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Television graduates land BBC roles

December 6, 2021

Two Edge Hill University graduates are already on their way to building their dream careers in television after securing roles with the BBC. 

Two Edge Hill University graduates are already on their way to building their dream careers in television after securing roles with the BBC. 

Jay Smith and Owen Brady, who both studied television degrees, have landed their first professional roles within the industry. 

Jay, 25, has secured a role as a runner on BBC One’s BAFTA-award winning documentary series Ambulance. They will be moving to Newcastle in January to work with the programme’s production crew. 

Jay, who is from Milton Keynes, said: “Landing my first professional role as a runner on an award-winning programme is going to be an incredible experience. I’ll be able to experience all of the different roles and aspects of working in a production team and, hopefully, will gain experience and knowledge that I can take forward in my career.” 

Owen Brady, 21, has already started his new role as a production management assistant in the Acquisitions and Commissioning team at BBC Children’s.  

Owen, who is from Blackpool, said: “I’m already getting stuck in to the role and helping to manage the team’s workload, plan itineraries and helping the programme leads to sift through submissions. I’ve gone into the role with confidence because a lot of the work I’m doing requires skills that I’ve learned through my degree. It feels good to be going into my first professional role and knowing exactly how to do it.” 

Earlier this year, Owen secured a work placement as a runner on the BBC’s coverage of The Hundred cricket tournament. He credits this experience as a deciding factor in his decision to pursue a career in production management. 

Owen explained: “I found that I was most interested in the production management assistant role and one of my mentors during my placement recommended that I should seriously consider it because of the skillset I had developed. 

“The skills and knowledge I’ve gained during my time at university mean that I’m not starting at the bottom of the career ladder, I’m already two steps up. It’s not only the specific skills we’ve learnt but the networking opportunities that the course leaders organised for us. There have been so many opportunities to network and learn and those impressions that you leave on people are really important.  

“Now, when people turn to me in the office and ask me to help them with a task, I can say ‘I already know how to do that, because I learnt it in my degree’.” 

Jay added: “The Coronavirus pandemic did have an impact on our learning but the sense of pride that I will feel when I graduate, despite all of the obstacles we have had to overcome to get there, will be incredible.” 

The Department of Creative Arts offers an extensive range of degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Whether you want to be on stage or on screen, behind the scenes in various roles, directing film, directing television, scripting film, developing ideas for social media and television, directing performers, or working with community groups, our degree programmes will give you the opportunity to develop your creative skills in an exciting and stimulating environment.

December 6, 2021

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