RTS Futures

The qualities talent managers look for to fill entry-level jobs include enthusiasm, passion and determination, said Cheryl Woodcock, who recruits for ITV’s entertainment shows.

“Do your homework, make sure your CV has no typos in it,” added Tracy Walker, a talent executive at ITV Studios North.

“I love having a nose at what people have done, if I’ve got the time, when someone puts a showreel on their CV,” said Woodcock.

But don’t put your own picture on the CV, said the panel as one.

For BBC News video journalist Dougal Shaw, capturing stories alone is a lot easier with just a phone.

“You’re not very nimble with a normal camera and all the equipment… and with news output people don’t know the difference between footage filmed on a phone and footage filmed on a camera,” he said.

Shaw also recognised that interviewing people with a big camera can be intimidating, whereas a smartphone feels more natural.

“Don’t hold back,” advised the disabled basketball Paralympic medallist speaking at an RTS Futures webinar.

Adepitan said that he had got into TV by luck: “I didn’t go to uni, I went to the university of life.” His first job in TV was working for a cable station, which, in the early 1990s, was looking for a wheelchair-bound basketball player to appear on screen. 

Initially he declined their invitation, but when the station offered him £250 for the gig he seized the chance.

Former production coordinator Sam Tatlow, whose credits include The Inbetweeners, Misfits and Mad Dogs, revealed the secrets of working in a production office during an RTS Futures webinar.

The freelance nature of the industry means making a good first impression is key, Tatlow stressed, that often means going above and beyond, checking that the kitchen is tidy, or that the stationery cupboard is in order, because these are the things people will notice.

Edi Smockum was offering advice on how to break into the television industry at an RTS Futures webinar in mid-May, held during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Managing Director of ThinkBigger!, which runs new entrant schemes for the independent producers’ association Pact and Channel 4, admitted that entry schemes are highly competitive. But she urged people to apply, arguing that the process of applying will help “you understand what television’s looking for”.

Smockum reckoned that, with her colleague Sam Tatlow, she reads up to 1,000 applications a year for entry schemes.

“I’ve seen a tonne of people in these last few weeks reinvent themselves and how they’re doing things … At Nutopia, we’ve been working on amazing remote filming kits.

“Creative people are the most adaptable, so I’m very optimistic.”

The head of talent at factual producer Nutopia​ was part of a panel of talent executives talking at RTS Futures’ inaugural Zoom event – “Ask me anything” – in early May.

Futures members had emailed questions to the panel, including how to stand out at an interview with a production company for a TV-entry job.

“Drag queens and TV are like peanut butter and jelly – the perfect combination,” added the show’s creator Fenton Bailey.

McCoy and Bailey – executive producers of RuPaul’s Drag Race, both here and in the US – were talking at a lively RTS Futures event in November that looked at how the show was brought to the UK.

“We need more voices on telly – there’s not enough working-class people in telly and not enough diversity,” said UKTV head of comedy entertainment Iain Coyle.

“All the different voices that make up this country need to be working in television – not just the poshos who’ve been to Cambridge and Oxford,” said Sohail Shah, the MD of new indie King of Sunshine Productions.

He added: “Without new talent you don’t get any kind of progression in TV.”