Ask nicely and you shall receive (or how I maintain my faith in humanity)

It doesn’t take long when you first start working in TV to realise just how much you rely on other people, the good members of the public, in order to do your job. Most of my working day is spent finding the right person to speak to, phone bashing until I come across that expert who is going to share years of research with me. The community worker who is going to reach out to their circle and find the case study I need to tell my story, or even that independent health care company who will not only give me the use of their training room to recreate a hospital scene but will lend me a nurse’s uniform, hospital bed and stethoscope to boot. (True story – and yes I played the nurse.)

And for what price? Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Granted there is often an element of mutual exchange; good PR for an organisation wanting more exposure, the highlighting of an issue that is of concern for a group in society or simply the lending of an interested ear to someone with a passion rarely sought by mainstream popular culture.

The absolute importance of building a relationship and maintaining the trust of contributors cannot be stressed to a TV researcher. They need looking after, consideration and gratitude because without them your programme wouldn’t be possible.

Working with people from all walks of life is one of the aspects of this job that I love the most. If you begin as you mean to go on; politely, patiently, and with a listening ear, then there is little that someone might be prepared to do for you. I am constantly humbled by the generosity and openness of people I work with, it always restores my faith in humanity especially when you’re dealing with serious or sensitive content.

Here are some of the more diverse members of society that I have had the pleasure of speaking with…

• A train signal box enthusiast
• A rat catcher
• An American pyro technician
• The dedicated mother of an 8 year old free style dancing champion
• The youngest member of an amateur dramatic society, aged 35
• Helena Bonham-Carter’s parenting coach
• The sales manager of specialised thermal imaging cameras for firefighters
• A Master tea blender
• An Army Major
• A babyplanner
• The man who sent the first ever picture text message
• The world’s best Elvis impersonator

Recently, a friend and I had the most helpful and generous experience with a tattoo studio for a short film she wanted to make. I helped Jane produce the film by finding a tattoo studio who would let us record a time lapse of a tattoo being done in their studio. My housemate introduced me to Belfast City Skinworks and the rest was plain sailing. The studio made our job the easiest in the world, and here's the end result:

Gay Blood - What's the difference?

Gay rights campaigners have been working for the equal treatment of homosexual men by the blood donation services in the UK for years. Homosexual men were banned from donating blood – indefinitely – in 1985 due to concerns over the increase in cases of HIV. Nearly 30 years on and gay men are still treated differently to other members of society by the blood service of one region in the UK...

Back in 2003 the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS) published an ‘Equality Impact Assessment on Access to Blood Donor Services’. The report reviewed the NIBTS under the context of section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Section 75 states that:

“A public authority shall in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity – between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial groups, age, marital status or sexual orientation.”

The 2003 report acknowledged that the donor policy of the time, to permanently ban gay men from donating blood, had a differential impact on the gay community. It said that the NIBTS would bring forward the discussion of a 12 months ban with the appropriate parties.

Fast forward to 2011 and the NIBTS is called upon again to review its services against section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 by the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland. This time the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood Tissues and Organs (SaBTO) was undertaking a review of blood donation criteria relating to men who have sex with men. NIBTS published in their report of 2011 that “the BTS will continue to regularly review relevant policies and will adopt any changes as per UK Guidelines… Any change to the policy by NIBTS will be in the light of SaBTO and DH (Department of Health) recommendations.”

In April 2011 SaBTO released their report on the UK’s blood donation criteria. The report detailed the extensive improvement in testing for blood borne infections that has occurred since 1985. It also took into account societal changes, namely the concern that the permanent ban on homosexual men from donating blood projected negative stereotypes about the behaviour of the gay community.

The SaBTO report found that the risk of the blood supply becoming contaminated with an HIV infection with the lifetime ban on gay men in place is 1 infected donation for every 4.38 million donations. The risk of the blood supply becoming contaminated with an HIV infection with a 12 month ban on gay men instead is 1 infected donation for every 4.41 million donations. The difference, they said, was negligible.

In September 2011, Health Ministers from England, Scotland and Wales announced that they would accept the recommendation of SaBTO and would change the deferral period of men who have sex with men to 12 months since their last sexual contact. The change came into effect on the 7^th November 2011.

On 23^rd September 2011, Health Minister for Northern Ireland, Edwin Poots, gave a written reply to a question put to the Northern Ireland Executive. In this published reply, Mr Poots said “I take the view that the current position in Northern Ireland should not be altered.” Just over one month later, gay rights group ‘Rainbow Project’ appeared in Stormont to address Mr Poots’ decision. Mr Poots had changed his mind. He said in front of the Health Committee: “I have not made the final decision on blood donations by men who have had sex with men.”

