How did you get into the industry?
'I first got into the industry during my final year at Cardiff Uni. I involved myself in Xpress Radio which is the student radio station, and also spent time with Portsmouth Hospital Radio. I applied for a competition like many of my friends and I guess I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to go on air.'''
Antonia Wright, Radio1 Trainee
'I was that 'struggling writer', not really getting anywhere. My first agent, the wonderful Sheila Lemon, who sadly is no longer with us, shoved me under Humphrey Barclay's nose in 1996 - probably to stop me phoning up to see if there was any work going. Humphrey was Controller of Comedy at LWT at the time, and took me on for three months as a reader. I stayed for two and a half years until Channel 4 asked me to produce their 1999 Sitcom Festival.''
Nigel Smith, Writer/Producer
Senior Researcher
'I studied Radio at University, and was lucky enough to get work experience on the Simon Mayo show.''
Lizzie Buckingham, Broadcast Assistant
''I started out as an actress. After a rewarding and relatively successful acting career of some 15 years duration, I wrote a treatment for a TV film, the subject of which I was passionate about and which I wanted the greatest possible number of people to share in. I 'sold' the treatment to a producer I admired and then watched him at close quarters as he set about commissioning a writer and getting the film financed and up and running. I thought I could do that myself next time around, and that is what I did. It afforded me the opportunity I so badly lacked as an actress to have control over the subject matter of the work I was involved in and to be active rather than purely reactive (which I had always found very limiting and frustrating).''
Leslee Udwin, Producer
'I got into the industry by firstly making a few short films for my Media 'A' Level and Degree. Got awarded an editing traineeship at the BBC when I was 17 from my technical theatre experience, and acting in my spare time.''
Assistant Editor
''I started out as a transmitter engineer, then worked for Thames TV in electronic maintenance before moving to Ikegami, where I am responsible for all technical aspects of all Ikegami Broadcast products in the UK. Mainly broadcast TV cameras and monitors.''
Mark Capstick, Chief Engineer
Cassandra McGrogan, Producer/Editor
'A passion for photography got me started in the industry. Applied for a job as a cameraman based only on my still photographs portfolio. Got the job and learned on the job.''
David Hands, Director of Photography
'I got into the industry by applying to the editor of the disability programmes unit who recognised that my skills learned in a theatre career would be transferrable, particularly my experience of disability theatre.''
Ewan Marshall, Assistant Producer
'I got into the industry initially through a family contact working in the industry, who gave me the opportunity to get my foot in the door with some weekend work experience. I got my first job through the contacts made during this period.''
Dominic Roberts, Camera Assistant
'I studied a BA (Hons) Journalism degree at Southampton. Whilst doing this I made sure that I gained a lot of practical journalistic experience. This included freelance experience working on major stories relating to Nothern Ireland: Good Friday Agreement and Sinn Fein's first visit to Downing Street.''
Kevin McLaughlin, Researcher
'I got into the industry when a friend noticed a vacancy for a production company. She knew I wanted to get into something creative - I applied and got the job.''
Rosa, Post Production Runner
''I got into the industry through the Antonine Films Short Film Lab, which was set up as a competition, which I (and four others) won out of 350 entries. I had been looking to get into film for a long time, but the usual routes (such as the BBC director's course which used to take chiefly theatre directors) had been gradually closed down as the new cost economy took hold - now a single week's course with the BBC would cost £3000, whereas once you would get 12 weeks' training for free if you were chosen.''
Film Director Writer
'I was in my mid thirties by the time I joined this industry, It was quite easy as a mature young man, to look as though you knew what you were doing! Then, I just waited around in the right place, while holding the right tools for the job.''
Robert Anderson, Location Sound Recordist Mixer
''I started as a junior development assistant for a major studio in London in 1990, then 'read scripts' freelance for a distributor. I then moved to work in film sales, acquisitions and distribution. I joined a UK funding body in 1994 as a production executive.''
Freelance Story Editor
