Sixty-seven % of 16 to 24-years olds think their smartphone is more important then a TV * and 98% watch videos on their smartphone everyday ** 

More content, more platforms, more choice — perhaps too much choice — for the next generation trying to navigate a constantly changing digital environment. 

How to get that all-important foothold in the industry was the main preoccupation of the audience for at Bristol Futures event at Bath Spa University in October. Undergraduate filmmakers and pupils from the city’s Studio School had the opportunity to question a panel of seasoned professionals.

Head of the BBC in the West, Stephanie Marshall; Creative Director of BDH, Rob Hifle; Editor Glenn Rainton; Jon Mowat MD, Hurricane and George Panayiotou, Business Manager at post house, Films@59 were candid about the challenges.

“It’s difficult to stand out from the crowd, “ said Rob Hifle. But concentrate on what you like and what you are good at. Don’t try and be good at everything.”

Steph Marshall, added: ‘Be persistent. If you send me a CV and ask for feedback, expect some feedback.  And do watch or listen to the output. Don’t go for an interview without knowing what we produce. Watch the content we produce.”

Jon Mowat advised that stretching your experience might trip you up.” Don’t describe yourself as a DOP, just because you are proficient in using a camera.”

But every one of them agreed that the importance of storytelling was the key thing for aspiring media professionals to understand. 

Add some persistence, do your research, make as much content as you can to shape and hone your skills

And the word of the session - Petabyte or 1,000,000 gigabytes - the size of storage a post house like Films@59 needs to cope with the content it handles.

Next time, the panel decided, we would invite students to be the panel and the professionals in the audience … watch this space.

 

* Edinburgh TV Festival survey
** Google