Category: Expert Q&As

TV & Me with UKTV’s Helen Cooke

TV & Me with UKTV’s Helen Cooke

This week we talk to Helen Cooke, UKTV Commissioning Editor, Entertainment.

Where did your career in the industry begin, did you always want to work in TV?
Even though I’ve always been a TV addict, media studies was not widely available at degree level when I was younger, so I never really considered it as a career option. I did Mechanical Engineering at university and thought I’d go into banking after university or similar, but that all changed when I first saw Channel 4’s Tourist Trap. I just thought it would be such a fun job to be able to make TV shows like that. So I set about researching the types of shows that I’d like to make, and who made them. During this time I sent my CV to a local weekly regional debate show called “Central Weekend Live” as I always enjoyed the late night punch ups. I got a try out as a researcher for 4 weeks and the rest is history!

You’ve worked on some landmark entertainment shows like XFactor and Come Dine with Me, what do you like most about working within the genre of entertainment?
All television genres are about telling stories. I think entertainment just does this in a more innovative and noisy way. Also, it’s great to handle the bigger scale budgets as it means you have more to play with as a producer and can attract bigger talent. What really excites me are brilliant, simple entertainment formats. Come Dine with Me is an example of this and it came out of ITV Studio’s Factual department, so it also shows how broad entertainment programming is – it’s a great place to be.

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TV & Me with Self-Shooting Producer/Director Toral Dixit

TV & Me with Self-Shooting Producer/Director Toral Dixit

This week we talk to freelancer Shooting Producer/Director, Toral Dixit.

Where did your career in the industry begin, did you always want to work in TV?
I started my working life as a photographer, then later trained as a journalist. I studied photography at Salisbury College of Art. I then began working as a photographer for the British Airports Authority, before becoming a freelance photographer and subsequently, a journalist. TV was so far from my mind – not remotely something I would have considered. Even being a professional photographer was, culturally, very different for an Asian woman.

My TV career began in hospital TV, which works a bit like hospital radio. Harefield Hospital, (then, the leading heart transplant hospital) had a traditional ‘hospital radio’ setup, plus a very innovative volunteer hospital TV arrangement. This ‘broadcast’ short docs and hospital news to the hospital wards via cable. It was staffed by some very dedicated TV professionals. They taught me loads and allowed me to write and direct. From there I managed to get a work experience placement at the BBC as a researcher on Open Space (a community program) and so started my long and illustrious (joking!) career in this industry.

What was the biggest hurdle you had to overcome whilst trying to make it in the TV industry?
I suppose the biggest hurdle for me was trying to get employers to see me beyond what my ‘Asian’ background brought. My BBC work experience wasn’t ‘Asian’ related, however the subsequent programmes I worked on needed someone with in-depth Asian knowledge – getting away from that into mainstream was hard. Plus, I was clear on the type of programming I didn’t want to do. This industry is so all consuming, that unless you love the work you are doing, it can be soul destroying. So, holding out for the right job brings its own challenges, especially in the early years when income as a researcher doesn’t stretch that far. I was able to perfect my waitressing and office temp skills during that period!

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PB Live Careers Forum

PB Live Careers Forum

Our Live Careers forum attracted a whole range of queries. Thanks to everyone that joined in – here are the responses so far!

The Panel

Richard Nash

Richard has over 20 years experience in documentaries & factual entertainment for UK and international broadcasters. Career highlights include The Secret Millionaire, Come Dine With Me, World’s Strictest Parents, River Cottage, Jamie’s Great Britain and Fabulous Baker Brothers.

Toral Dixit

Toral is an experienced PD self-shooting on DSR / EX3 / XF305. Career highlights include: BBC (Last Man Standing, Tribal Wives, Skin Deep, Desperate Midwives), C4 (Dispatches), Discovery (Hard Labour), ITV (The Making of a Royal Wedding), C5 (Motorway Madness), National Geographic (The Return of the Clouded Leopards) and Living (Rehab).

Royston Mayoh

Roy is a Director/Producer specialising in entertainment, chalking up many successes over a 48 year career as a writer and innovator of original formats for BBC, ITV, C4, BskyB and FIVE. He directed Catchphrase and has also worked as a college lecturer. Royston has a wealth of knowledge and can offer excellent advice to new entrants.

Joe Mahoney

Joe is Managing Director of ProductionBase. Prior to joining PB, Joe spent a number of years at BBC Worldwide as a senior commissioning editor, before moving on to Channel 4 to become their Head of Commercial Development.

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TV & Me With Executive Producer, Claire Farragher

TV & Me With Claire Farragher

This week we catch up again with freelance Executive Producer, Claire Faragher as she discusses watching TV upside down as a child to producing one of ITV’s most successful Reality TV shows. Claire explains her obsession with TV.

Where did your career in the industry begin? Did you always want to work in TV?

I started out as a print journalist and then became a chat show producer at Anglia Television after applying successfully for a job advertised in the Guardian Media Guide. I had been obsessed with television as long as I can remember – I even went through a phase of watching television upside down (don’t ask me why – I was a child and it added variety!). So when I thought about progressing from my job as a newspaper reporter, what appealed most was using my journalistic skills for television. At Anglia TV, I also made fly-on-the-wall docs and magazine shows for a number of different channels, before joining the BBC, where I downgraded and trained up eventually as a Producer/Director before moving onto being a Deputy Editor and Series Producer.

What was the biggest hurdle you had to overcome whilst trying to make it in the TV industry?

Possibly getting my first break as a director. I feel that strong producers or journalists can be viewed as one trick ponies who are not very visual or can’t work across different genres. When I finally got my chance to direct and then PD it was nice to thwart such views and also get stuck in in the edit, where even today it’s nice to still be surprised with what you can do.

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