Rebecca Dawson and group

Our latest industry professional to visit and inpsire us at our Brighton centre was Senior Creative Producer Rebecca Dawson from Recipe. Rebecca shared with us an extensive and dynamic tale of how she rose the ranks from a university graduate, up to Creative Producer at Disney, and further to her current position in London.

Rebecca began her creative endeavours at Newcastle University studying English Literature (although she originally started on a politics degree!) before graduating and deciding to make in media. She knew that making contacts in the film/TV industry and relevant work experience was the key factor to separate her from every other graduate. Her persistence granted her six months unpaid work experience at Rapture TV (that’s a long time unpaid, but the experience was invaluable!) and the BBC for a few months as a runner for Strictly Dance Fever. She also added to her experience by signing up to Production Base, a media orientated job site where she was contacted regularly about various TV, and film roles.

One of Rebecca’s big breaks came when she attended a talk by chairman of Walt Disney International Andy Bird on his career. At the end of the session, he gave his email out to the group who attended to try and help with work experience enquiries. Rebecca emailed him straight away and within a couple of hours received a reply! He handed her CV into Disney’s HR department and in a months time Rebecca was in the world of fun, friendly family entertainment. She made the absolute most of this experience by getting to know everyone! She asked what their jobs were and how they got to where they are today – mostly over the cups of tea she offered to make them all! [Tea making pays off!]

During this time a Junior Producer job came up, and even though Rebecca had never edited before, it didn’t stop her from applying! She went straight to the Creative Director and asked for a chance. He pointed out she had no editing skills but Rebecca continued to express how she ticks every other box and can learn the editing skills on a short course. Again persistence paid off and Rebecca was set a task to decide whether she could join the Disney team. Tasked with creating taglines for the film SAW III to engage and attract woman, Rebecca got her creative cap on and gave it her best shot. Excelling at the task [and let’s be honest, it was a hard one!], she was offered the position and spent the best part of two years going from script to screen. She worked on a tight four to five campaigns a month (Hannah Montana for example). She pointed out how it’s brilliant to be in a Junior position as their isn’t as much pressure – as an example, if a spelling mistake goes out live on TV, it’s not her fault, it’s the responsibility of her senior to pick that up!

Rebecca Dawson and class

Although it was a fantastic and exciting experience working for Disney, Rebecca always strived to achieve her full potential, but unfortunately found it difficult to get a promotion. At this point in time the recession had hit hard and jobs were scarce, which resulted in everyone clinging on to their jobs. Because of this, no senior positions were available which ultimately meant it was time for Rebecca to search for senior opportunities elsewhere. After 18 months of applying and receiving interviews, she planned a sabbatical with her partner, but as they were about to set off she was offered an interview at creative advertising agency Recipe. Adventuring across more of the world was put on hold as Rebecca was offered the job as Senior Creative Producer!

Although Rebecca went from a hugely loved global organisation to a smaller company, and took a pay cut, she is now in a senior role with 30% less work (as she now has her own producer), is continuing to learn skills she didn’t know she had and is having an absolute blast doing so! Just within her first week on the job, she worked on digital campaigns including advertisements and creating a website (which she’s never done before!). Rebecca has now been at Recipe for nearly 2 years and has worked on the likes of McDonald’s shoots, a Sponge bob Square Pants Flash Mob, and a Geordie Shore advert. She sometimes works on up to eight campaigns at once, works late and then works even more at home! But everyday Rebecca is learning something new, and that’s one of the most rewarding things you can get out of a job.

What an incredible journey hey? We could share even more of Rebecca’s adventures but we’d be here all day… One of the many lessons here is that anyone can make it into the industry with enough hard work and determination. If you need help starting your journey off, why not apply for our Media Production course!?

We’ll leave you with some of Rebecca’s top tips to get you going in the industry:

  • Get yourself set up on LinkedIn. Send emails and call companies asking for work experience. But do your research on them first so you seem really keen and interested in their business.
  • Network and make contacts wherever and whenever you can. The industry is actually quite small and you’ll be surprised who knows who. Word can get around quickly about you, so make a good impression!
  • If you want to be a director, make sure you learn how to edit too.
  • The industry is using Adobe Premier over Final Cut more and more, so if you get the choice, choose Premier!
  • When you go for an interview, remember the company is trying to impress you just as much as you are them. You can always turn down a position if it isn’t right for you.
  • Always strive to achieve and use your initiative. Hard work and persistence will pay off!

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