John is a a highly regarded, award-winning Director and has been a member of Production Elite for close to 2 years now. He has Produced/Directed all over the world in different genres from factual entertainment and documentaries to Drama-documentaries and Drama.
How did you hear about Production Elite?
Through a mutual friend in the business. However, I knew Chris (Logan) as we’d worked together on a couple of programmes back at the BBC.
How does Production Elite differ to other production recruitment services?
I’m new to this freelance game which makes me something of a recruitment virgin. I’ve not previously been registered with any other recruitment service. That said, I have checked out and considered most of the usual suspects; Productionbase, Broadcast Freelancer, The Crewing Company, Mandy.com etc…
Happily, Production Elite is my first.
What is your experience of using Production Elite so far?
It’s been a pleasure. Chris and Sophia are among the nicest people one could hope to meet. Every once in a while, a job may decide to come my way, so it’s nice to be able to call them and ask them to deal with the rate negotiations, dates, terms and so on. I find life generally becomes much easier that way.
Tell us a little bit about your career to date.
I left University as an Oceanography & Zoology graduate with my sights set on a glamorous, globe-trotting career as a professional Marine Biologist and Scuba-Diving instructor. Instead, worked as furniture removals man, a waste disposal lorry driver and as an asbestos surveyor. The upshot - I paid off my overdraft.
My working life in television began by accident. I was fortunate to be introduced to a BBC producer who happened to be looking for a someone who knew a little about whales and dolphins for a documentary he was making about them. He liked my goldfish jokes as before long I was sitting in a cold office in the BBC’s Natural History Unit with a 3-month contract as a researcher under my belt.
I’ve since been lucky enough to continue to work in the BBC as a researcher/camera assistant and progressing up to Producer/Director. I’ve worked on a variety of programmes across prime-time Natural History, Consumer, Light entertainment, Factual, Documentaries, Drama-documentaries and Drama.
Since going freelance, I’ve made programmes for the BBC, ITV, Animal Planet, Channel 5 and Channel4 as well as trying my hand at making; Corporate films, short films, Commercials, Music Videos. I’ve also taught and lectured, had some small articles published, become a trustee to a charity and a partner in business for the National Careers Academies. I’ve written and am developing a feature film which is very close to my heart. I do hope I get the chance to make it.
What is your strangest television experience?
A tricky question. Probably on a par with being asked your favourite movie - you can never answer it as there’s always more than one. We’ve all been on shoots that have resulted in every conceivable manner of strangeness and hilarity. Here’s a few of mine:
Re-enacting scenes for a drama-doc about the brutal murder of an elderly widow - in her very own house where she was killed. Nothing had been moved or changed since her death. There were still some visible bloodstains on the floor. Spooky, eerie and just a little disturbing.
Chased and e-stalked by a celebrity I’d been filming, who had a passion for astrology and who wanted to, ahem… read my crystal balls.
Being attacked or, bitten by various animals such as; Snake, Fox, Humphead wrasse, spiders and even a Lapwing. Tough birds.
In Canada, filming a drama-doc about a husky dog-team racer who was attacked and nearly killed by a black bear. Shooting the drama scenes with a very real, big, ugly black bear that was restrained by a thin metal chain held by his handler. His name was, Bonkers. The bear that is.
Spending a week by myself on the Island of Lundy baiting and trapping black rats for a film crew that were arriving the following week. Despite the serious fact that the black rat is virtually extinct in the UK. Thankfully, I caught six.
Dealing with a slightly unreasonable Scottish hotelier with whom we’d just stayed, threatening to go to the National press with the accusation that a well-known presenter we were filming had, “pissed” the bed. You couldn’t make it up.
What has been the highlight of your TV career so far?
Another tricky question. Truth is, there have been a variety of highlights. Too many to mention or, single out. On a personal level, I genuinely care about and strive towards having a happy, united and creatively rewarded crew and production team. It makes all the difference.
Do you have any nuggets of advice for those pursuing a career in television/Film?
Funnily enough, I asked that very same question to Sir Richard Attenborough in a film promo for the UK Film Council and he simply said, ‘don’t ever let anybody ever put you off.’ Difficult to top that really.
My only nugget to those starting out would be this motto which I always keep close to the front of my mind; ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail.’
Lastly, if you do decide it’s a career you want to pursue and you have the requisite skills, then go for it. You’ll be aware it’s not the easiest of businesses in which to work but, as Shakespeare rightly put it; ‘the course of true love never did run smooth.’
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