Roles and Process

In our session with Susan on the 24th October we had the opportunity to practise our interviewing techniques over the phone on a professional from the industry. I interviewed Liz Allen, who produces and directs observational docs for the BBC. She was very nice and easy to interview, she also gave me some really good answers and advice.

Nicholas White, director of Victorian Cross, came in in the afternoon for us to also interview. He was really talkative and gave us some really in depth detailed answers. He didn't actually plan to get into T.V and actually studied Art and History. He then went to live in Hong Kong in the 1990's and travelled for a while. When returning to England it was just by chance the BBC were doing an environmental programme on Hong Kong and he knew someone who worked in the BBC's library so landed an interview. He then bluffed his way through his interview using his knowledge of Hong Kong after living out there for a while and managed to land a job as researcher on the project. Unfortunately it never got made due to China refusing them entry in the end! However the point he was making was that as long as you have confidence and can convince people you know what you're on about - it's possible to get far.

He also said that the best assistant producers he has worked with are those who are always looking for things to be done - they do not need to be asked because they're already thinking about it. So advice to us - be efficient! Do a job before you're asked it do it.