Talk us through an average day in your role
I have been at Globecast for 5 years and what it has given me most has been variety, my role can cover such different things. I consider myself very much as a fixer, handling a wide range of tasks. On a typical day, I will be planning multiple events from single camera records to multiple camera live outside broadcasts at football matches, edits for highlights programmes, right down to booking satellite space. On the planning and finance side, I have to stay on top of our project costs and work closely with account mangers to make sure we are on track and within budget.
How did you get started in the media industry?
I always knew I wanted to work in the creative industries. Initially, I wanted to be a stage manager in theatre, but after a gruelling round of university entrance interviews, I wasn’t offered any places. At the time, it was devastating seeing all my friends head off to university. I took a year out, worked in a supermarket, and decided to try again. This time, I thought a media course would suit my more technical and practical strengths, and it turned out to be true and I was a success. Knowing that just a degree wouldn’t cut in a very competitive industry, so I also worked alongside my degree in any media related role I could find alongside my studies.
I worked as an art and props assistant on Hollyoaks and Brookside in Liverpool, a runner at a post-production house in Soho, and as a researcher at a radio production and recording studio. It was these roles that helped me build contacts and learnt lots of different aspects of the media industry. One of these connections led me to a job at Formula One as a production assistant with the broadcast team. It was my first full-time job, and I was extremely lucky. At 22, I travelled the world and gained invaluable experience in filming live television, and I knew I could only work in live broadcast from now on.
Why do you enjoy working in the industry?
The reason I love working in live television is that every project is different —every project is unique, and there is a thrill in filming sports as you never know what can happen, and you need to be able to cover all eventualities. At Globecast, we are very good at scaling up and will expand our teams for major events, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral or the recent General Election. We can’t do that without partnering with smaller providers and freelancers who are the backbone of this industry.
What piece of advice would you offer someone looking to explore a role similar to yours?
Throughout my career, I’ve covered both technical and planning roles, which has been invaluable in my work as a production manager. It allows me to really understand what the crew needs, the difficult aspects they might come across and how my planning can help them do their jobs to the best of their ability. This role involves keeping people onside and ensuring the best possible delivery for clients. Flexibility is key, as there are always changes that you need to implement. And resilience is essential – not everything can go right in live television, (I have fast forwarded live on air before!), but it’s about learning from those experiences and applying improvements to the next project.
For anyone wanting to be a production manager, I’d suggest that budgets and spreadsheets are the easy part. Be willing to learn about all the different roles within your production, as then you will know how to serve them better. I also know that the media industry needs to offer opportunities to the next generation, and these need to be for people with diverse backgrounds and abilities. At Globecast we try to offer students from Southampton University experiences on real live broadcasts where we can.
