Audience researcher Emmey Little, who landed a job at the BBC One show after applying for a runner position posted on the Facebook group “People looking for TV work”, fielded questions from RTS Futures members before they joined the audience for the live show.
“There’s no shortcut,” she explained, and advised those with no TV experience to show their transferable skills from jobs in customer service or student ventures such as TV societies at university.
With the rapid increase in video-on-demand (VoD) viewing, over-the-top services such as Netflix and mobile TV, working out who watches TV – and when and where – has become a complicated business.
This is the data that advertisers want – and which ratings body Barb is doing its utmost to provide, according to chief executive Justin Sampson.
He’ll be joined by some of the top filmmakers in the country including Peter Beard of Story Films whose 2015 film My Son The Jihadi won a Bafta for best Documentary and whose other work includes landmark series 24 Hours in A&E, 24 Hours in Police Custody, and Kids on The Edge and Havana Marking, Sundance winning director of Smash and Grab and Afghan Star and Executive Producer of O
The One Show is opening its doors to RTS Futures, where you are invited to watch a live episode at BBC Studios, with Martine McCutcheon on the couch and musical guest Paloma Faith set to perform!
Before the show, RTS Futures attendees will be invited to an exclusive Q&A with Emmey Little, who knows everything there is to know about The One Show, having worked her way up the team from assistant to the executive producer to Audience Researcher.
The sold-out tour featured the complex’s world-famous Underwater Stage, post facilities and the TV studios where many of the UK’s top TV sitcoms and panel shows are shot.
Head of television Sarah McGettigan, who hosted the tour, offered advice to the RTS Futures visitors starting out on a career in telly: “Make yourself useful, and be interested; you can never ask too many questions.”
The RTS Futures Career Fair is back! Bigger and better for 2019 don’t miss your chance to be a part of this HUGE event.
Join us on Wednesday 30th January to get all the latest tips, tricks and practical advice to help you land that all important first job in TV. Take part in our interview masterclasses, get your CV tweaked by professionals, learn about the different jobs and schemes out there and network with the most influential creatives in the business!
This is your opportunity to meet with the best in the business.
“It’s a growth industry – there should be lots of jobs to go around,” argued Louise Hastings, VFX producer at Milk Visual Effects, whose credits include BBC One’s Doctor Who and ITV historical drama Victoria.
“Netflix and Amazon are creating more and more content with bigger and bigger budgets – we can’t keep up with the amount of work we’re asked to bid for at the moment,” she continued.
“TV is going to keep Soho very busy. We’re also getting a lot of the American films [shooting] at [Warner Bros, Studios] Leavesden, like Fantastic Beasts.”
Kevin McCrae, cofounder of animation and visual FX specialist company Playdead recounted his beginnings in London, first studying and then picking up work amongst various VFX companies, before getting a break with Firecracker Films, where he worked as a motion graphic designer.
“Development is anything that takes your show on a journey from a blank page of terrifying nothingness to the end of filming,” explained Andy Cadman, executive producer of ITV2’s Love Island.
Cadman was joined on the panel by All 4 commissioning editor Thom Gulseven and ITV2 scheduler Alex Wootten, who explained what they look for in a pitch.
Taking a script and bringing it to life on screen is no easy feat – and when the story is based on the most famous family in the world, the task carries huge responsibility.
“We’re not just recreating history,” said The Crown’s production designer Martin Childs. “It’s our own version of the world – it’s not a documentary. We try and find the mood and tone of our version of it,” added costume designer Jane Petrie.
