A Career in Film & TV

To many, a career making film and television programmes can feel like a pipe dream, or something that ‘other people do’, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth!

The film and television industry contributes over £4 billion pounds in spend each year to the British economy and this requires individuals from all backgrounds to perform a range of vital roles.

A lot of people think of making film and tv programmes as simply being a camera operator or a director and whilst these are both super important roles, it takes a whole (and often multiple) crew to make a production happen! On a typical crew, you will find roles including the following:

• Director
• Producer
• Cinematographer/Camera Operators
• Script Supervisor
• Sound Recordists
• DIT (Digital Image Technician)
• 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd Assistant Directors
• Location Manager & Assistants
• Runners

These are just a snapshot of the roles available on scripted production crews!

For those interested in making documentary productions (unscripted film & TV), crews tend to be slightly smaller, but the roles are no less important.

Another aspect of making a film or TV production is ‘post production’ and this is arguably where the magic happens! The role of those on the post production crew is to take the rushes (footage) shot by the on set/location production crew and make it in to a tv show or feature film. Roles on the post production team include the following:

• Post Production Supervisor
• Edit Producer
• Editor
• Colourist
• Sound Technician/Designer
• Foley Artist
• VFX Supervisor

All these roles and more are involved in making everything you watch on your TV or in the cinema and you could be involved.

The National Film and Television School is highly regarded as one of the leading film schools in world and was itself awarded the BAFTA in 2018 for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. As a school, we train the filmmakers of tomorrow and our alumni are regular winners of BAFTA’s and Academy Awards and many others.

To find out more about an exciting career in film and TV, join us for some exciting sessions at the festival, where members of staff will be on hand to chat to you and we will also be running a range of workshops for you to take part in.