Part of the reason why I love working in production roles, is that every day you learn something new. I’ve always loved learning, ever since I was young. So turning up to work each day and having to find out new things I hadn’t come across before was right up my street. Whether it was learning how to use systems like Silvermouse and Albert or finding out how to apply for visas or why they needed certain items of kit. It gives me great satisfaction to find out new things and implement them on productions.

It actually forms part of the drive I have to run training courses, as I’m having to keep up to date with the latest industry information so I can relay this to my trainees. This means I participate in many training courses myself as part of my continuous personal development. Whether these are to help improve my soft skills with courses such as networking skills, management skills, dealing with stress & anxiety; keeping up to date with software & systems such as LiveU, RIMMS or Albert; or industry best practice around mental health, coronavirus awareness, health & safety, equality & inclusion, copyrights and release forms, working with children and IR35 rules. I also regularly listen to discussions on all areas of the industry, including talks on inclusion, skills shortages, future industry predictions, programme/genre challenges and much more.

As well as keeping on top of training and resources around soft skills and industry knowledge, I also ensure I’m able to provide the best training courses possible by undertaking training myself to help me in those areas. This includes improving my knowledge of public speaking, supporting neurodiverse trainees, effective practices in on-line learning, supporting trainees for whom English is a second language and even taking an introduction to sign language course.

I undertook my first official training qualification in 2017 which was a Level 3 Train the Trainer course which taught me the best practice of how to create my training to appeal to all learning styles and learning needs. Wanting to support individuals further through career advice, training and also my production teams, I took a course to become a Level 3 ILM Coach & Mentor. This taught me how best to support individuals and empower them to find the answers to their questions whilst offering my advice and support.

In 2021/2022 I developed my skills further by undertaking a Level 3 Award in Education and Training contextualised to the screen industries. Over a period of 4 months, I undertook fortnightly zoom sessions covering subjects such as safeguarding, developing safe and supportive learning environments, providing inclusive learning and assessment and reflective practice. I’m personally very proud I completed this training, as I was extremely busy running my first major programme for ScreenSkills which saw me bring on board my first team members and run in person training across the UK, whilst running my short courses and additional ScreenSkills sessions, career advice sessions and participating in industry talks all while being pregnant. It definitely tested my multi-tasking and working to deadlines skills to ensure all of my homework as part of the course was completed on time!

On average I’d say I take at least one new course each month and try and catch up with industry talks as often as I can. It gives me great personal satisfaction to do so and also ensures my knowledge is as up to date as it can be.

I can’t recommend training enough to help with your continuous personal development. It helps to keep you up to date with your knowledge and also reinforces what you already know. It’s great to add to your CV, improves your chances of employment and makes you feel confident and much more knowledgeable.

I provide training for those working in production. Currently our slate of courses are as follows:

· Production Co-ordination for Unscripted TV

· Organising Overseas Filming

· Production Management for Unscripted TV

· Post Production for Production Managers

· Understanding Budgets for Editorial Teams

· Creating a Budget & Schedule for Unscripted TV

· Managing Excel Cost Managers

· Budgeting 101

· Introduction to Post Production Paperwork

· How to write a CV and Cover Letter for Unscripted TV

· CV Clinic