background is in Independent Factual companies, as a researcher and AP, in both London and Bristol.  After having children Sas worked as a development producer, then as a project manager for South West Screen and Skillset before moving to my current post at the BBC.

Gaynor Scattergood, Talent Manager, NHU, BBC Bristol

Jennie Macdiarmid, Talent Manager, BBC Television

Daisy Robertson, BBC Docs Talent Manager

Recently returned to the BBC, Daisy’s background is as a Production Manager in Docs & Specialist Factual working at a number of Indies and including a previous 4yr stint in BBC Arts.

Sarah Moors, Executive Producer, BBC Television

Sarah has worked for the BBC for over 18 years and has an extensive knowledge of television production. After working her way up the career ladder, for the last 6 years she has been an Executive Producer managing a broad range of titles including several long-running key BBC brands such as Gardeners’ World, Points of View, See Hear, Bargain Hunt and the landmark documentary series Around the World in 80 Gardens.

Gavin Henderson, Executive Producer, BBC Television

Gavin is unfortunately no longer able to attend.

Angela Oakhill, Head of Production, RDF Television West

Angela Oakhill, Head of Production, RDF Television West

Head of Production Angela is a practical advocate of flexible working and has employed flexibly through RDF West. (Biog to follow).

Jane Lomas, Executive Producer, RDF Television West

Jane Lomas, Executive Producer, RDF Television Wes

Jane joined RDF from Diverse where she was executive producer on Man vs. Wild (Discovery/Channel 4), Mission Everest (Discovery/Channel 4), Tribal Wives (BBC Two) and Mission Africa (BBC One). Prior to Diverse Lomas was at BBC Bristol from 1998 to 2004 with credits including; DIY SOS (BBC One), The Bachelor (BBC Three) and Flog It! (BBC Two).

Emma Dowley, Production Executive

Emma Dowley, Production Executive, RDF Television West

Production Executive for Emergency Bikers, Dickinson’s Real Deal and National Treasures, Emma started at RDF in 1999.

http://www.rdftelevision.com

Dick Colthurst, MD, Tigress

Dick Colthurst, MD, Tigress Productions

Dick Colthurst joined Tigress in 2005 from the BBC where he was an Executive Producer responsible for programmes including 999, Ray Mears’ Bushcraft and innovative projects like The Trench. At the time, Tigress was best known as a wildlife company and Dick’s brief was to develop an adventure slate which started with three series of Everest: Beyond the Limit for Discovery following ordinary people to the summit including, in the process, seven Tigress employees.

More series shot in remote parts of the world followed – Edge of Existence and Return of the Tribe for Five, Around the World in 80 Trades and Alone in the Wild for Channel 4 plus in 2011, a celebrity version of Alone in the World for Discovery featuring Freddie Flintoff, Jason Gardiner and Joe Pasquale among others. He has a particular enthusiasm for innovative and technically ambitious programmes like The Elephant: Life After Death and Hippo: Nature’s Wild Feast which helped reinvent natural history for Channel 4.

Jamie Balment, Head of Development, Indus Films

Jamie Balment, Head of Development, Indus Films

Before joining Indus Films, Jamie worked for IWC, Darlow Smithson and Century Films, before a spell as Head of Development – Documentaries, for the BBC. His debut film Break In: Make My Day (C4) looked at extreme home security enthusiasts. Since joining Indus Jamie’s commissions include: The Fisherman’s Apprentice (BBC2), The London Markets (BBC2), and Tales from the Wild Wood (BBC4). Jamie produced and directed Indus’s critically acclaimed BBC2 film ‘The Fish Market: Inside Billingsgate’. He watches a lot of television.

Richard Bowron, Executive Producer, Love Productions

Richard Bowron joined Love as its Head of Development, and is now Exec in Bristol. He joined from Shine where he was Head of Entertainment Development and won commissions across all broadcasters.

Richard is an experienced programme maker, having worked at the BBC as a series producer and head of development as well as for several independent production companies, including RDF and Darlow Smithson.

laura marshall, MD, Icon Films

Laura Marshall, MD, Icon Films

After leaving school I spent a year in Paris working for Henri and Martine Cartier-Bresson and on return went to work for the Toby Eady Literary Agency and the author and scientist Iain Douglas Hamilton.  In 1986 I got my first job in TV working for Roger Graef, of Films of Record.  I then spent two years at the Murray Pollinger Literary Agency.  In 1990 Harry and I decided we would try and work together. We’re still here. As Managing Director of Icon Films, I am responsible for the overall strategy of the company, personnel development and oversee marketing.

