Events Assisting
During my last year at University i have had two great experiences working on events related to the media industry.
The first was in November, and a came from my work experience at leopard films in the summer. One of my tasks was to help looking for a suitable venue for a press screening of a new itv drama series. I called up several possible venues, quizzed them about certain criteria and created a spreadsheet which i passed onto my supervisor. Luckily my supervisor was very nice, gave me her email address and said to contact her nearer the time of the planned event, if i wanted to help out on the day and see how it was run.
I contacted her late October and was invited to London for a couple of days to help out. It was a really good experience, as i met several nice people, had a chance to network with producers and directors as well as assisting in setting up the AV equipment and dressing the venue. I learnt a lot about the amount of effort that goes into promoting a series and how events like this were run. It was something that i really enjoyed and could be a possible way into the industry or an alternative career i would like to explore.
Because of my experience with this, i volunteered to help out the Future Shorts Film Festival night in Bournemouth. This was being organised by White Lantern Film, another company i had work experience with. This again was very educational, and a great opportunity to work with similar people and network with director of photography, a job i really aspire to do. I was able to get advice on my next major project, and was good to experience how another event was run.
I was lucky that these two events came out of work experience, and even though i am studying hard in my third year, i have been able to keep in contact with several people, hoping that they will remember me, and possibly give me a greater chance of getting work once i finish in the summer. I feel it is important to keep in contact with previous companies, so they do remember you, and show you are enthusiastic in working with them again. So far i have not been paid very much for this type of work, but i am getting good experience which i can add to my cv, possibly making me more employable. I must try to keep this up, despite my hectic studies.
