HOW TO WORK FOR TV

I'm gonna be honest, I definitely left writing this blog post till last minute. This post is meant to go live within the next 2 hours and I'm only just writing it, but I have an excuse, a good one, I promise. You see I've been lucky to take part in some filming for a documentary type series this week (as well as last week too) and I've been so busy that I didn't even think about what to write this on. But now sitting here, reading through your tweets, and comments on our recent video, I've realized that sitting on set filming for television is probably the best time to write a post. A piece on 'How to start working for Television'. 

I first started getting acting and advertorial jobs for television and online when I was 15, so In the past 7 years (Man, am I really 22?) I think I've learned a few things that could help you, maybe?

Build lots of branches. 

Whether you want to be a presenter, an actor or even a producer, building multiple paths in the industry will help you. A lot of it is about who you know, and if you're reaching into different industries then it's absolutely going to help you get to your main goal. Let's say you want to be a presenter, then work out all the ways you could get there. You could create a showreel, present for a local radio station, create a podcast, become a runner (to get your name known), do some work experience. All of this will help. 

Get that experience.

You're probably not going to get your dream job straight away, and even though it may feel degrading doing a job that's long hours and not paid very well, if it gets you closer to what you want to do, it's worth it. Without discussing what it was, Amelia and I actually filmed for a tv channel and it wasn't paid, we've actually done this a few times. But it's helped us get the paid jobs. Every bit of experience helps. 

Think outside the box. 

About 4 years ago, I auditioned for Blue Peter, we had to create a video and send it in. Obviously, me being me, I searched on twitter to see other people's applications and that's when I realized a lot of them had been on YouTube for a while... and were creating videos weekly. I realized there was a whole other industry that I wanted to be a part of, and now I'm getting jobs because of YouTube. Remember those branches I was talking about building? This was one of them. 

Open Auditions. 

You might not be able to get an agent but that doesn't matter. You can still get the jobs. You just need to find them and that's what is so amazing about Twitter. Amelia and I got  BBC3's The Fear job by applying through twitter, as well as Huawei and the Matalan advert. Just go crazy and follow as many casting directors as possible, they're always tweeting out jobs with specifications, and one day you might be just right for the job they're posting. 

So those a few things I thought you might want to know, and I actually have a few more. So if you've found this interesting let me know and I might write a part 2 :) -G,x