Learning the Ropes Week #1 round-up

28 February 2023

Written by Sara Taleghani

After getting through the selection day for the Tuskar and Thames Mentorship programme, we were all very excited to attend our first bootcamp session at Thames TV. Our session started with an inspirational talk from Dermot O'Leary (who happens to be the Tuskar Founder, as well as a TV personality, Broadcaster, Producer & Author.)

Dermot talked to us openly about his journey to success, as well as the need for diversity and accessibility in the TV industry. It was really reassuring to hear how Dermot started off as a runner and slowly made his way up from there.

This was followed by a session on Editorial, held by Rich Mittel. Rich shared some great insight into the wide variety of entertainment shows he worked on and the various roles and responsibilities of runners, straight through to executive producers when creating a show.

It was really exciting to see the ‘sizzle’ (which we learned is a TV term for a 2-minute teaser) that Rich showed to commissioners to get them on board in producing a new exciting talent show, which comes out sometime next year!

After hearing about the creative side of TV, we got to hear about logistics from Tuskar’s Deputy Head of Production, Helen Moore. Following a tasty lunch at the Thames TV canteen, we talked to Development Executive, Thomas Williams, who gave us the low down on some of the popular shows he has worked on, such as 'Million Pound Drop'. Thomas talked about how he turned an initial idea into a fully fleshed show, and the creative ways he pitched these ideas to commissioners - which at times, landed him the show on the spot!

Thomas then tasked us with a fun assignment - we had 40 minutes to come up with a new dating show idea and pitch this to the group. I really enjoyed engaging with other young creatives and bouncing ideas off each other for this activity. The group came up with a range of exciting show ideas, from scripts that put the fate of single parents dating lives in the hands of their kids, to shows that locked up contestants in ‘jail’, where only finding love can set them free!

Our second session began with Dave Bishop, who shared his inspirational journey to becoming a BAFTA award-winning Lighting Designer for some of the biggest entertainment TV shows in the UK. This was followed by a talk from Art Director Naejin Kim, who showed us some of the intricate art sets she designed for shows like 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'The X Factor'. Naejin talked us through the process of starting a career in art direction, which to my surprise, doesn’t necessarily require an art degree! The majority of Naejin’s runners don't come from an art education background.

Later, Scriptwriter and Author, Ivor Baddiel, shared his journey from starting as a writer for comedy gigs, to making his way into script writing for the entertainment space, and having written for shows like 'I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' and 'X Factor'. Ivor also shared some useful tips on improving our writing skills, and the importance of capturing a presenter's (or fictional character’s) persona and tone when writing for them. It can be difficult to ensure your own voice does not come through when writing for other people. Ivor spoke about the importance of first exploring a character's personality and values in great detail before writing a script.

After lunch, we had the opportunity to join Editor Sam Williams in the editing suites at Envy Postproduction. We sat in with Sam on his edit of the new season of Netflix production 'Too Hot To Handle'. It was so interesting to hear how the postproduction process varies from show to show, with a lot of hectic last-minute edits happening for 24-hour shows like ‘Love Island’ and ‘Big Brother’, where the narrative is constantly changing. We learnt that the editing process is much more structured for shows like 'Too Hot to Handle', where all episodes are released at once so a clear story arc can be established from start to end.

Our third and final session began with an insightful talk on Casting, from the Head of On-Screen Talent, Barney Addison. Barney explained the process of finding unique contributors for entertainment - which involves constantly having an ear on the radio and an eye on the paper for any

local stories of talent. It was really interesting to hear that sometimes it can take years to convince a contributor to audition for a show, but the rewarding feeling you get from creating a life-changing opportunity for a contributor makes all that pestering worthwhile!

Later in the day, Senior Digital Executive, Jamie Crossan explained the rising power of social media as a tool for consuming entertainment, as TV starts to make a shift to mobile applications like YouTube and TikTok. I really enjoyed watching some of the heartfelt ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ auditions that went viral across social platforms.

After lunch, the group headed down to the London Palladium to sit in on a live session of Britain's Got Talent auditions. We had the opportunity to sit right behind the executive producers - it was really cool to observe how they worked.

The producers kept a close eye on camera monitors at all times and took notes on each audition. We learnt that these notes will then be fed back to the editing team, where they decide which auditions to include or leave out of the edit. I really enjoyed observing how the camera crew operated with a live audience, where it is important to catch reactions as they happen in the moment. Attending the show was certainly one of my highlights of the bootcamp, and not to mention, seeing my favourite TV presenters, Ant and Dec in the flesh!

Can't wait to see who I get paired up with as my mentor.