Natalie Hill, 30, freelance TV producer/director

“Working in TV takes multi-tasking to a new level. You need to think about the visuals of what you’re shooting, whether the person you’re filming is comfortable, that it’s going to make sense when you make a programme out of it, that it’s legally OK to broadcast and that it’s interesting to the viewer.

“I mix genres: documentaries and factual entertainment features. The common thread is that I film real people, not drama. Programmes that I’ve worked on include Embarrassing Illnesses for Channel 4, 10 Years Younger and Evacuation, a historical series for the BBC.

“Days are completely different. I could be filming an interview with Richard Branson or a single parent in East London whose baby won’t stop crying. You get real extremes of character. It’s never boring. I do filming and put programmes together. Traditionally directors and producers didn’t do both, but now it’s common.

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BACKGROUND

• From disaster to the write stuff

• How to ride out a recession

• Producers put reality on the small screen

• I'm on the train, but don't tell the opposition

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“As a director I’m on location filming, either myself or with a crew. If I’m filming something observational about a character, I’ll be watching their day-to-day life: what they do at home, in the street, at work. When I’m producing I might have 100 hours of footage for a one-hour show. I cut it and make the story work, either as a film or as part of a series. You take your inspiration from what’s there – the magic happens in the edit.

“I also write voiceover scripts and treatments [which are] ideas for new programmes in written form. In development I come up with new ideas for series, documentaries, film tasters or pilots. I’ve just been working on a new commission for BBC Two. You never know if your work will get made. Some ideas you turn around quickly, others you need to nurture for months.

“Contracts could be anything from six weeks to nine months depending on the project. I rely on word of mouth to get work. I’ve been fortunate – if I’m not working it’s because I choose not to, but there [can be] dry spells.

“If I’m filming my day is about 12 hours; in the office it’s a ten-hour day or longer if I’m on deadline. For an hour-long show, filming takes about two months, then I’ll spend four to six weeks in the editing.

“The downside is that it’s hard to know where you’re going to be in a month’s time. If something happens while we’re making a show I need to go and film it. On 10 Years Younger, for example, if the contributor was having facial surgery I’d want to be there when she was taking her bandages off for the first time. It’s a privilege to have such an insight into other people’s lives.”

A SECOND OPINION

Liz Madeley, 33, producer/director Endemol

“Reality TV is about allowing things to happen. At the moment I’m working on an online show, The Gap Year, following Amy, an Australian girl, as she goes on her travels. We started in Iceland, worked our way through Scandinavia and Eastern Europe and now we’re in Croatia. We travel every two or three days so I’m trying to capture that movement. Amy could be doing a skydive or getting off a train after a 15-hour journey.

“Each week I make a five to ten-minute film of what she’s done that week. I do everything – shoot it, record sound, then edit it and make a film to send back to the office to be uploaded. It’s different from normal TV because I’m making it as I go along. You don’t get that freedom making something months in advance.

“It’s just the two of us. I think the show would lose a lot with a big crew. I’ve got a camera, radio microphones and a laptop so I’m ready to go whether I’m in a hostel bar, room or café. You don’t know what’s going to be interesting ... [so I] film as much as possible. I love the control – you get the full process from start to finish.

“First thing in the morning we have a chat on camera about how she’s feeling and what we’re going to do. I’ll spend two to three hours a day editing, but filming is ongoing; it could be 12 hours or 15 minutes. It’s impossible to plan but I don’t mind. I think I’ve got a pretty good job.

“As soon as it goes online people can make comments. I respond to them and write a blog. When I filmed the concentration camp at Auschwitz, it was really delicate. We had to get the tone right, but it got lots of positive comments.

“I speak to the series producer every couple of days and talk her through what I’ve shot. Sometimes it’s good to get a second opinion and to talk about where we’re going next.

“With online TV I feel more in contact with users than on normal TV. Bebo has 50 million users, so the potential is massive.” www.bebo.com/thegapyear

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