I'm a self-shooting producer in TV news for almost five years and was in newspapers for 10 before that. I've done attachments to programmes, enjoyed it and would like to move into content production full-time. I'm unsure as to what kinds of roles I should be targeting, can anyone shed any light on this?
Moving from TV news to production?
by Duncan Bick on 21st Jan 2021 Answers
To add your answer, please
Many years ago I had my first paid TV job producing news stories in Austria for international news agencies (WTN mostly). I did it for three years, and learnt a great deal about working with a crew. When it was time to move on, I happened across a job in Budapest doing current affairs background feature stories from across Central and Eastern Europe for a range of broadcasters - mostly 8-10 minutes long. This was dependent on a particular series coming up, but maybe that kind of job? Features story producer... Capitalises on your current affairs experience, but allows you to showcase your story-telling abilities as well as your ability to acquire quality footage as opposed to basic 'grab-what-you-can' news images.
Definitely possible Duncan. I worked my way up at MTV News for nearly 4 years and was able to move across into production when I went freelance. Your shooting and storytelling experience will be attractive to lots of production companies. Do you also edit? One area I realised I had to improve was my 'news style' of filming so making my shots more interesting/creative and less textbook, but if you own (or have access to) a decent camera that's the best way to build a shooting showreel that offers variety. All the best for 2021!