How To Become a Sound Assistant

How To Become a Sound Assistant

What is a Sound Assistant?

Although the hours are often long and fairly intensive, working within the sound department is a good opportunity to gain a foothold in an entry-level position within the industry. Working under the supervision of a good production sound mixer can be the perfect platform to gain practical experience whilst developing your craft as a sound recordist.

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Student View: Get That Essential Work Experience

Having secured a place on a competitive university course, unfortunately it doesn’t stop there. According to the graduate market in 2013, 47% of leading UK graduate employers would be unlikely to offer a position within their company to an applicant with no work experience.

With competition for jobs in the media industries particularly fierce, there are a number of ways in which undergraduates can become more appealing to employers during the course of a degree.

Here’s five ways undergraduates can make themselves more employable over the duration of their degree:

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Student View: What To Look For In a Media Course

University degrees in the media sector have become a topic of ridicule amongst many in recent years mainly due to the multitude of courses available to undergraduate students. With tuition fees rising and the diversity of courses on offer showing no signs of subsiding, are undergraduates making the right decision when choosing their courses and if so, are universities justifying an expense which averaged £26,000 amongst 2012 graduates?

Choosing the right course is a difficult decision for any undergraduate and whilst there is a wealth of guidance available from organisations looking to help students make the right decision, often key question go unasked during the application process which have far reaching effects on the graduate market.

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The Importance Of Networking

he Importance Of Networking

Whether you are a recent graduate looking for your first runner position, or a broadcasting veteran looking for a way back into the industry, don’t underestimate the importance of networking in a job hunt. Creating a network of professional contacts can help you to find unadvertised jobs, build your professional skills to make yourself more employable and help you get your career on the right track.

No one works in isolation so knowing people who work within the industry is the key to both your professional success and your job search success. Networking is the perfect way to meet the professionals in TV land, who can offer you new perspectives and assistance in seeking that all important new gig.

Attend conferences, discussion groups, workshops and trade shows, and make an effort to meet and exchange contact information with industry folk there – you can find out very quickly who the key people are to seek out.

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PB Live Careers Forum

Our 2nd Live Careers forum attracted a whole range of queries. Thanks to everyone that joined in – here are the responses so far!

The Panel

Paul Crompton

Paul is an experienced factual producer with 20 years’ work in TV. Executive Producer and Co-owner of Barge Pole Productions, Paul’s specialties are popular factual television, observational documentaries, formats, legals, scriptwriting, dramatic reconstruction, pitching and development.

Nicky Searle

Nicky is Talent Executive at NBCUniversal International Television Production, looking after companies as diverse as Carnival Films, Monkey Kingdom and Chocolate Media. Prior to that she managed talent for Optomen Television. She has been in the industry for nearly twenty years working her way up from her first TV role as an unpaid intern at MTV Networks.

Paul Merrick

Paul is an experienced Producer/Director with over 12 years specialising in observational documentaries and factual entertainment, including extensive self-shooting. Creative and highly motivated, he’s dedicated to making great television across all genres and passionate about storytelling.

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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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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Don’t Read This If You Don’t Have Kids

Don’t Read This If You Don’t Have Kids

As lovely as kids are, being a parent can also be a right pain. It makes me smile when people like Ranulph Fiennes are championed for their endurance, extreme adventures and sawing off their own fingers. And yet, I bet even Fiennes would cower at the thought of bringing up a baby.

There’s a book called How to Get a Job in Television by Elsa Sharp where she sums up what many of us already feel “…sometimes your ideals, families and friends can go out of the window in pursuit of a challenging career in television… TV is a young person’s game, someone with boundless energy and enthusiasm”. For us parents, energy and enthusiasm are often soaked up in nappies, childcare arrangements and problems at school.

It gets worse. There was a report from Skillset last year that revealed nearly 6,000 people left television in 2009; many leaving because of the impossibility of raising a family and working in production.

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Why Has It Gone Wrong?

Why Has It Gone Wrong?

In place of our usual editorial piece this week, I wanted to highlight a debate that has been going on in the PB Watercooler discussion forum this past fortnight. It’s an extremely interesting thread from experienced freelancers within the TV industry discussing how working life is now very different than in the past. And not always for the better.

Below are some extracts to give you a taster but please take a look at the Watercooler for the entire thread. It’s well worth a read, particularly for our less experienced members…

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