RTS Futures

More than 1,600 people attended the RTS Futures Virtual Careers Fair on the first two days of February – making it the most popular Futures event ever. 

The talent jamboree featured sessions covering the length and breadth of television – but all were aimed at new entrants to the industry or those in the early stages of their careers. 

An online CV clinic and advice area, staffed by leading industry professionals, was attended by 500-plus people, and interactive exhibitor booths allowed companies to talk to attendees via live chat and video. 

The young reporters are encouraged to submit stories that are important to their life or the world around them, with winners gaining the opportunity to work with BBC journalists, producers, and programme makers to prepare their story for broadcast across the BBC, including on The One Show, BBC Breakfast, Newsround, BBC Three, BBC News and BBC Local Radio programmes, as well as online and on social media.

“I’ve always avoided the idea of networking like the plague, so the fact that I’m on this panel is quite wild,” admitted Jasmine Dotiwala.  

She currently works for Netflix UK’s editorial and publishing team, and has more than 25 years’ experience in TV, including stints at Channel 4 News and MTV. 

Dotiwala advised: “Stop thinking about it as networking… it’s about making it fun and palatable for you.  

“It’s an old cliché – they say your network is your net worth…. I really now get that. 

Writer Samantha O’Rourke and director Nadira Amrani are the creative duo behind Mincemeat, one of three half-hour films in series three of Channel 4’s On the Edge anthology.

On the Edge, which has been developed in conjunction with the 4Stories new-talent initiative, offers new writers and directors the opportunity to work with BlackLight Television executives Philip Trethowan and Ben Bickerton.

Critics might argue that the global reality show Married at First Sight makes a mockery of marriage. But, perhaps, behind all the make-up, fake tans, glamorous honeymoons and emotional drama sits a programme that, ultimately, provides people with the opportunity to find love and friendship.  

An RTS Futures event in October heard how the UK version of the show, launched originally on Channel 4 in 2015, evolved in its latest, sixth series into a beefed-up incarnation on E4, where it has become the channel’s most successful show of 2021.  

In celebration of its 35^th year on air, the team have planned a competition to find a new writer with first hand medical experience.

Applicants will be tasked with writing part of a Casualty episode based on a brief about clinical Lead Dylan Keogh having a hellish day in the emergency department.