Andie Clare, Director of Production, Icon Films

Andie Clare, Director of Production, Icon Films

I grew up in enjoying the moss and moor of the Lancashire Pennines before heading further North to study zoology at Newcastle University. A decade of camera assisting and rescuing spectacled bears in South America followed and nurtured my passion for stories from the natural world. I joined Icon Films in Bristol in 1997 as an assistant producer and have grown with the company to become Director of Production. The Forest of Dean is where my husband, our three children and I enjoy an untamed home life of den building, vegetable growing and chainsaw sculpting.

Amy Walker, Media Parents' Director

Amy Walker, Director, Media Parents

If you would like to attend this event please follow the instructions on the Media Parents watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk or email events@mediaparents.co.uk ASAP. Look forward to seeing you there!

If you have 3+ years TV experience please join us at www.mediaparents.co.uk for great jobs, networking and events. Save the date of June 3rd for Media Parents networking in Bristol, June 13th tech catch up in London.

Your chance to meet the employers for BBC factual, docs, natural history and more, plus the RDF Television West team… We have an amazing event lining up for the evening of June 3^rd at BBC Bristol. We don’t have a restriction on numbers for this event, so if you are a Media Parents member and you apply you can come along. Here’s who’s coming from companies so far…

Late entries from Indus Films, Tigress and more to be added shortly!!

Christopher Hutchins, Head of Production Talent, Natural History, Features, & Documentaries Genres – that’s across the whole of the BBC, not just in Bristol.
Helen Hagelthorn, Talent Manager – BBC Features Pan UK
Sas Bonser, Talent Manager, Natural History Unit Features and Outdoor Features, BBC
Gaynor Scattergood, Talent Manager, Natural History Unit, BBC Bristol
Jennie Macdiarmid, Talent Manager at BBC
Daisy Robertson, BBC Docs Talent Manager
Sarah Moors, Executive Producer at BBC Television
Gavin Henderson, Executive Producer at BBC
Pete Lawrence, Executive Producer at BBC
Angela Oakhill, Head of Production at RDF Television West
Jane Lomas, Executive Producer at RDF Television West
Emma Dowley, Production Executive, RDF Television West

If you would like to apply please follow the instructions on the Media Parents watercooler at www.mediaparents.co.uk

If you have 3+ years TV experience please join us at www.mediaparents.co.uk for great jobs, networking and events. Save the date of June 3rd for Media Parents networking in Bristol.

It was late on a Tuesday evening in February when an email arrived from Media Parents. It announced the launch of a ‘Series Producer Training School’, which was being set up by the popular factual indie betty who wanted to invest in the training of a new generation of series producers, writes Louise Mason, a PD and Edit Producer who has found work through Media Parents. Louise’s article details the experiences of three people from Media Parents who were selected for the course, and is interspersed with tips on series producing from course leader Sarah Freethy.

Louise Mason is on Media Parents : http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/26/louise-mason

Such a course was music to my ears. As an experienced PD & Edit Producer I’d been offered the chance to ‘step up’ to Series Producer before but I’d turned the opportunities down – believing the jump upwards too big a leap without training. I’m the kind of person that needs to feel that I know what I’m doing – learning ‘on the job’ was easier to do when I was more junior, but with a role like SP I just didn’t want to take the risk. So the prospect of the training betty were offering was really exciting and incredibly welcome.

Tip Number 1 : Establish the look and feel of your series right at the start; the musical tone, the colour palette and the graphic feel should be in place before you start filming, to ensure there’s consistency throughout. Remember, you speak volumes with the font that you choose…

To be considered as a candidate, there was an application form to fill in which, as well as all the basics, asked searching questions such as what we thought made a good Series Producer, and why we believed we were SP material amongst other things. This was followed by a telephone interview a few weeks later and finally, a phone call to say I’d made the grade. I was over the moon.

Tip Number 2 : Try to write Job Specs for all your team; make sure you set them goals and let them know what’s expected of them. Most problems stem from a lack of clarity and communication within the team. This also applies to your crew; to get the best out of them make sure they have been briefed before a shoot about the characters, the stories and the set ups you want to film on the day.

There were 12 places in total, three of which went to Media Parents members. The course was to be run over two months, with sessions taking place in the evenings and at weekends. The training was thorough and extensive and we were lucky to have the most fantastic teacher in the form of Sarah Freethy, an executive producer who had worked at betty making series such as Country House Rescue, and The Food Hospital.

