Careers in FOCUS with IntoUniversity - by Ben Southwell, BBC

BBC Series Producer Ben Southwell came into our Bristol East centre in June to deliver a workshop on jobs in television as part of our Careers in FOCUS programme - read about Ben's experience below.

As a Series Producer I run teams that make all sorts of different factual programmes at the BBC in Bristol. I’ve worked on a very wide range of programmes from DIY SOS to Natural History shows and History programmes.

When I was asked to help in a presentation for IntoUniversity about working in television, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Would everyone just ask how to be a presenter? Would they be interested in someone old enough to be father to their mum and dad?

I’m pleased to say it was not only very enjoyable, it was also very interesting.  There were three of us giving the presentation. We broke the afternoon into three sections. We told them a  little bit about our careers in television -  what we’d studied at University and how our careers had progressed. This was so they could see how many and varied the routes into the industry are and how many different jobs there are within television.

The best part of the afternoon was the second section. We set the students an  exercise. We asked them to work in groups to come up with their own programme idea which they would then pitch to us. In order to do this they had to think through a great many of the steps needed to make a programme (size of crew, cost, format etc). They grasped the nuts and bolts of it very quickly and there were soon heated discussions around the room about what sort of programme they wanted to pitch. When the time came for us to hear their ideas I was so impressed at the range and inventiveness of the ideas I thought I was in a brainstorm at work.  

The third section was of course questions. I’m pleased to say I don’t remember any of them asking how they could become a presenter. 

The students were interested, polite and well informed. I hope they enjoyed the afternoon as much as I did. 

To find out how you could get involved with volunteering at IntoUniversity, visit our website.