Months later and Mr Poots still hasn’t made his mind up. His hypocrisy is deep and the irony, rich.

By declaring that he is seeking further evidence on top of the SaBTO report, the Democratic Unionist Party Minister is implying that the Health Ministers in the rest of the UK have not taken due consideration of all the facts available. He is setting his Health Department a part from the majority policy within the nations making up the UK. Not only this, but since declaring that he has not decided whether to change the blood donation deferral period for gay men, and since Scotland changed its policy to 12 months deferral, Northern Ireland has received blood supplies from Scotland.

Within these imported units of blood, the donation of a gay man who has not had sexual contact with another man in 12 months, could have helped save the life of a sick person in Northern Ireland.

The Health Minister’s indecision is an outright display of prejudice against the Northern Irish gay community. He is the only obstacle standing in the way of the UK receiving much needed donations of blood from a section of society that has been deemed by medical experts, globally, not to be a threat to the safety of the blood supply. Minister Poots is denying gay men the right to an altruistic act and he is denying those in need of blood from taking it from safe donors.

The Titanic Legacy

Across this weekend, 13^th – 15^th April 2012, Belfast is frantic with celebratory concerts and memorial masses and services to commemorate the sinking of the White Star Line’s world famous Titanic and those who went down with her. MTV return to Belfast to put on a concert at the site of the great slipways where Harland and Wolff built their two massive liners, the Titanic and the Olympic. The Waterfront Hall is putting on a live BBC concert with music and readings by renowned artists and ‘Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic’, composed by Belfast born Philip Hammond and performed by premiere Irish voices, will be performed for the first time to a sell out audience at St Anne’s Cathedral. On the final day, masses and memorial services will be going on across the UK throughout the day.

You might think this weekend’s respectful services are right and proper to mark the centenary of such a tragic event. If you do, then you might also find the huge build up to this weekend a rather morbid profiteering. March 31^st heralded the long awaited opening of Belfast’s most expensive visitor attraction to date, Titanic Belfast, and what ensued was a festival of arts, music and activities that well and truly ensured that no one in Northern Ireland would be able to avoid the great legacy that is Titanic.

Costing nearly £100 million, I heard one local ask, “why didn’t they just rebuild the Titanic itself?” It is instead 150,000 square feet of world-class exhibition space. The biggest and most ambitious attraction built about the Titanic in the world, the new site really puts Belfast on the map in 2012. I went to see it in the opening weekend and the historian in me loved it. What I loved most about it was that it kept the city of Belfast at the heart of its story. It used interactive and entertaining techniques to tell the story of ‘Boomtown Belfast’ at the peak of its industrial success. Nowhere else I have visited has told this story to the full. I was aware of Belfast’s linen making, tobacco, and ship building history but I had no idea that it dominated the world markets as it did. Nor did I realise that in addition to these, it was also leading the world markets in rope making, fans and tea exports! All the “wow” figures that really set this home are all there to be seen in the exhibition.

The exhibition then continues to use avant-garde presentations to relay the building of the Titanic from the scaffolding in Belfast’s shipyards, to its fitting out, and eventual passage to Southampton, England, Cherboug, France and Queenstown, Ireland. Before sharing the real distress signals sent between the Titanic and nearby ships and exploring the inquest into the sinking. The real highlights for me that set it apart from an ordinary museum is the cable car ride that takes you through the sites and sounds of the shipyard and the cinema room that shows footage of the wreck as it is now.

Personally, I don’t agree with the furor around the Great Staircase. Belfast’s newspapers and radio shows erupted with complaints from local residents that they couldn’t see a replica of the Great Staircase during the public visitor experience. I fall within the camp that argues the only reason people want to see it is because of its prominent use in James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ film. If posing on the staircase a la Leo and Kate is the main priority of visitors to a Titanic exhibition then they’re really missing a trick…

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board is criticised for its emphasis on what is essentially, a very tragic demise. Donegall Square North in the center of Belfast, which is the street lined either side with high street stores, already has symbolic iron statues that each represents a sunken ship. The way I see it is that Northern Ireland is taking possession of an awe-inspiring ship that was literally built in its biggest city, and rightfully so. After all, an Irishman built the Titanic but it was an Englishman who sank it…

Since visiting the exhibition I have placed the Titanic Belfast at the top of my five things to do in Northern Ireland. The list is by no means firmly set, is currently Belfast-biased and will no doubt evolve, but for now it stands as the following…

1)    See the Titanic Belfast for a world-class exhibition and the industrial history of Northern Ireland.

