Last weekend, I was in Edinburgh to take part in The Network, a scheme devised by the Media Guardian to sit alongside its International Television Festival. The scheme is aimed at young people eager to launch careers in the media, providing masterclasses, workshops and talks with people in the industry.
I can’t begin to explain how great this experience is. There is no way you would get an opportunity to meet and question such a wide range of media professionals in one place in any other forum. In four days, I have been to talks by MTV and BBC bosses, Q&A sessions with Russell Howard and a team of TV station high levels, had masterclasses with the hilarious Charlie Brooker and Inbetweeners writer Damon Beesley and stars of the show Simon Bird and James Buckley.
I had the opportunity to be part of a workshop team working with Sky Creative to devise a 360 digital media campaign for the Sky Arts show Songbook (one of our campaigns will actually be used by Sky). We were lucky enough to get to listen to the (now infamously controversial) McTaggert lecture by James Murdoch, attend the Television Channel of the Year awards hosted by Michael McIntyre, attended by media professionals and actors such as Dominic West (McNulty! McNulty from The Wire!), plus lots more. Not only all this, but all the while the Fringe Festival is taking over the city and any spare time we had could be spent seeking out quirky, hilarious, off kilter performances in the most random of venues.
The Network is free. You have to get yourself to Edinburgh, but from then on, food and accommodation is free and there’s even some free drink thrown in for good measure. You have to apply for the scheme by providing a short TV show pitch and other such questions, and from these applications (three thousand this year), they chose one hundred and fifty people to participate in the scheme. Its exclusive, but it’s amazing. If you have any interest in a career in television, or the media in general, you should get yourself on the Network.
Posted By: Cat
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