Jake Ratcliffe, technical marketing manager at CVP.
Talk us through an average day in your role.
As CVP’s technical marketing manager no two days are the same but an average day in my role would look something like this: I start by concepting, writing, and researching for scripts. Once that’s done, I move on to testing and reviewing equipment. If any additional footage is required for a video, I also take care of shooting it. Throughout the day, I attend meetings related to marketing activities and video creation.
In between, I find time to shoot creative pieces for videos, adding that extra touch of creativity. Another important aspect of my day is maintaining our YouTube channel, which includes responding to comments and handling various administrative tasks.
Of course, there are always other tasks that come up, making each day different and exciting!
How did you get started in the media industry?
I came out of university already working as a freelancer. I then got several long freelance contracts and ended up at CVP nearly 7 years ago! I am from a small town on the South Coast, working at CVP gave me the opportunity to move up to London and offered me the next step to progress my career.
What training did you have before entering the industry?
I have a First from Portsmouth University in Photography. During my studying and after I had internships at a few places that I learnt a lot from. I also spent most of my time at uni working on projects outside of my degree to help develop my skills further.
Why do you enjoy working in the industry?
I enjoy working in the industry for a few reasons. First off, I love cinema. I’ve always gravitated to storytelling and aesthetic no matter the medium. I’ve also always enjoyed helping people. I worked in retail from the age of 16, so have grown up in a job where helping people has always been at the core. Before I created videos full-time, I did more customer support, and being able to solve customers’ problems as well as help them achieve their creative vision, can be incredibly fulfilling. Now I do the videos, being able to do this on a larger scale to an awesome audience and be creative at the same time is brilliant!
What piece of advice would you offer someone looking to explore a role similar to yours?
My role is incredibly unique and specific. If you want to get into content creation, I would not publish your work too slowly. With online content everything moves so quickly that you can’t stress about making things absolutely perfect and developing the balance of quality and time is always a challenge, but the more videos you publish the faster you will improve. If you want to get into a technical consultant-style role, I would suggest trying to get a position at a rental, sales or production house and working your way up from there.