2)  Drive up the Antrim Coast and take in Northern Ireland’s breath taking beaches, cliffs and the stunning Giant’s Causeway.

3)   Set aside an evening to enjoy the craic of Belfast’s traditional pubs including the Cathedral Quarter’s Duke of York and John Hewitt Bar as well as the Garrick and Maddens. If traditional Irish music is what you’re after then Maddens is the place for a Guinness.

4)   Book a Black Taxi Tour and see the murals of West Belfast. The drivers of the Black Taxis were eyewitnesses to the Troubles and will give you a real sense of what life was like in that time. But beware, the drivers tend to give their own version of events.*

5)   Take a walk from South Belfast into the city center, you’ll get a real sense of modern Belfast if you do this. Start at the Botanic Gardens and walk down Botanic Avenue, stopping to take in the arty, alternative feel of the Queen’s Quarter. Carry on down Dublin Road for the compulsory stop at Filthy McNasty’s and then on down Bedford Street to reach Belfast’s City Hall. Walk right round the square with some form of guide** to tell you which buildings are what – if you do you’ll realise the historical significance of the architecture and what happened within those buildings.

* For a recommended guide then get in touch.

** There is an app you can download for access to tours around Northern Ireland here. Or you can download itours presented by Patrick Kielty for all parts of Belfast for free.

Where are the Young Politicians?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about young people’s involvement in politics – or rather their lack of involvement. My current placement has required me to read the local headline news first thing every day, to listen to the topical news radio programmes and keep abreast of developing stories as well as watching my Twitter feed for breaking news. I am now brimming with Northern Irish news to the point where I know more than my native contemporaries. Yes, it’s my job to know, but growing up I was always looking for the right motivation to keep in touch with ‘what’s going on’. Picking up a magazine was usually a more attractive choice to the national broadsheets but I think I did an alright job at being informed, without sounding old before my time.

Sadly, I don’t think that’s something that can be said of many young people. I recently read a comment that lamented the lack of young idealists in Northern Ireland. The author was comparing the current lack of opposition in the Northern Irish assembly with the years of the troubles when multiple parties sprung up to voice what the people they represented wanted. Of course there were groups that took it to the extreme, using undemocratic methods to put their point across however, I can see the author’s point. Things changed in that difficult era and in the subsequent times of peace making in the 90s because people made it happen, old and young alike. Who is stepping out from the crowd today?

As a young person I don’t have any political idols within government or the political circuit that inspire me to use the power that my ancestors fought for me to inherit: freedom of speech and the right to vote. I was disappointed that the NUS Marches in 2010, begun with good intentions, reduced some students to looking like tempestuous toddlers throwing their toys out of their prams. Then the riots of August 2011 didn’t stand for anything – they were a shocking demonstration that so many young people in the UK have no respect, no care or even a cause beyond creating chaos. Less than half of the young population, 44% of 18 to 24 year olds, voted in the general election of 2010. And how many people do you think voted in the X Factor final in the same year? Some speculate around 10 million. Comparing the general election with the final of a singing competition is not the fairest comparison but you can see what I’m getting at. And its no wonder young people aren’t voting when parties play dirty like the Tories’ playground tactics used in their ‘No to AV’ campaign in 2011.

Russia’s 2012 election has seen Putin come out on top again. You would do well to question the legality of the voting system, however what struck me was the young people’s participation. Putin has his own band of young supporters in the group called ‘Nashi’, or ‘Our People’. They have been compared to Hitler Youth and have over 100,000 members across Russia.* The Nashi have great belief in Putin and actively work to support him. They were recently accused of paying internet trolls to undermine his opponents online. However extreme they are, they feel they have found someone who can protect them and deliver what they think their country needs, in the man Putin. You would be hard pushed to find one young person who would defend the actions of a single politician in the UK, even if he is the Prime Minister.

Now, Alex Salmond and the SNP are arguing to extend voting at the referendum for Scottish independence to 16 and 17 year olds. Does he know something I don’t? I wonder if it can be true that the Scottish youth are more likely to engage with politics than the rest of the UK. It is probably because they, like their older counterparts, feel disillusioned with a parliament that has handed over government to parties that do not enjoy a majority in Scotland so many times in recent decades, and then failed to bring about the constitutional change needed to really give Scotland the voice it wants in its own government.

