BVE North; lots on offer to staff and freelances in film and tv.
5 November 2011
If you work in the North and you have registered for BVE North (16-17 November at Manchester Central) don't miss BECTU's seminar How to be a Successful Freelance.
Our learning organiser John Crumpton has devised the session with the great help of panellists Christine Pyke, Mike Thornton and Faisal A Quereshi. See their biogs below.
The seminar helps to kick off the first ever BVE North; join the discussion at 10.00 am on Wednesday 16 November.
If you have yet to take advantage of free registration, here's the link.
BECTU will be exhibiting throughout the two days, so meet national official Jo Livesey and the rest of the team on stand 814. Find out how BECTU supports staff and freelances working across the media and entertainment sectors; tell us what you'd like; join up!
Launch statement: How to Be a Successful Freelance
The opening of MediaCityUK offers countless new opportunities for people already working, or wanting to work in the creative industries in the north of England. Undoubtedly there will be a considerable number of permanent jobs at the BBC, ITV
and elsewhere but the development in Salford Quays has also been described as a potential ‘freelance factory’ where casualised and contract working will be the norm.
The inevitable uncertainty that this creates is not helped by the current economic climate which is affecting us all and is further complicated by the influx of new media production graduates entering the marketplace each year.
The inevitable uncertainty that this creates is not helped by the current economic climate which is affecting us all and is further complicated by the influx of new media production graduates entering the marketplace each year.
Tackling the freelance jungle
There’s no doubt that the creative industries are oversupplied with many thousands of freelances all competing for work. Some might say it was always thus, but these days the freelance jungle is denser and more difficult to navigate.
So how do you stand out from the crowd?
How do you make sure that you're someone who gets hired again and again; aiming to be the very best, so you not only attract new clients and at the same time retain existing ones?
To provide some answers, BECTU, the media and entertainment union, has persuaded three of its successful northern based freelance members to ‘spill the beans’ and tell how they survive and thrive.
Covering a range of production and post production sectors, Christine Pyke, Faisal Qureshi and Mike Thornton will tell their individual stories of how they first broke into the creative industries, established themselves professionally and most importantly, how they stay in work and in demand.
John Crumpton will chair the panel to coax out ‘top tips’ from the assembled panelists.
The Panel
Christine Pyke has been involved in the media industry for over 20 years, making programmes for Channel 4, ITV and the BBC. More recently she has moved into media training where she develops, writes and presents courses for freelancers. Christine has recently set up Puma Events and Training with Ric Michael, ex Head of Development for Baby Cow Manchester to deliver bespoke business and professional training. She has many local, regional and national contacts within the media.
Mike Thornton is a Pro Tools genius and an award winning ‘audiomeister’, defined as ‘a person of great skill and authority in sound’. His vast array of credits include music (from classical to rock), drama and documentaries across all the BBC Radio networks, as well as audio post production for video and TV, ‘new media’, live sound, commercial CDs, DVDs and podcasts, helping clients tell their stories with sound. He has been described as “an oasis of calm in a stormy creative world“; “quick, creative & easy to work with“; “always going the extra mile“; and “invests himself in the success of your project“
Faisal A. Qureshi has worked as a writer and editor for nearly ten years, working on Film/TV projects for the BBC and a variety of production companies. Most recently he was Associate Producer on the award winning UK feature film Four Lions and he has also produced the short film Khalil the Great for FACT Liverpool.
He is a visiting lecturer at the Northern Film School in Leeds and the EICTV in Cuba.
John Crumpton has worked in the film and television industry for over thirty years as an editor, producer and director. He has been nominated three times for BAFTA awards, winning one for his sound editing work on Hillsborough.
For the last five years John has worked for BECTU, the media and entertainment union, as their Northern Learning Organiser. When time permits John continues to produce his own projects, I Married a Cult Figure from Salford being his latest production.
Mike Thornton is a Pro Tools genius and an award winning ‘audiomeister’, defined as ‘a person of great skill and authority in sound’. His vast array of credits include music (from classical to rock), drama and documentaries across all the BBC Radio networks, as well as audio post production for video and TV, ‘new media’, live sound, commercial CDs, DVDs and podcasts, helping clients tell their stories with sound. He has been described as “an oasis of calm in a stormy creative world“; “quick, creative & easy to work with“; “always going the extra mile“; and “invests himself in the success of your project“
Faisal A. Qureshi has worked as a writer and editor for nearly ten years, working on Film/TV projects for the BBC and a variety of production companies. Most recently he was Associate Producer on the award winning UK feature film Four Lions and he has also produced the short film Khalil the Great for FACT Liverpool.
He is a visiting lecturer at the Northern Film School in Leeds and the EICTV in Cuba.
John Crumpton has worked in the film and television industry for over thirty years as an editor, producer and director. He has been nominated three times for BAFTA awards, winning one for his sound editing work on Hillsborough.
For the last five years John has worked for BECTU, the media and entertainment union, as their Northern Learning Organiser. When time permits John continues to produce his own projects, I Married a Cult Figure from Salford being his latest production.
ENDS
Query about this article? Contact us.
Bookmark this page with:
What's this?