Guest Speakers

Guest Speakers

1. Linda is a Production line manager, She was heavily invested into her job and plans the overall budget of shoots, where to spend the money and what on, how long the crew can spend on location and she also sorts out the health and safety, which these days is one of the essential parts of production. What Linda did not speak about was the environmental impact the filming industry has, something I learnt about at Icon Films. I was thinking of asking her a question about it, but I felt it was less important than what she does for a living. Linda began in the industry as a secretary at the BBC and progressed on to be a production assistant, she went straight into the industry with no degree, something that I am thinking of doing too. Other interesting facts about her was her traits; very organised, excellent communication skills and good negotiations skills. I found when Linda talked, you could clearly understand that she has experienced in the television industry through and through, but the fact she is still motivated and still enjoying the job shows me confidence that I might too.

2. Tom is the Principal at Screenology, a university course dedicated to filmmaking, for students either coming out of A levels or college. He is a very inspirational man; However, I have heard from some other students at Screenology that Tom can dress the Course up to look like a filmmaker’s paradise. From what I know about the course it is not that, it is something ever so slightly different. Jake Mason, a friend of mine and the rest of his production company called, ‘CINE Ultra’ believe Screenology is all about making contacts in the industry. To which I also see as a very beneficial part of the course as well as creating many films every year, around 100 approximately according to Tom, although these are not all feature films, this includes (in the first year) making around 20 short, 30-second films only shot on your phone! However this is to get everyone on the course onto a level playing field, as Screenology get students in who want to be actors makeup artists so not everyone will know how to use filming equipment in the first year this I might find to be tedious, but so did Jake and now he loves the course so, it is worth a year of twiddling my thumbs and getting to know new people. Tom has also been involved in many films, and although he did not quite specify how he made it into the industry he is undoubtedly doing well enough, he uses Screenology as sort of his own production company which is quite different.

3. Carrol is a photographer; she has managed many different art galleries. However, she is more interested in photography. I am also interested in photography to an extent. I think the only thing I could relate to this lady with, was pre-production skills and how to get into the industry through showing strength and doing a job to the best of your ability, as she was saying when she got a job as galleries organiser, her boss was fired and she had to take over that role of boss in a short amount of time and also, do a better job than her boss, otherwise she could have been fired too! It seems like a lot of stress, but what I learnt, when she was talking was do not give up, you will get to where you want to be eventually, if you put the effort in.

4. Andy, and editor uses Avid to edit, which is an editing software I kind of know how to use, but I am still relatively new to it. One of my goals will be to learn how to use it, as it is 50/50 with avid and Premiere Pro at the moment. He also works Freelance, something that I have never really thought about, and I guess I already do with some of the jobs I have picked up in the past, although I think for me I may get lonely working by myself, I would prefer to work as a part of a team on a shoot. With regards to how he got started, he just started taking on work and getting paid for it. Although as bad as it is to say, I do not envy his life working from home every day, I would could get bored quickly, I would much rather be taking part in a practical role, and I would help out editing if I were needed, not because I would want too. Altogether this guy has some impressive clients, but it is not the type of job I would like to do in the future.

The primary advice that resonates with me is from Tom and the production manager, they both told fascinating eye-catching stories, and both showed a lot of passion for the industry, to me, it also seemed as if they wanted to explain all of this to us, which is really nice to see and you end up liking them more because of it. After the talk, I went to speak with Tom, about Screenology and what I already know about it. We talked about what I have done in the past, and whether I should go straight into a Job or to Screenology first, he said go for the Job which I found quite interesting.

Things that inspired me: was that if anyone was motivated enough, they can get into the media industry, and if your passion shows then you can make it wherever you would like to be, for me that would be a DOP or Drone Operator. I am not going to stop until I make it either.

Can their advice help m: From Tom’s, explanation about applying for a job, I will most definitely try, this is something I want to do, the only question is when? From this advice, I know what I need to do, and that is what I'm going to do.

In conclusion, I was not expecting to see the type of characters there that I did, and I especially did not expect an actual Netflix production manager and Tom! I was impressed, and I learnt a lot about the different styles of work in the industry, job roles and also how to get into the media industry, I also learnt, I could go straight into the industry as I genuinely thought I should always go to University first, I am eager to get into the Industry. Even if it means working my way up from the bottom, which I believe I am more than capable of doing.