So, what can be done? The usual patronizing techniques of showing Cameron hanging out with the latest pop stars and idols, or Clegg meeting a crowd of students, rarely work. What I think could really help is for actual, real young people to really step up and start winning an audience in parliamentary politics.

The English monarchy has enjoyed a huge resurgence with the coming of age of its Princes William and Harry and of course the ever-lovable Duchess Kate. The Queen’s grandchildren have readdressed the balance within the monarchy, and are providing the fresh, young and modern approach needed to maintain or even regain the support of young people. UK Politics needs to find its William and Kate, and Harry in order that it is going to bring the young people with it further into the 21^st century. It needs to start listening and (I realize how completely contrived this sounds) representing its young people through a younger generation of politicians that know what they want, because they want the same things. Otherwise generation y and generation z are going to find other, more anti-social outlets for their frustrations.

*Channel 4 broadcast a great doc on Nashi in November 2011, ‘Unreported World: Vlad’s Army’.

Tweeting to Get Into TV

The 31^st January 2012 was an important anniversary for me. The day marked 12 months since I began my first ever paid TV contract. At that time, I had been a graduate for 6 months and was pretty exhausted from working seven days a week for almost all of that time. As a result, I have a great deal of sympathy for current graduates because I remember that time in my life well. I had some real highs and some very low lows. But all the hard work was worth it when I achieved that first contract.

12 months on and I am proud of where I have got to, working on a BBC training scheme and with good experience in both TV development and production. I have a great deal more to learn, but I am very grateful that I seemed to have got a hold of the job market when I did.

The TV industry is a very particular beast. Most production staff will work on a freelance basis for most of their careers, moving between short-term contracts of about 6 months. These jobs are not advertised as in other industries by an HR team. Instead, opportunities are spread via word of mouth or through very specialist websites.

I was recently asked for advice by an undergraduate at the University of York, on what he should do to get a job in TV after he graduates later this year. Whilst I was thinking about how it was that I kept abreast of what opportunities were out there I realised what an important tool Twitter is for this. It is exactly because TV jobs are typically heard about through word of mouth (literally) that Twitter is a media platform well suited to simulate this online. So one of the most useful tools I could have given this student was to suggest he look at my Twitter page and see who I follow.

But one of the other most important tips I could tell anyone is to WATCH TV and watch lots of it. It sounds very simple and almost too easy, but if you want to make television you need to know what is out there already. You need to have an opinion about it and be thinking about what works well and what doesn’t. Again Twitter can be a great aid to help you with this. You can use Twitter as a sort of virtual diary to note what you’re watching and what you think about it. The power of Twitter lies in the conversation that it insights between even complete strangers. Using the hashtag # means you can find out what the rest of the audience is thinking, something else that people in the industry need to know.

I have plenty more top tips for anyone looking to get into TV, but I will save those for another time. I feel honoured to have been invited to attend a careers event at my old university, York, in March 2012 and will no doubt build up a list of these before then. But in the meantime, I have included a list of the best Tweeters to follow if you’re looking for a job in TV:

@MandyfilmTV

@bectu_ym

@IndieTraining

@ProductionBase

@itvjobs

@ColinC4People

@Bro_Greenlight

@NickyCANorth

@creativeengland

@Creative_Boom

@Step2JobsTV

@bectu

@CreativeToolkit

@mediaparents

@TheTVCollective

@TheNetwork_TV

@EdinburghTVFest

@artsjobs

@theunitlist

@realscreen

@Broadcastnow

@BroadcastF

@Channel4Jobs

@4Talent

@SkillsetSSC

@mediaguardian

@Film_London

@screenyorkshire

@roundhouseLDN

@IdeasTap

@MediaCityUKJobs
@MediaNationUK
@EndemolUKJobs

Us and Them

It takes a bit of time spent in Northern Ireland to discover the undercurrent of prejudice that is a part of life here. Sectarian attitudes are only steadfastly held by a minority but the fabric, structure and habitual behaviour in everyday life of Northern Ireland is informed by an entrenched conflict between what it means to be Protestant and to be Catholic.

There are severe cases of sectarian division such as attacks by dissident republicans on the Police Service of Northern Ireland, or violence against Catholic persons by groups of Protestants. Violent attacks are not usually calculated or planned and in some instances seem to be the anti-social behaviour of young people who have ignorantly adopted the cause of an older generation.

