A Beginners guide to Studios Technology
Working in ITV Studios Technology is demanding, exhausting and on occasion exasperating. The incessant demands of production are challenging, complex and varied, and we love it…
It’s great when the technology is sorted and that show, promotion or event is in front of millions of people.
Here are my top three ‘need to knows’ when you work in Studios Tech:
1.) You are a key part of the show but behind the scenes:
The very first thing you should know is that you are behind the scenes. It’s all in the planning but you have to be on point and able to adapt, workaround and lead should anything go wrong on the day, Production will look to you for answers….
After all the work that has gone into the production you may find you aren’t onsite for the filming or live event at all, but what you deliver is no less important to the production than the cameras or the lights.
Quietly though, when you’re de-rigging and your production team prepares to go home after transmission, you’ll give yourself a pat on the back, safe in the knowledge you played an important part in getting the show out that makes a difference to so many.
2.) You must know how it works, you’re tech:
Think technology can be categorised into groups (studio, gallery, post production, infrastructure, networks, support etc..,) think again. If you are the technical lead on a production expect to be asked questions about any and all tech. Know how to line up your show for transmission? Sure that sounds within the remit. How about how to program the latest android/IOS device? Create a network? Build a lambda transcoder in AWS? Provision storage? Write a bash script? Determine a last minute workflow? Set up cloud services? Rack servers? Oh and are you any good at building furniture? You are on point for all of this and more… No two days are the same!!!
Make sure you’ve got your ‘go to’ people who can help on a quick dial, you’ll need them often. You’ll never be able to repay all the favours they do for you and vice versa, it’s an elite community, each with their expertise and with a mutual camaraderie of understanding.
Thanks to my cavalry, they know who they are!
3.) Have the best time, with the best team….
You may not get all of the perks people might think come with a job in TV, but you get to work with the best people. On one hand you’ll be working with the industry’s best creative thinkers whose ideas and imagination will blow your mind. On the other, you work with the industry’s best tech team and suppliers who will always back you up, always believing in our shared goal: to make ITV production as good as it possibly can be. And for the inner geek in every techie, you work at the cutting edge, be it remote production, virtual studios, 4K, UHD, all the colours or super sound, things never stand still, and it’s great.
Nothing beats getting your show on air and I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.
