Josh Bloome

Josh Bloom, BA Drama and English(2008), currently works as a Producer at Red Bull Media House in Austria. We spoke to Josh to find out his thoughts and opinions of working in Television internationally.

Just do it!

‘You gain language skills (if non-English speaking), a contact book in another country, an insight into different ways TV works across territories, and formats that are popular or upcoming alongside new trends. TV is all about networking, and having a network of people you can call on in a different country will make future employers sit up and take notice - they will come in handy one day, I promise!’

Be prepared for differences

‘In terms of live events, often the director is his own vision mixer, which I found strange, but it's becoming more prevalent across Europe. There is also less time spent at junior levels here, people tend to jump in at surprisingly high level titles. Whilst sometimes it can be obsessive (so many spreadsheets!) it was certainly an eye opener.’

Look out for opportunities

‘Progressing can be quite problematic if you aren't a native German speaker! I think the US will always be the best place to go - they lead the way in so much. In terms of Europe, Germany is probably the biggest TV market outside the UK. Australia and South Africa are good places to have on the list. Overall though getting ahead in this industry is about standing out from the crowd, a placement somewhere off the beating track will certainly make people curious.’

Be careful of the language barrier

I am lucky that I work for the only company in Austria/Germany that output in English - otherwise I wouldn't be here. If you're language skills aren't top notch go for English speaking countries.’

Be Tenacious

Email people, pester people, get your foot in the door anyway you can. Ask to shadow people. If you can spare a week here or there of working free, offer to do so - free labour is hard to turn down. Practice, practice, practice - if you are making things now they will be bad - that's just the way it is. Seek advice on how you can improve, and then go about improving. I still cringe when I watch my first edit or listen back to my sports show I made on Burn FM!’