But it is clear in some of the more lighthearted banter of the majority here that there seem to be recognizable differences between Protestants and Catholics that can be objects of amusement for both. The Northern Irish will usually be able to quickly determine whether someone they’re meeting for the first time is a Catholic or another denomination. Names can be very clearly Catholic if they are traditionally Irish, such as the girl’s name “Grainne” or the boy’s “Daire/Darragh”. Catholics pronounce the letter “H” as “haitch”. Some even joke that they can tell a Catholic or a Protestant just by looking at them – red hair can be a give away apparently! Whilst wearing a Rangers top is on a par with singing the British National Anthem.

Other identifiers are where people are from and where they live within a city. Belfast is divided between North, South, East and West and each area has its own reputation. West Belfast includes the infamous Falls Road and is well known for being at the heart of the Troubles and where Catholics will live in the likes of Andersonstown. Whereas South Belfast today has a reputation mostly for being a more economically advantaged part of Belfast with new Protestant professionals taking up homes there. Derry is another city that is rife with interface areas: where Protestant and Catholic communities live side by side. What you call Derry is also indicative: saying “Londonderry” instead of “Derry” shows an alliance with Protestant unionism. There are rural areas with similar reputations for allegiances too.

Of course these are all assumptions and biases that most will not stick to or take too much to heart. But they do remain indicators to discover what relations you might experience with someone new.

A 40-year-old friend from Holywood told me once that people from Northern Ireland “don’t care if you’re black, white or green… they care if you’re a Protestant or a Catholic”. I think this comment is telling. My friend is also gay and I’d asked him if he felt the LGBT society in Northern Ireland came up against more prejudice here than it might in other regions of the UK. He didn’t think it did. He praised the Northern Irish people for their modern attitudes towards homosexuality and race… but the one distinction they couldn’t look beyond was religion.

The tensions between the religious ideologies can be felt if you walk through different parts of Belfast today. Like any other city you have “bad” areas right next door to “good” ones. And the “bad” should not be avoided if you want to get on with your everyday life. What’s difficult to see is if Northern Ireland will ever be able to shake off sectarian attitudes entirely. Even the most subtle assumptions about someone’s religion made simply by how they pronounce the letter “h” has become a habitual behaviour for many. Even younger generations inherit an awareness of differences (whether they think badly of these differences is dependent on numerous other individual factors).

Not least is it difficult to see when sectarian values will end whilst Belfast continues to make a tourist industry out of its sectarian past – the Black cab tours through West Belfast are expected to be informative of the clashes between Protestant and Catholic communities and charge around £9 per person for the privilege. Sectarianism is embedded in the society here and until authorities and independent organisations make a conscious effort to dig it out many may continue to just accept it as part of being Northern Irish.

2012

I am spending the day after the New Year bank holidays clearing up after 2011: cleaning, sorting, getting healthy food in and taking time to say my “thank yous”. So it felt like a good time to have a think about some of my hopes for 2012. I am reluctant to set hard and fast resolutions as things are still so changeable that I don’t think I can rely on being able to achieve specific targets. Instead I’d rather think about some priorities for the coming year as well as what I am looking forward to most.

Top of my list is to see much much more of Northern Ireland. Since I moved about three months ago I have spent most of my time in Belfast, only venturing to Holywood, Larne and Newtownards once each. I have yet to explore the Black Mountains, or see any of the coast and Derry remains unknown to me. Having said that there are some key events happening in 2012 that would be silly to miss in Belfast. The biggest of which being Belfast’s commemoration to the sinking of the Titanic ship in April 1912. I’ve already booked my ticket to the brand new exhibition opening in the Titanic Quarter on the 31^st March 2012. I also have to admit that I am looking forward to St Patrick’s Day on 17^th March. It might be a cliché but I’ve taken part in celebrations of the patron saint in London in the past and I can’t wait to see how the Irish really do it – especially on a Saturday!

Another priority this year for me is to continue to meet and make new friends over here. Whether it is in new work environments as my placements change, or through new housemates or new hobbies. I have met some enormously friendly and generous people already and it’s their welcome that has encouraged me to broaden my social scope. I know there are so many sides to life in Northern Ireland that meeting new people will be one way of introducing me to the sides I haven’t seen yet.

Professionally, my aim for this year is to consolidate the existing networks and ties I have and build new ones. Tomorrow I will be starting my second placement working with a whole new team. I am excited at the prospect and am ready to work hard to contribute well to the project. I may work for two more companies before the year is out making the experiences I will have had working in a team, with different companies and different styles and approaches, varied and diverse. I intend to leave each placement knowing that the company and team I worked with want to work with me again.

As long as I can keep these aims in sight then I will be able to make the most of the 12 months ahead and feel like 2012 was a year well spent.