We often moan about the long hours, the ever changing schedules and the often bizarre demands of TV production; but the opportunities that working in TV can give you can be amazing and makes working in the industry a privilege, not a chore.
In the last 12 months I’ve been lucky enough to work on some really diverse and once in a life time opportunities. February 2011, I directed Helen Skelton’s high wire walk between the chimneys at Battersea Power Station. Then in May I found myself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean overseeing another Blue Peter presenter set a new world record, andy akinwolere’s 8 kms swim over the Palau trench; one of the world’s deepest stretches of water.
The summer took me back to my home, the fantastic Yorkshire Dales; a dream job of living and working in arguably one of the prettiest places in the UK for ITV’s The Dales series.
Then during the edit a chance phone call from the Beeb. Would I be up for going to Antarctica to film Helen Skelton’s Sport Relief Challenge? A series of shows to document her audacious attempt to bike/ski and kite 500 miles to the South Pole. The trip over 40 days, we’d be away from the middle of December to the start of February, living in a tent, eating re-hydrated food and working in probably the most challenging filming environment you could get with freezing conditions of – 45. Working in those conditions day in day out really makes you think of what you need to shoot story wise…never mind coping with freezing cables, failing kit, your freezing crew and presenter.
It just goes to show how diverse and great working in this industry can be.