Starting out in television when you don’t have any industry contacts can feel a bit like the TV show Survivor…except you’re trying to work your way into an alliance before you’ve even landed on the island. I’ve taken some inspiration from the granddaddy of reality TV, Survivor and put together my 2 cents worth of advice to help you outwit, outplay and outlast the rest so you can make it in TV…
The hardest part is starting out…that’s what I found when I decided I wanted to get in to TV and it’s what I’m finding now as I try to write my first post for this blog.
A challenge producer in reality TV, is part of the editorial team. They are responsible for coming up with challenge ideas and then making them happen.
In a Beyond Reality collaboration, Sarah Chang, Freelance Line Producer and Co Founder of The Production Portal, has written about her experiences, in a post to shine a light on the realities of burnout in the television industry.
As part of the Beyond Reality interview series, I sat down with Frank Sinton, Executive Producer of 'Floor Is Lava' and President of A. Smith Co. Productions to talk about the launch of series 2 of the hit show on Netflix.
To kick off the series, LA-based producer Andrea Rehrig joins me to chat about her career in television, from her early days at E! Entertainment and Laguna Beach to producing on both US and Australian Survivor. She shares her story about how her passion for people led her to a life in TV.
As part of the Beyond Reality interview series, I interviewed publicity manager Kate Whitby, whose slate of shows has included, The X Factor, Australian Survivor and Lego Masters. I chat to Kate about her early career as an entertainment reporter for Dolly Magazine, what it’s like to work with radio royalty Kyle and Jackie O and the always unpredictable life of a TV publicist.
As part of the Beyond Reality interview series, I interviewed Alex Spurway, a supervising control room producer and story producer whose reality TV experience includes, Married at First Sight, Love Island and Australian Survivor. I chat to Alex about how she started her career on the Today Show, what it’s like to be an executive producer in the competitive world of breakfast radio and how she eventually found her place in reality TV.
If 2020 was a TV show it would be …well, I was going for some kind of analogy here but most of the television flops I can think of, I actually enjoyed, so let’s just say 2020 has been absolute shit-show! But the good news is that the television industry is reopening, production teams are finding new ways to make Covid-safe telly to get us all back to doing what we love, so with that in mind, I’ve put together a list of things you can do to get your TV career back on track after lockdown.
As part of the Beyond Reality interview series, I interviewed Michelle Gauntlett, a line producer who has worked on shows such as Australian Ninja Warrior, The Bachelor and Australian Survivor. I talked to Michelle about how she got her start working on specialist factual TV in the UK, before successfully making the move to Australia, where she now works on some of the biggest entertainment formats in the country.