Why I love the Production Talent Pool

I woke up this morning, stumbled out of bed and tripped over a pair of shoes.

In the moments of transition from being vertical to a sudden horizontal, I questioned why the shoes were there in the first place. I hadn’t been slovenly and left them there, nor had I been brain-dead and forgotten where I stored them. They were a pair that I had picked up a few months ago and left in the living room with a note for my family to find.

Dear family unit,

As my birthday is fast approaching, I have purchased a pair of shoes that I would like.

If you’d like to take the shoes and leave the sum of money, I won’t know which of you have been thoughtful enough to buy them for me. I will get the shoes, and you will get the satisfaction of getting me the present I want and it still being a surprise. Win, win.

 

As predicted, the shoes were removed from their display, the money left in their place, and I had altogether forgotten about the incident -until they appeared this morning, underneath my feet. I didn’t need to question the matter for long, as it turned out they had been left with a note which was now stuck to my face.

 

Congratulations on getting the job :)

 

I was more baffled than when I face-planted the floor.

This week, there have been a few terrific success stories in my family–with my boyfriend starting his very first teaching job as an NQT and my sister being accepted on to the ACCA (the next stage of her mission to become a Chartered Accountant.) So why were we suddenly celebrating a job that I managed to get four months ago?

 

I went downstairs and found my generous sister, whose handwriting had been responsible for the note.

“Lauren, why have you given me my birthday shoes, two weeks before my birthday?”

“Didn’t you read the note?”

I nodded, “Yes, but what new job? I’ve been on the Production Talent Pool since June?”

            “Yes, but now you’ve done something better, haven’t you? Something with BBC4?”

            I fell silent for a moment as I began to piece together what she was saying.

            For those who don’t know, the Production Talent Pool is a Pool of 123 individuals across the UK who have been trained by the BBC. They are then offered a number of short-term contracts, usually with Runner or PMA based roles.

            While there is no guarantee of work, once your CV has been circulated to different Talent Managers, it’s likely that you will discover a number of different opportunites after being offered your first contract. The nature of the business is that people generally want to work with good people they’ve used before, so providing you work hard and create a lasting impressive, it’s likely you’ll get that highly desired call-back.

            The Production Talent Pool is also now the only route on to the Production Trainee Scheme, an intense eighteen month training scheme that will fast-track successful applicants into the world of Production. I’ve recently been fortunate enough to secure a place at interview for the scheme, which I recalled telling my sister about while she was watching television a few days ago.

            I thought about a similar conversation I had with her some time prior to this, where I told her about a short term contract I had managed to get with BBC4. She’d been doing her make-up at the time, ready for a night out.

            “Aren’t you going to London this month, too?” she said as she applied her lipgloss.

            I continued to tell her about the short film I was involved in (see previous Coffee-based blog!) and obviously hadn’t noticed her eyes glaze over as I told her about my numerous adventures.

"And the writing thing?"

"No, that's different," I said, "That's with the Sherman Theatre. They're performing one of my stage-plays as a rehearsed reading."

"In Swansea?" She asked.

"No, that's 'Scratch that Itch'' I tried to explain. 'That'll be a different piece being performed."

"The one about the hamster?"

"No, that's radio, for the PTPodcast..."

            “It’s a lot to keep up with,” she fluffed her hair in the mirror, and I paused for a moment.

            “Actually,”I said, grabbing my laptop “It’s a lot easier than you’d think, look at this new organiser I’ve just ordered!”

            I pointed neurotically at the screen. My sister smiled.

            “Lovely,”she said, obviously  not sharing my blatant love of all things stationary. I debated buying the matching expanding folder as she disappeared out the door in a whiff of perfume.

 

I guess for her, listening to my short snippets of conversation, and not really understanding the nature of what I’m doing at the moment, it was a pretty easy mistake for her to think that I’d secured a new job. It's been a busy month, but I've been having the time of my life. While I had celebrated the BBC4 contract in my own little way, I’m hoping there will be lots more coming my way in the near future.  I soon realised that my sister's recent enthusiasm had just been a series of relevant head nods and smiles. It left me with a few things to ponder.

Was she really going to buy me gifts every time I got a new contract?

And more importantly, how long can I keep this up for?

 

I looked back at my sister, whose attention had returned to the television.

            “Yep, that’s right.” I said, without correcting her.

            “I don’t really understand it all,” she sighed. “But what you’re doing is good, yeah?”

            I nodded and sneaked back upstairs with my shoes.

            I decided this is one blog I won't be forwarding on to my sister.

           

 The Production Talent Pool: the gift that just keeps on giving.