Tip Number 3 : Get your PDs to write shoot notes at the end of every day so that you can keep on top of everything that’s been shot and your story arcs in the edit. If you’re using Edit Producers then making time for a PD viewing is respectful of their work and will make sure that nothing has fallen through the cracks.

There were nine sessions, from ‘Where to Start’, moving through budgets and scheduling, casting and business affairs, leadership, compliance, the shoot, the edit, health & safety and the finishing touches such as dealing with press and publicity. As well as having access to the wisdom and experience of a lot of the senior staff at betty, experts came in for particular sessions – Jan Tomalin ran the compliance morning, and Sue Ahern gave an inspirational session on leadership.

Tip Number 4 :  You will always be asked for a Series Synopsis, Character Biogs, Episode Synopses and Billings for every show, as well as photographs that can illustrate the entire series, for press and Internationals  - don’t leave it all to the very end of the process, gather everything as you go along.

There was homework, which I loved doing but had the advantage of not having a fulltime job for the duration of the course. We were set tasks such as creating an editorial brief and a running order for a brand new series, or creating a compliance bible. Feedback would then be given to us individually. For the people who were producing and directing throughout, I think it was a bit more of a challenge to fit it in, but the opportunity we were being given was such a good one that everyone really embraced it wholeheartedly.

Tip Number 5 : Most casting for a primetime, network, Features, Fact Ent or Specialist Factual programme is a numbers game; make sure you work backwards from your filming date to set realistic goals for your casting team, so they know what’s expected of them. Top load your casting team to get the best leads, fast.

The final session ended with a ‘Question Time’ style panel of Liz Warner, Walter Iuzzolino and Tina Flintoff – where we got some amazing advice on series producing and what to do next to get our first break. Two of the students had in fact started their first SP contracts whilst the course was underway, which has to be testament to its enormous success.

All in all, the inaugural betty SP Training School was a fantastic thing to be a part of, and I’m so glad I was chosen. The course was truly brilliant and all credit must go to betty for having the insight to see the need for providing us with such valuable training – they really did us proud. Hopefully, this training will now be recognised by production companies and broadcasters and its ‘graduates’ taken seriously as new SP talent. We all had many years of experience as PDs / edit producers/ series directors between us, now we’ve got a solid training in how to be an excellent Series Producer on top.

And as for the 12 of us who attended the course, we are planning on staying in touch and regularly meeting up to swap stories and give each other support, because it’s now down to us to get out into the world of series producing. For my part, I’m lucky enough to start my first Series Producer job on Tuesday and I simply can’t wait to get started, and put all that I’ve learnt into practice.

http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/26/louise-mason

Here are the thoughts of two of my lovely co-graduates, who are also Media Parents members:

Robin O’Sullivan:  http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/30/robin-osullivan

Betty’s SP course was one of those rare opportunities in television – a chance to test drive a role before being thrown in at the deep end.  Like many of you, I’ve always thought I had a good idea of what it means to be an SP but taking a comprehensive course – particularly one that was so hands on – opened my eyes to invaluable secrets, the kinds of things you’d only know once you’d done the job a few times.  The course leader and guest lecturers were open and inspiring, and the other attendees a wide mix of people I’d be excited to work with in the future.  I’ve come away with a cache of great contacts, a head brimming with ideas and a real excitement about the role.  Now I just need that first SP job (which I feel sure is to come soon)!

Emma Boswell: http://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/4821/emma-boswell

I was lucky enough to get one of the places on SP School so for the past 12 weeks, alongside my day job as lead producer on a new series for BBC One, I’ve been learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be a good SP. It was both an inspiring and daunting 12 weeks – with the emphasis on inspiring. We were given an extremely thorough instruction from EP Sarah Freethy guiding us through every aspect of series producing, from the ed spec to owning and nurturing a project more than anyone else on the team, knowing what to fight for and when to make compromises and how to manage relationships from Commissioning Editors and Execs to the day to day support of a team. We got a sense that SP-ing can be the most creatively rewarding and the most lonely place to be – Walter Iuzzolino’s words stick in my mind never to do a job unless you’re prepared to love it and become it – I wrote that in big letters!

The course leaves you with a lot of knowledge – as Sarah Freethy said, much of it we do know already from years working as PDs and making one offs, but what you learn on the job isn’t always the best way to do things so this has been just as much a course in how to be the best SP.

If you have 3+ years TV experience please join us at www.mediaparents.co.uk for great jobs, networking and events. Save the date of June 3rd for Media Parents networking in Bristol, more details to follow.