Media and Film Studies: Some Thoughts

I got a call today from a friend of my mother's. Her daughter - my mother's friend's daughter, not my mother's daughter, that would be me - her daughter is off to university to do Media and Film Studies. As such a paragon of success in the television industry, did I have any advice for this fresh-faced, intelligent eighteen-year-old?

Er, yes. I did, as a matter of fact, but she wouldn't want to hear it. My advice is: don't do it.

There are many reasons why not. And as a disclaimer, I should add I did not study either media or film at university, so my understanding of such degrees comes from the outside. But crucially - that's exactly where future employers' understanding of the degrees comes from too. Also, I am writing this in my mother's living-room while watching Diagnosis: Murder, and hanging around for three weeks for my next job. So, what do I know?

The simple truth of the matter is this. When I graduated with a degree in English Literature, I didn't know one end of a Z1 from the other. I didn't have the slightest desire to ever make a film of my own. I wanted to be a writer. I ended up working on a BAFTA-winning historical series as a researcher by purest fluke. It wasn't knowing people or having any technical knowledge, it was that they needed my academic research skills and the Line Producer liked me. That was that. From there, I have had years of steady work in television. It was Luck. And if we're being brutally frank - and we should be - Luck can happen to just about anyone, whether or not you have spent £20,000 on a degree in Media and Film Studies.

Furthermore, after nearly 3 years in telly, I STILL don't really know one end of a Z1 from the other, I STILL don't want to make a film of my own and I STILL want to be a writer. This is depressing for me, to be honest, but also demonstrative of this basic fact. Below Assistant Producer level, no one really gives a shit about whether or not you can self-shoot. No one gives a damn what your ambitions are to be a director or producer. No one CARES. In fact - and I know this from several separate directors, it counts against you. It will NOT help you get a job from university. Knowledge of editing equipment will NOT help you get a job from university. From university, you will be a Runner, or if you are unbelievably lucky you will be a junior researcher. Trust me on this: you will NOT be self-shooting, directing or editing and no one will care about your opinions on the shooting, directing or editing. People hiring you will NOT care about your potential, because this is a freelance industry, so they aren't going to benefit from your trajectory over the years, and before anyone starts thinking the BBC is different, may I advise you that they don't ever move anyone up there. I know someone who was a runner there for the best part of four years.

To get a first foothold in the industry is hard, but that's because of competition and lack of jobs rather than tough entry qualifications. If you are smart, enthusiastic, willing to do shitty jobs with a smile and meet someone who likes you, you are in. All other skills you will acquire on the hoof. Unfortunately, media graduates generally have to work harder to be liked, because a lot of employers have been burned by smartasses (not typical of every media graduate, but it's the same old story -for every 10,000 perfectly nice graduates, there's 1 asshole everyone remembers). I remember one turning to me and saying: "you work deceptively hard". There's nothing deceptive about it, friend.

If you want to go into TV, find another interest and do a degree in that and come back to television. Having in-depth knowledge of a subject will always help you find work in TV. A degree in Media and Film Studies simply won't.